Maybe your essay wasn’t as good as hers? Maybe she has ECs that relate to her major, maybe they needed more people in her major? Maybe she comes across as more authentic?
Honestly, you come across as smug and arrogant here, and as someone who thinks they’re just soooo smart. You use big words that don’t quite work in an attempt to sound superior.
You might want to lighten up, Francis. Your higher SAT was just one piece of the admission puzzle and didn’t give you the edge at this school.
You should have stayed on the waiting list, not rejected them in a snit fit.
And on another thread, you had 4.24. That’s not in the pool of kids where 47% were admitted. Plus, over 4 years of hs, apparently your ECs were slim. (Plus, none relate to a possible math major.) And how you presented the rest, including essays, matters, in holistic. As does rigor.
You could have been the highest stats kid they ever saw and still mute your chances. An admit isn’t like a hs award. Much depends on what a kid presents, in total, how that reflects energies, challenges taken on (outside classes,) good will, and the biggie: thinking. Not just stats. Not.
Where you go for Undergrad will not define you, but it is what you do with the opportunities you are given. You have some great options so focus on them. Best of luck.
@Astro77 Actually I use “big words” because using them is amusing and they’re fun to type. Also why can’t I talk to her about it? Don’t worry I won’t be mean about. I’m actually a calm, pleasant person in real life. This is just my alter ego.
Objectively, using only objective measures, you win. But objective measures are only one of 3 things they look at.
To get ahead in life, you need to show that you are objectively qualified. You also need to show that you communicate well. And you need to show that you can work in a team, and sometimes lead a team. Obviously, there are other things that are important too: you must present as pleasant, look the part and seem eager to learn and do the job at hand.
So on objective scoring: you win.
Communication is you essay and what teachers say: ?
Teamwork/leadership: ECs and teacher recs ?
Presenation/eagerness: teacher recs/ GC recs. ?
So you don’t really have enough info to know if you were more qualified than your classmate. That is what “holistic” means. Most people assume the objective standard is the most important. It is in order to be considered (a cutoff is used even if they say not). After that, all the factors are equal, or not, depending of what the school is trying to acheive. Maybe she got a boost for being a girl in STEM? Or maybe you got a little boost for being a boy in Humanities (just an example). Who knows.
Likely she is a very personable kids that shows a lot of great qualities that make her shine through essays, ECs and recs.
You have great choices. Do yourself a favor and swallow the disappointment and move on. This is just the first of many times you will feel this way in your life. You can’t get upset every time it happens! Good luck!
PS: if you get into Stanford and don’t “deserve it”, will you decline? Of couse not! You’d be a fool to. If you are accepted, it just means thet saw something in you that UCLA either didn’t, or was not looking for.
It’s often a good thing to check deeper, past assumptions or simple assertions, whether that’s that a top U looks at more than stats or how a poster previously presented details. In both cases, it’s there for the finding.