<p>I didn’t really know how to phrase this in one sentence, so forgive me if the title is confusing.</p>
<p>So here’s the deal: I really, really want to make HC. I have a 1450/1600 SAT and a 4.36 weighted GPA, but I feel the essay section is the paramount factor in the decision regarding my admittance to HC. I need anything to supplement this along, so I’m trying anything and everything. </p>
<p>The ‘Short Answers’ section of the application has this question:
I thought if I could incorporate something along the lines of “My academic interests include X, Y, and Z, such as what the Digital Cultures & Creativity offers.” </p>
<p>Would this help at all, or even be detrimental to acceptance into HC? If it’s a situation of “won’t hurt, but won’t help,” I will keep it since it’s what first popped into my head anyways, and I only thought of it helping admissions into HC afterwards.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about it too much. UMD is very number driven, I don’t know why they ask these sort of questions. Honest to god, this was how I answered one of the questions…</p>
<p>One time I led: a group of Pokemon through the Sinnoh Elite Four, the toughest Elite Four in the Pokemon Universe.</p>
<p>That’s Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum for you non-Pokemon players ;P</p>
<p>Not only did I get in, but I got into Gemstone and the Dean’s Scholarship. To top it off, my stats were pretty much the same as yours (Weighted GPA: 4.4, SAT: 1460/1600) </p>
<p>I might have gotten a President’s scholarship if I took it more serious though…</p>
<p>The differences would not matter much on an individual application. However, the first thing they look at are the numbers. If yours are HIGH, then you are most likely “in”, probably without much looking at the rest of your app. It’s when the decisions for Honors, Scholars, and merit aid come into play that the rest of the app, including whether your grades trended up or down, your ECs, your essays, how you answered the questions, etc. . matters. In your link, the numbers are 1250-1400 for the entire population, and 1340-1490 for honors. That’s a 90-point higher average for the low and the high, which IS a significant difference.</p>
<p>Oh okay that makes sense. It’s similar to submitting your resume for a internship where merely looking at whether your GPA meets the cutoff is the first step in the process. I’m curious though, are essays the most important factor in all those that you just listed above?</p>
<p>There are many other factors in determining how you will be “ranked” at a particular university. An SAT of let’s say 1420, might be 710+710, or maybe 800+620! They are BOTH 1420 but certainly NOT the same and will be “weighed” differently. The same is true for GPAs. The wGPA scores reported here are meaningless. There is NO standard on how to “weigh” courses at high schools around the country. The ONLY wGPA that matters is internal to the adcom considering your transcript. It will include courses/content, your schools profile, class rank, and other factors that are unknowable to the applicant. All a student can do is the BEST he/she can, and let the chips fall where they may …</p>
<p>I’m sure that every person who is in admissions will assure you that there is NO most important factor…certainly can’t say that essays are more important than any of the rest of it. Sorry.</p>
<p>Okay, I have a 730 CR + 720 M so that’s good. But I have one more chance to take the SAT, and suppose I (hopefully) get an 800 M. Would a 730 CR + 800 M be too unbalanced?</p>
<p>No. unbalanced would be a couple hundred points difference. It’s not unusual for one person to be stronger in M vs. CR. You’ve got really good SAT scores to begin with!</p>
<p>Well my GPA is fairly weak compared to some of my fellow classmates, so I need all the help I can get from the SATs. Especially for those scholarships…</p>