<p>blue, from what I hear Harvard halved the number they accepted from Andover this year vs. last. At my school Harvard made a deep cut too. The biggest issue here is probably that top colleges want to cut the ties with top preps in favor of a student body from a broader range of places.</p>
<p>After that, what I’ve learned is that there’s a good chance you don’t know what many of your classmates’ connections are. They may not be a legacy, but their uncle may have just made a major gift (happened in my class), they may look white but be half hispanic (again, something my peers didn’t know about a competitor).</p>
<p>My point is that colleges fulfill their own needs as opposed to seeking out just the purely best and brightest. When you get to an Andover level school there is unquestionably a pool of kids who have connections and strings they don’t announce.</p>
<p>Is there any doubt in your mind that many of your classmates would have made HYP had they stayed home? They got into Andover because they were the best and brightest there.</p>