The 12 most important admissions factors according to colleges

As parents today well know, the landscape of college admissions has changed considerably from the time in which they applied. With a variety of evaluative tools, it’s important to consider what factors are weighed most heavily by admissions officers.

According to the National Association of College Admission Counseling’s (NACAC) 2014 State of College Admission, here are the 12 most important aspects of an application. Rankings are based on the percent (%) of U.S. colleges and universities attributing “considerable importance” to the following factors:

• Grades in college prep courses (81.5%)
• Strength of curriculum (63.7%)
• Admission test scores (58.3%)
• Grades in all courses (51.5%)
• Essay or writing sample (22.2%)
• Student’s demonstrated interest (20.1%)
• Counselor recommendations (15.9%)
• Class rank (15.2%)
• Teacher recommendation (14.1%)
• Extracurricular activities (9.6%)
• Interview (7.8%)
• Subject test scores (7.5%)

It’s important to remember that these numbers are fluid, changing each year and fluctuating based on the specific school. Whether it’s a large public university or small test optional college, each factor will be weighted differently.