Common Data Set · Section C7
Of the 143 colleges with Common Data Set filings in Trajecta's dataset, 53 rate character and personal qualities very important in their admissions decisions, 48 rate it important, 29 considered, and 12 say it is not considered — as self-reported in each school's CDS section C7 ("Character/personal qualities").
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Character/personal qualities is the admissions reader’s judgment of who you are: integrity, curiosity, resilience, kindness, and contribution to community. No single document carries it — it is inferred from your essays, recommendation letters, activity descriptions, and disciplinary record together. Many highly selective colleges rate it very important because it is how they choose among academically identical applicants.
Princeton University#1
Stanford University#2
Massachusetts Institute of Technology#3
California Institute of Technology#4
University of Chicago#6
Rice University#7
Yale University#8
Vanderbilt University#10
University of Pennsylvania#11
Brown University#12
Williams College#13
Columbia University in the City of New York#14
Duke University#15
Cornell University#18
Bowdoin College#19
Pomona College#20
Claremont McKenna College#21
Dartmouth College#22
Northwestern University#23
Washington University in St Louis#24
University of Notre Dame#26
Wellesley College#27
Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus#28
Colby College#29
Swarthmore College#30
Washington and Lee University#32
Emory University#33
University of Virginia-Main Campus#34
Davidson College#35
Carnegie Mellon University#37
Georgetown University#38
Haverford College#44
Barnard College#47
Babson College#52
Middlebury College#53
New York University#54
Tufts University#55
Bates College#57
Carleton College#61
Wake Forest University#65
William & Mary#69
Smith College#70
College of the Holy Cross#82
Vassar College#83
Brigham Young University#84
Santa Clara University#89
University of Rochester#90
Skidmore College#108
Syracuse University#138
Pepperdine University#229
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University#345
United States Air Force Academy
United States Military Academy
Johns Hopkins University#9
University of California-Berkeley#16
University of California-Los Angeles#17
Amherst College#25
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor#36
University of Southern California#39
University of Florida#40
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill#41
Harvey Mudd College#42
Colgate University#43
University of California-San Diego#45
Northeastern University#46
Boston University#48
University of California-Irvine#49
Boston College#50
Hamilton College#51
Wesleyan University#58
University of Maryland-College Park#59
University of California-Davis#64
Lehigh University#66
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign#67
University of Wisconsin-Madison#74
Villanova University#76
Florida State University#77
University of Miami#78
University of Richmond#79
Purdue University-Main Campus#86
Case Western Reserve University#94
Tulane University of Louisiana#97
Rutgers University-New Brunswick#106
University of Connecticut#114
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute#117
Southern Methodist University#131
Texas Christian University#134
University of Massachusetts-Amherst#135
Loyola Marymount University#144
Auburn University#153
Fordham University#156
University of Delaware#157
University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus#164
Worcester Polytechnic Institute#176
American University#181
University of California-Santa Cruz#183
University of Colorado Boulder#185
Drexel University#208
University of Arizona#269
Howard University#289
Texas Tech University#336
Harvard University#5
Grinnell College#60
The University of Texas at Austin#62
University of California-Santa Barbara#71
University of Washington-Seattle Campus#73
University of Georgia#81
Stony Brook University#85
Binghamton University#88
George Washington University#91
Colorado College#96
Texas A&M University-College Station#105
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University#109
Ohio State University-Main Campus#120
University of Central Florida#125
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities#133
Denison University#147
University of Maryland-Baltimore County#158
Indiana University-Bloomington#170
Michigan State University#193
Baylor University#199
University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus#207
University of California-Merced#264
University of Iowa#270
University of Oregon#304
Towson University#328
The University of Alabama#339
University of Kentucky#371
Temple University#513
United States Naval Academy
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo#75
Clemson University#103
San Diego State University#118
The University of Tennessee-Knoxville#145
University of California-Riverside#174
University of South Carolina-Columbia#187
University of Houston#201
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus#211
University of Missouri-Columbia#227
San Jose State University#234
University of Kansas#329
Arizona State University Campus Immersion#3801 college in the dataset did not report this factor in their CDS filing.
Indirectly, from everything: the voice and self-awareness in your essays, specific stories in teacher and counselor letters, how you describe your activities, and any disciplinary history. There is no character test — consistency across these sources is what convinces a reader.
Because at selective schools most applicants clear the academic bar, character is often the deciding layer: colleges are assembling a community, not just a class of high scorers. It is one of the most commonly "very important" factors on Common Data Set filings.
Of the 143 colleges with Common Data Set filings in Trajecta's dataset, 53 rate character and personal qualities very important in admissions, 48 rate it important, 29 considered, and 12 say it is not considered. Colleges rating it very important include Princeton University, Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology, University of Chicago.
Ratings are self-reported by each college in its Common Data Set, section C7. Every school links to its full data page. Explore the college rankings →