<p>okay are ‘personal qualities’ only taken into account if theres some indication of them in essays/recommendations/interview? Say you mentioned that you founded a club in school, or spent 1000 hours doing research, but neglected to talk about them in your essay. Would they still count for something?</p>
<p>Of course they would count for “something,” but your personal qualities would most likely come through in your essays and interview.</p>
<p>Personal qualities are only taken into account if you mention them somewhere in the application. :)</p>
<p>Or at interview</p>
<p>One may not be able to address all activities or qualities mentioned in the application in their essay. If a person with diverse interests tried to do that, the essay will become a restatement of facts put in other places in the application. Nevertheless, a statement like X hours of research need to be substantiated by someone. May be you need to show your interviewer as to what you accomplished by doing that research. Your teachers / guidance counselor must highlight your contributions to research in their recommendation letter. The bottomline is that it is not the number of hours of activity, but it is the impact that the activity had on you and your world that counts.</p>