<p>Actually, I think from what Whitney said, one problem this student may have had was class rank. Yes, he was in the top 5% of his class -- but the elites are looking for kids who are valedictorians, or close. Keep in mind that many of the 23 higher-ranked kids at his very competitive high school probably also applied to HYPSM. I don't agree with the high premium on class rank - but I do believe it is significant. </p>
<p>And Amused, you are dead wrong about Berkeley -- it is extremely hard for in-staters to get in these days, and exceptionally difficult for an out-of-state applicant. I wish it was different - I was on the Berkeley campus today - it was an absolutely gorgeous day, and I was thinking about how much I would love for my daughter to attend Berkeley -- but I would never tell her to view Cal as anything other than a very big reach. We're Californians, so I'll probably insist that she mark off the "Berkeley" box as well as 2 or 3 others on the UC application form... but Berkeley is definitely a reach school for any out of stater. Legacy means nothing - it's basically a very big strike against the applicant whose return address is not in California, and it takes a lot to overcome that.</p>