Can colleges reject/waitlist you because you're overqualified?

Applying to College
1

<p>I've been wondering this because I was waitlisted at GWU and Maryland, but got into BC and Northwestern. I'm just wondering...</p>

2

<p>They certainly can, but nobody knows for sure whether they actually do (wustl, for example, probably does it). I haven't heard GWU or UMD specifically accused of it before. If you were in-sate UMD, that is pretty odd.</p>

3

<p>check out these active threads on essentially the same topic:</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/678271-tufts-syndrome.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/678271-tufts-syndrome.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/677941-yield-management-top-public-schools.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/677941-yield-management-top-public-schools.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

4

<p>thanks guys</p>

5

<p>I have definitely heard of GW doing it, which is why S did not apply there.</p>

6

<p>Yes, they do. It's a method of increasing their yield, so it's actually more common than Adcoms would like to admit. Why accept a student whose stats could probably earn him /her a spot in HYPSM? Besides, students of that caliber probably don't demonstrate much interest in their letters, and adcoms see right through it.</p>