<p>The short answer is, becuase there are also oh, fifty or other perfect students behind them, and they justify it because a class full of perfect people would be boring. When schools are assembling classes, they’re trying to create exactly that, a class of varied people, not a group of people who are all ‘perfect.’ Our high schools aren’t filled with all ‘perfect’ students, but rather, a mix of a whole bunch of different students. That’s how there can be a choir and a French club and a sports program and Whiz Quiz, and that’s how colleges can offer all kinds of excellent ECs and clubs-- because they recruit students trying to create a diverse community, not perfect students.</p>
<p>Seriously though, I’ve stopped trying to play the college admission game, because like I try explaining to adults who thought I had a ‘lock’ on an Ivy that I was deferred from, like others on this forum say, this game is a crapshoot. It’s like winning the lottery and being struck by lightening on the same day.</p>
<p>I tried my best. My college application reflects, to the best of my ability, who I am. I had people read over my essays, but I ignored advice to cut certain things out, because my essays reflect the voice with which I write. My parents are fretting because nobody ‘packaged’ it for me. But you know what? My essays and my application? It’s all me. I enjoyed high school. I learned things. I didn’t do ECs because I was thinking of my college app or volunteer because I was counting hours. I did things that mattered to me. I chased things that I cared about. And I wrote essays that reflected who I am and where I’ve come in the last two years and I tried to explain how I’ve grown and matured and become more of an adult and student. If that’s not what schools are looking for, than that’s fine-- I’m perfectly okay with that, because my applications represent me, and if a school wants something else, more power to them. I had a beautiful file, but then again, a whole bunch of other applicants did too. I had the scores and the grades and the awards, and maybe this time, that wasn’t good enough. Okay, maybe next time. Maybe somewhere else. Because the reality of the real word is, not just in college, but in grad school and jobs, a whole bunch of people are perfect now, not just you. Sometimes, sadly, it is just about luck.</p>
<p>College rejections/deferrals aren’t personal-- they can’t be, because there are too many applicants. There is no perfect formula that gets even a ‘perfect’ applicant in every time, and trying to predict what magical combination of things will get you in is, in my opinion, useless and futile. Guessing what adcoms will get is useless, and quite frankly, I don’t want to play the game of ‘what if I had done x or y or z instead of a, b, and c?’ I’m going to take the time to enjoy senior year instead at a school I love.</p>
<p>(My laissez-faire attitude is also partly because I have been lucky enough to have a confirmed full-ride merit at a school I love with beautiful programs, because I sought out a safety school for just this reason. April 1 is now just icing on the cake.)</p>
<p>If the student is you, I would say apply to a couple more schools you love, maybe some with not the name-recognition you really want, and then let it go. You’re not going to be able to win an international award or add on three more AP classes between now and the deadline, so just…let it go. At the very least, if you were going to stress about what goes into your application, that time has passed, and nothing’s going to drastically change.</p>
