“Or their essays or recommendations were sub-par.”
Just my two cents’ worth, but is this last point realistic or is it just a kind of urban myth?? If a kid has straight A’s in school and has the combination of brains and/or work ethic to get a 35 ACT score, how often is this kid going to get a sub-par recommendation from a guidance counsellor? Wouldn’t the vast majority of GC’s be shouting this kid’s praises from the rooftops, particularly since one often hears about counsellors generally overpraising other smart (but not tippy-top) students?
I also don’t agree that these kids are likely to send in sub-par essays either if they are truly interested in a school. I tend to agree more with @homerdog in that these kids get rejected due to three reasons. As she pointed out, 1) some of these kids show no interest in a school that they should be showing love to (e.g, the suburban Chicago kid who won’t visit Northwestern or WUSTL 2) and schools will reject kids who they think will end up going to a higher tier school (and are using them as a safety). In addition, 3) many top schools can only take in so many smart kids from Bergen County, Westchester, Montgomery Cty (MD) and north suburban Chicago.