What holds most important. Essay or EC?

collegemom3717
Mon, 04 May 2020 08:54:14 +0000

If they are equally important by definition one can’t have greater importance than the other…

In any individual case, one might carry more weight than the other- but that is in the context of the larger story. So, the student whose single parent needs them to mind the younger siblings from 3-6, so they can’t do a lot of after-school type activities, writes a great essay about what he has taken from. that and what he plans to do going forward? well, the essay ‘matters’ more. Equally, superb ECs, but a badly written essay will weigh the other way. At least in the admission simulation exercises that I have done (a fair few at this point), both are always in the context of the whole: who is this student- stats, lors, essays, ecs- what are the plus and minus elements for the class we are building?

And if you are shooting for highly selective schools it’s pointless to speculate, b/c there will be so many applicants where both are ‘above average’.