A student emailed me yesterday wondering why two people he knew had been accepted into UC Berkeley. He thought they shouldn't have gotten in because of their GPAs, and he felt they hadn't taken as many APs as other students who were denied admission. The answer is simple: colleges want to see passionate pursuit of a major, and if a student demonstrates this, then they will often be accepted before a student with a higher GPA. Now to be clear, GPA is still the single most important factor in admissions, but if a college is looking at a student with a 4.1 who has done very little outside of required classes, admissions reps may be more inclined to admit a 4.0 who has taken college-level classes, held a leadership position in a club related to their area of interest, participated in a summer program, and done some research on the subject. A statement I hear repeatedly from admissions professional is that they are looking for students who will add to the intellectual vitality of the campus. Students should ask themselves how they are demonstrating their interests, and what are they pro-actively doing to pursue them.
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