Principal Nominee with TWE

Capt MJ said:

I wondered the same. Barring any written confirmation of a principal nom, could the elected official have used words such as “you’re my top pick” or “my principal choice,” but not actually used the principal nomination method when submitting a slate? There could be a derailment there, and USAFA would not be required to select the candidate even if fully qualified.

Or, as noted above, the 3Q elements were somehow not fulfilled.

If the candidate contacts the MOC staffer for SA noms, he can attempt to confirm the actual type of nomination and method used. These facts would be the sole purpose of the call.

If the principal nom method is confirmed and status as principal nominee also confirmed, the candidate might then call the appropriate USAFA contact to seek clearer understanding of whether he was considered a fully qualified candidate.

I can’t recall if USAFA actually tells candidates they are fully qualified. USNA does not. USMA does notify, I think.

I think we are all interested in how this might have come about. I was under the impression that USAFA and USMA had very little wiggle room for principal nom + fully qualified. The scholastic part of the fully qualified trinity is also the mushiest around the edges.

I appreciate the poster who aired this issue and wish them the best outcome for the situation.

Click to expand...

We were not the OP but still fell into the category of a TWE-ed principal nominee.

Yes in our case confident of the principal nomination as per written confirmation from our MOC's office. Confident in passing CFA and no issues with DoDMERB. Am confident in leadership and extracurriculars (Eagle Scout, multiple Drill championships, JROTC leader, three sport athlete, captain for two, etc.) Will explore with the various parties (ALO, MOC Office, USAFA Admissions) where on the academic side things didn't add up bc that's the only place I can't make sense of this.

We're moving on to a great Plan B but USAFA was hands down obviously the first choice...

OP and although confident of the principal nominee we are checking in with MOC, Admissions and his ALO (who has been an awesome resource throughout) has already responded but could not provide any insight as she did not have any. As above poster, trying to find where he fell short and moving on to plan B.

My son heard from his ALO, MOC office, and his Admissions counselor. He was told that his math score was disqualifying. As we were following the overall math score from the admissions page, we felt he had met that requirement. We were obviously wrong. They encouraged him to stay involved, improve his test scores and try again. Very grateful that they each took the time to reach out and/or return his call. Just for a reference point he was indeed the Principal Nominee and only verbal confirmation was given to my son prior to this week. The very best of luck to those of you still waiting.

BB24 said:

My son heard from his ALO, MOC office, and his Admissions counselor. He was told that his math score was disqualifying. As we were following the overall math score from the admissions page, we felt he had met that requirement. We were obviously wrong. They encouraged him to stay involved, improve his test scores and try again. Very grateful that they each took the time to reach out and/or return his call. Just for a reference point he was indeed the Principal Nominee and only verbal confirmation was given to my son prior to this week. The very best of luck to those of you still waiting.

Click to expand...

Was it his math score on the SAT?

For future candidates, I wanted to share what we learned from our conversation with our DS's academic advisor.

For informational purposes, SAT (superscored) was 1300 (640/660) and GPA was 3.4. Separately these are both ok and appear to meet the definition of 'minimum' required of a Principal nominee. USAFA has more clear guidelines for test scores than they do GPA.

However--these two factors are somehow magically combined through an algorithm to achieve the academic portion of the WCS. That algorithm did not produce a WCS high enough to meet the definition of 'minimum'

So for future candidates--my take-aways are: 1. USAFA does not make it easy to discern the acceptable academic requirements portion of the 3Q triad for Principal nominees. 2. Their published SAT/ACT scores do not alone define minimum academic qualifications. 3. If you have good but not great SAT scores you need a stellar GPA or vice versa. 4. The magic sauce of determining minimum academic qualifications for a principal nominee is in the calculation of the academic portion of the WCS--not just the GPA and SAT/ACT scores separately. The academic portion represents 55% of the entire WCS--so as everyone stresses on this forum--having a strong academic performance is critical. Great, not good.

Our DS has a great Plan B and his ultimate goal of being a commissioned officer is on track. As an interesting final statistic his advisor said that about 30% of the Class are re-applicants.

This forum is such a fantastic resource for all, SAs, SMCs, etc. I hope the data on this post helps future Principal nominees know that it's not the golden ticket it is sometimes portrayed to be.

Good luck to all!!

@MMShape, you and DS seem to have a great attitude about all this. That’s to be admired and respected. You deliver such valuable lessons to those contemplating the SA path:

1) It’s a long and complex road to appointment, full of riddles and waits. However it ends, you should be a much better person for having gone through the process. Self awareness and resilience are great attributes to take into adulthood.

2) Determined as you may be to attend an SA, Plan B is vital. A strong alternate route sets you up so well for whatever route you choose — staying there until graduation or teeing up another SA application.

3) Always shoot beyond the minimums. Many OPs here ask whether their score, rank, performance, etc., is good enough. I say, never settle for “good enough.” There’s someone else in your district who surely isn’t.

4) The goal is a commission. Whatever route you take — SA, ROTC, OCS — is a noble one that will put you on equal footing on the day you get your butter bars. I have a strong feeling that your DS will bloom wherever he’s planted.

MMShape said:

For future candidates, I wanted to share what we learned from our conversation with our DS's academic advisor.

For informational purposes, SAT (superscored) was 1300 (640/660) and GPA was 3.4. Separately these are both ok and appear to meet the definition of 'minimum' required of a Principal nominee. USAFA has more clear guidelines for test scores than they do GPA.

However--these two factors are somehow magically combined through an algorithm to achieve the academic portion of the WCS. That algorithm did not produce a WCS high enough to meet the definition of 'minimum'

So for future candidates--my take-aways are: 1. USAFA does not make it easy to discern the acceptable academic requirements portion of the 3Q triad for Principal nominees. 2. Their published SAT/ACT scores do not alone define minimum academic qualifications. 3. If you have good but not great SAT scores you need a stellar GPA or vice versa. 4. The magic sauce of determining minimum academic qualifications for a principal nominee is in the calculation of the academic portion of the WCS--not just the GPA and SAT/ACT scores separately. The academic portion represents 55% of the entire WCS--so as everyone stresses on this forum--having a strong academic performance is critical. Great, not good.

Our DS has a great Plan B and his ultimate goal of being a commissioned officer is on track. As an interesting final statistic his advisor said that about 30% of the Class are re-applicants.

This forum is such a fantastic resource for all, SAs, SMCs, etc. I hope the data on this post helps future Principal nominees know that it's not the golden ticket it is sometimes portrayed to be.

Good luck to all!!

Click to expand...

Thanks for updating us with what you learned. This is fantastic information! Best of luck to you. I always say, no matter if an appointment is obtained or not, the PROCESS is beneficial. A student coupes out a better young adult for going through it. No matter the outcome.

Best wishes!!

It's brought up quite often, that the academy is a bit ambiguous when it comes to acceptable GPA's. SAT/ACT scores are pretty self explanatory. They list minimum scores. But GPA; CAN'T BE that clear cut. I know many want them to be more specific, but it's simply not possible.

Imagine; 4 students applying. 4 different schools. ALL 4 have a 3.7 gpa. 1 has the 3.7 and is in the IB program. The 2nd is only taking AP classes. The 3rd applicant with the 3.7 is in a small town school with almost NO AP classes; no honor's classes; no IB program; so is taking the basic state minimum required classes. (BUT, is taking online COLLEGE CLASSES on the side). The 4th applicant has ALL of the IP, AP, honors classes available; However, they have CHOSEN to to take the state minimum required classes for graduation.... and has a 3.7 gpa.

Do you see the problem? The 4th person, has NO INITIATIVE to take the most challenging classes; even though they were available. NOT the type of student the academy wants. The 3rd student had no option to take better classes; but they went ABOVE AND BEYOND and took college classes. Can you see how a 3.7 means one thing to one applicant and means something else to another?

Christcorp said:

It's brought up quite often, that the academy is a bit ambiguous when it comes to acceptable GPA's. SAT/ACT scores are pretty self explanatory. They list minimum scores. But GPA; CAN'T BE that clear cut. I know many want them to be more specific, but it's simply not possible.

Imagine; 4 students applying. 4 different schools. ALL 4 have a 3.7 gpa. 1 has the 3.7 and is in the IB program. The 2nd is only taking AP classes. The 3rd applicant with the 3.7 is in a small town school with almost NO AP classes; no honor's classes; no IB program; so is taking the basic state minimum required classes. (BUT, is taking online COLLEGE CLASSES on the side). The 4th applicant has ALL of the IP, AP, honors classes available; However, they have CHOSEN to to take the state minimum required classes for graduation.... and has a 3.7 gpa.

Do you see the problem? The 4th person, has NO INITIATIVE to take the most challenging classes; even though they were available. NOT the type of student the academy wants. The 3rd student had no option to take better classes; but they went ABOVE AND BEYOND and took college classes. Can you see how a 3.7 means one thing to one applicant and means something else to another?

Click to expand...

My DS is one of the 3.7 GPA with 1420 SAT in a small town. He drives 20 miles to the community college in another small town, and is completing 27 dual college credits with 4.0 college GPA. He earned a nomination but wasn't selected.
We're a middle income but supersize family so his plan B isn't easy, either enlist or work his way slowly through college. One of his brothers scored 99 on the ASVAB and is an ELT on a nuclear submarine, so I know my home school program is adequate.
I know my DS will succeed wherever he goes because of his character and grit. I can see the difficulty in choosing.

Mom_of_many said:

Christcorp said:

It's brought up quite often, that the academy is a bit ambiguous when it comes to acceptable GPA's. SAT/ACT scores are pretty self explanatory. They list minimum scores. But GPA; CAN'T BE that clear cut. I know many want them to be more specific, but it's simply not possible.

Imagine; 4 students applying. 4 different schools. ALL 4 have a 3.7 gpa. 1 has the 3.7 and is in the IB program. The 2nd is only taking AP classes. The 3rd applicant with the 3.7 is in a small town school with almost NO AP classes; no honor's classes; no IB program; so is taking the basic state minimum required classes. (BUT, is taking online COLLEGE CLASSES on the side). The 4th applicant has ALL of the IP, AP, honors classes available; However, they have CHOSEN to to take the state minimum required classes for graduation.... and has a 3.7 gpa.

Do you see the problem? The 4th person, has NO INITIATIVE to take the most challenging classes; even though they were available. NOT the type of student the academy wants. The 3rd student had no option to take better classes; but they went ABOVE AND BEYOND and took college classes. Can you see how a 3.7 means one thing to one applicant and means something else to another?

Click to expand...

My DS is one of the 3.7 GPA with 1420 SAT in a small town. He drives 20 miles to the community college in another small town, and is completing 27 dual college credits with 4.0 college GPA. He earned a nomination but wasn't selected.
We're a middle income but supersize family so his plan B isn't easy, either enlist or work his way slowly through college. One of his brothers scored 99 on the ASVAB and is an ELT on a nuclear submarine, so I know my home school program is adequate.
I know my DS will succeed wherever he goes because of his character and grit. I can see the difficulty in choosing.

Click to expand...

Mom_of_many did your DS apply for an AFROTC scholarship? Have you reached out to his college about their ROTC program? He could do CC classes, reapply for USAFA, and now get an MoC nom + ROTC. At the same time he could get an ICSP at your local 4 yr university,

Pima said:

Mom_of_many said:

Christcorp said:

It's brought up quite often, that the academy is a bit ambiguous when it comes to acceptable GPA's. SAT/ACT scores are pretty self explanatory. They list minimum scores. But GPA; CAN'T BE that clear cut. I know many want them to be more specific, but it's simply not possible.

Imagine; 4 students applying. 4 different schools. ALL 4 have a 3.7 gpa. 1 has the 3.7 and is in the IB program. The 2nd is only taking AP classes. The 3rd applicant with the 3.7 is in a small town school with almost NO AP classes; no honor's classes; no IB program; so is taking the basic state minimum required classes. (BUT, is taking online COLLEGE CLASSES on the side). The 4th applicant has ALL of the IP, AP, honors classes available; However, they have CHOSEN to to take the state minimum required classes for graduation.... and has a 3.7 gpa.

Do you see the problem? The 4th person, has NO INITIATIVE to take the most challenging classes; even though they were available. NOT the type of student the academy wants. The 3rd student had no option to take better classes; but they went ABOVE AND BEYOND and took college classes. Can you see how a 3.7 means one thing to one applicant and means something else to another?

Click to expand...

My DS is one of the 3.7 GPA with 1420 SAT in a small town. He drives 20 miles to the community college in another small town, and is completing 27 dual college credits with 4.0 college GPA. He earned a nomination but wasn't selected.
We're a middle income but supersize family so his plan B isn't easy, either enlist or work his way slowly through college. One of his brothers scored 99 on the ASVAB and is an ELT on a nuclear submarine, so I know my home school program is adequate.
I know my DS will succeed wherever he goes because of his character and grit. I can see the difficulty in choosing.

Click to expand...

Mom_of_many did your DS apply for an AFROTC scholarship? Have you reached out to his college about their ROTC program? He could do CC classes, reapply for USAFA, and now get an MoC nom + ROTC. At the same time he could get an ICSP at your local 4 yr university,

Click to expand...

Right now he's prepping for physics and calculus AP exams. In July he will apply for second semester admission to state universities. Our CC has ROTC available but in coordination with a university 45 miles away, a little problematic.

Not to be redundant, but we've heard it dozens of times from Admissions Advisors at each college (public, private, and SA's) that we have applied to with our children. "Academic Vigor" and "High School Brand Recognition" are key in the admissions equation. Regardless of the college, university, or SA, the admissions folks are professionals and they know their stuff. They know which high school districts, classes, programs, etc. are challenging and which are not (by comparison). That all matters quite a bit when they're doing their comparisons.

TexasAggie204 said:

Not to be redundant, but we've heard it dozens of times from Admissions Advisors at each college (public, private, and SA's) that we have applied to with our children. "Academic Vigor" and "High School Brand Recognition" are key in the admissions equation. Regardless of the college, university, or SA, the admissions folks are professionals and they know their stuff. They know which high school districts, classes, programs, etc. are challenging and which are not (by comparison). That all matters quite a bit when they're doing their comparisons.

Click to expand...

Academic "Vigor" is definitely important. That's why the academy requires your school counselor to provide a copy of the school profile. This way they know the classes available vs what the applicant took; and the difficulty level (based on the rest of the students; class rank; etc); and other things about the student.

High school brand recognition??? Not sure I understand what this means. If you are referring to "Well known/Nationally known" high schools; private schools; etc. vs public schools, etc. then I sort of have to disagree. The academy knows that the vast overwhelming majority of cadets come from "PUBLIC SCHOOLS". They also know that most state school systems / school districts, are set up that based on your home address, you WILL attend a certain high school. Very rarely does a family/student get to choose to go to a public school that isn't the one based on their address. Basically, if you attend public school, you have no choice of which one. But there are exceptions. E.g. in my town, there are 4 high schools. Only one of them offers the IB program. If you apply to the IB program and show the propensity to be a fit there, then you're allow to attend that school. You're on your own for transportation. School bus for that school won't come to your neighborhood. That's just one example. But normally; public school students don't really have a say so on where they attend high school; and the academies know this. They don't penalize you for the school you go to or for the limitation on classes there. They judge you based on what you had to work with; and what you did with it.

MMShape said:

The magic sauce of determining minimum academic qualifications for a principal nominee is in the calculation of the academic portion of the WCS--not just the GPA and SAT/ACT scores separately. The academic portion represents 55% of the entire WCS--so as everyone stresses on this forum--having a strong academic performance is critical. Great, not good.

Click to expand...

What I'm curious about is the "magic sauce" of calculating GPA. We keep hearing that USAFA calculates the GPA according to their "formula." My son's unweighted 4.0 GPA was reported on the USAFA portal despite the college classes he took. Others have reported what looks a weighted GPA over 4.0 on their USAFA portals. How is the USAFA GPA calculated? If the GPA makes up the WCS and the WCS has the largest impact on being selected, then comparing one candidate's unweighted GPA against another candidate's weighted GPA doesn't seem right.

Christcorp said:

TexasAggie204 said:

Not to be redundant, but we've heard it dozens of times from Admissions Advisors at each college (public, private, and SA's) that we have applied to with our children. "Academic Vigor" and "High School Brand Recognition" are key in the admissions equation. Regardless of the college, university, or SA, the admissions folks are professionals and they know their stuff. They know which high school districts, classes, programs, etc. are challenging and which are not (by comparison). That all matters quite a bit when they're doing their comparisons.

Click to expand...

Academic "Vigor" is definitely important. That's why the academy requires your school counselor to provide a copy of the school profile. This way they know the classes available vs what the applicant took; and the difficulty level (based on the rest of the students; class rank; etc); and other things about the student.

High school brand recognition??? Not sure I understand what this means. If you are referring to "Well known/Nationally known" high schools; private schools; etc. vs public schools, etc. then I sort of have to disagree. The academy knows that the vast overwhelming majority of cadets come from "PUBLIC SCHOOLS". They also know that most state school systems / school districts, are set up that based on your home address, you WILL attend a certain high school. Very rarely does a family/student get to choose to go to a public school that isn't the one based on their address. Basically, if you attend public school, you have no choice of which one. But there are exceptions. E.g. in my town, there are 4 high schools. Only one of them offers the IB program. If you apply to the IB program and show the propensity to be a fit there, then you're allow to attend that school. You're on your own for transportation. School bus for that school won't come to your neighborhood. That's just one example. But normally; public school students don't really have a say so on where they attend high school; and the academies know this. They don't penalize you for the school you go to or for the limitation on classes there. They judge you based on what you had to work with; and what you did with it.

Click to expand...

You can disagree, but it's what we heard time and time again...wherever and whenever we met with admissions officers at colleges (again, not just SA's) within a 5-6 hour driving radius, the admissions people we quite vocal in saying that they were:

1. Familiar with our (public) high school by name (Brand)
2. Had prior experience with students who graduated from said high school (presumably favorable)
3. That would have a positive influence on their admission decision

Also, I wouldn't say very rarely a family/student doesn't have a say with where they attend HS. I would say nearly all people in our town choose to live in the town because of the school system. This is VERY common where we live, and in our part of the country in general. I grew up in the South, and many other places in this country, and it's much less prevalent down there.

BravoFoxtrotEcho said:

My son's unweighted 4.0 GPA was reported on the USAFA portal despite the college classes he took. Others have reported what looks a weighted GPA over 4.0 on their USAFA portals. How is the USAFA GPA calculated?

Click to expand...

Some posters here will state their wcgpa, and not their uwcgpa.
The last I recall the weight value for an AP course is 4.5 This is why many older posters here place little value on that area when they come on and say my cgpa is 4.6. We immediately know that their wcgpa will be re-worked via USAFA since they top out at 4.5, thus, 4.6 has to be on at least a 5.0 goal or maybe even a 6.0

They also take into account the grading scale. For example is it a 7 pt scale or a 10 pt scale? A 92 on a 7 pt scale is a B+, but on a 10 pt scale it is an A-. There are tens of thousands of high schools. So for that scenario, the student's cgpa drops just for the fact that it was a 7 pt scale. USAFA uses a 10 point scale, or at least they use to use that scale.
~ I know this because my DS's uwcgpa and wcgpa jumped up. Our school used a 7 pt scale on 4.5 weight.

The actual algorithm nobody knows, but you can see they use multiple aspects.

I would also add that it is important to look at the wgpa. You have stated that your DS had a uwcgpa of 4.0. That is something to be proud of, and many posters would be going OMG, amazing. Older posters, such as myself, will leave that alone, bc I don't know the rigor of his class schedule, and the school profile.
~ 4.0, top 18% rank and only 3 APs under his belt as a senior when the valedictorian will have 9 and doing jump start (dual enrollment) are 2 different things. It still is impressive, yet the rigor now is not as impressive.
~This is also where the school profile comes into play, which nobody here can see. Does the school hand out A's like candy on Halloween?
~~ School profile will state % that go Ivy vs 4 yr Private/Public vs 2 yr CC/trade vs workforce. Take 2 candidates that are both top 18% with a 4.0 cgpa. One student attends a school where the top 25% go to Ivy , 60% go 4 yr., 15% go CC, and 0% workforce; the other student attends a school where 1% goes Ivy, 34% go 4 yr., 50% go CC and 15% go workforce. That is a huge difference because even though they both had the same cgpa and ranking, it appears that one school does hand out As like candy on Halloween.
~~The school profile will include aspects, such as how many AP classes are offered. Do you need to take pre-reqs for those APs. IE for my eldest that graduated in NC, he was required to take Honors Bio, and than he could later on take AP Bio, same for Chem and Physics. For our youngest 2 children, they could take traditional, honors or AP Bio, Chem or Physics at the get go. Eldest was required to take 1 semester of PE, and 1 semester of Art/music. They were 4 classes per semester. Youngest 2, they were on an 8 course per yr., however, they had to take 1 yr of art/music, and all 4 yrs had to have PE in their schedule. Hence, in the end our eldest could take just as many APs as the youngest, but you really had to work that schedule right. He had no PE or art after his freshmen yr., so he could graduate with the max AP. He also did jump start (dual enrollment) his senior yr., because he had gone through all of their AP classes (APUSH,APGOVT,APEURO, APFrench, APPhysics, APCalc, APLit, APENG). He had no "downtime" classes.

I hope this helps you to see that there is much more than just the cgpa and class rank that is thrown into the algorithm. The curriculum course rigor and school profile will be part of it. As Christcorp stated they will not hold it against a candidate if the school offers only 5 APs, because that is where the school profile is tossed into the equation.

TexasAggie204 said:

You can disagree, but it's what we heard time and time again...wherever and whenever we met with admissions officers at colleges (again, not just SA's) within a 5-6 hour driving radius, the admissions people we quite vocal in saying that they were:

1. Familiar with our (public) high school by name (Brand)
2. Had prior experience with students who graduated from said high school (presumably favorable)
3. That would have a positive influence on their admission decision

Also, I wouldn't say very rarely a family/student doesn't have a say with where they attend HS. I would say nearly all people in our town choose to live in the town because of the school system. This is VERY common where we live, and in our part of the country in general. I grew up in the South, and many other places in this country, and it's much less prevalent down there.

Click to expand...

I agree with TexasAggie204. I also agree with Christcorp too. To me it comes down to you may not have that option. We were in the military. There were times we were stationed at places that they had 2 or 3 hs. in the county. There were times that where we were stationed they had 15 HS in the county.
~ In our county 50% of our HS's are magnet, but each one is different. There is an AICE/Cambridge program HS. a dance magnet, an arts magnet, a computer/IT magnet,, a foreign language, a STEM, an environmental, and I am sure I missing some more. Our county is very dense. You must meet the requirements to be accepted to any of them, but from 1 end of the county to the other you are looking at 20 mins drive. Just as CC stated you are on your own for driving the child. However, many parents with children in the program carpool. My neighbor took the kids to school, I picked them up.

I agree with TexasAggie204 regarding where they live when you are talking about suburban living. We bought and sold 5 homes over 14 yrs due to PCSing (military moves). I was a realtor. I followed the old adage when we purchased homes. LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. Smallest home in the best school district was always better than the bigger home in a less than stellar school district even if they were the same in price. My boys shared bedrooms until my eldest was 9. Why? because we could only afford that size in the better school district. When we moved to VA, it became even harder bc I knew that if we stayed for the 3 yrs., I would have 1 in HS (9th), 1 in middle (7th) and 1 in elementary (5th). I had to basically do a ven diagram to find an area where all 3 would be attending the best schools within my budget, oh and add into the fact it had to be close enough for Bullet to commute to the Pentagon. To this day I will say there was nothing I liked about that house, except it's location.

I get the big picture that not everybody has that ability, but I also get that some do have that chance. As a realtor, I don't have enough fingers and toes on my body, and everyone elses body in my family to count because buyers want the bells and whistles, the bigger house. It is only when I pull up the school reports that they pull back the reigns. The house size no longer is number 1 priority. I have seen people buy fixer uppers just to be in that school district. I have seen people buy townhouses over single family for the same reason. I have seen people love a home and community amenities, close to work, only to look at the school district and say NOPE.

OBTW TexasAggie204. 8 out of 20 yrs Bullet served was in NC. It was prevalent there. People knew that although in the county there were 4 HS., they knew how each ranked out. The homes in the area with the top HS school flocked there. Homes sold at a much faster pace than the number 2 HS. Christcorp, fyi, that town had no magnet schools which supports your position.

Christcorp said:

Basically, if you attend public school, you have no choice of which one. But there are exceptions.

Click to expand...

It also varies by state, so one's experiences may not be applicable to everyone. In Wisconsin open enrollment is the law, and students can apply to any public school (up to three choices) in the state if they do not want to enroll in their home district. Not everyone who applies is allowed to change schools, but it is very common here for students to attend a school outside their regular school district.

Stealth_81

At the end of the day, it’s been my understanding that the school you attend ultimately doesn’t matter. It’s what the student does with what is available to them at their school. Some schools don’t offer AP classes for example. But did the student take the most challenging classes offered? Did they have a rigorous and maxed out schedule? Did they do all of that and have a High GPA? Then they consider the standardized test scores to complete the academic picture.

shock-n-awe said:

But did the student take the most challenging classes offered? Did they have a rigorous and maxed out schedule? Did they do all of that and have a High GPA?

Click to expand...

This! And really not much else. GPA is a nice bit of window dressing. But as stated several times above, what matters is that you took the hardest classes your school has to offer, especially in STEM, and excelled. Do that and you won’t have to bother with the mental gymnastics of deciphering what’s in the black box.