are looking for that a bit more and that 80% of incoming freshman had jobs in HS. IMO, I think they are also looking for kids who have gone through difficult experiences and overcome them.
My step-daughter got in. She had a 4.0 all through HS but an average ACT score. However, she has had a lot of difficulty in her life that she’s had to overcome and wrote a strong essay. As weird as it seems, in addition to some other things she had to overcome, I think coming from a divorced home and growing up in a step-family helped her get in. She didn’t have a job but there were some extenuating circumstances that prevented her from being employed which she discussed in her essay.