USC consistently has 5 scholars each year, no matter how many finalists rank them. Some schools have in their match letter how many students match, and, most years, it is all released by the class of 20XX profile. Even if what you’re saying about match rates is true, ultimately, it just means the same group of 1,000 students are getting matched at the end of the day.
There’s no way to confirm another school wanted to match with a student who got with a higher choice. These schools have different considerations for who they’re going to match versus who they would traditionally admit.
Brief digression – 25 students are attending Dartmouth. 1364 had Dartmouth on their list somewhere. Those 25 represent the ones admitted who were not accepted by a higher ranked school. There were inevitably others whom Dartmouth liked but who had higher ranked options which admitted them. But Dartmouth also probably provides QB with the # of students it will admit through this program.
Overall, the Questbridge match has a roughly 6% acceptance rate among all applicants, and 15% among those selected to complete as finalists. Far better than 1%.
