Past Admissions Miracles/Surprises...'Woah,I got in?'

Applying to College
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<p>Hey guys,</p>

<p>Obviously when people apply to colleges, they usually apply to some reaches, matches and safeties. However, the reaches are places that are still fairly reasonable. I mean, a 2.0 GPA guy is not going to apply to Harvard and call it a reach. More impossible than anything. This is more of a question to previous college applicants...</p>

<p>Have you (or do you know someone) applied to a college that that you thought you were relatively unqualified for and then got an acceptance letter. </p>

<p>Now, i do not mean 'i have 2200 SATs .. i was unqualified for Ivy but i got in.' I mean more like if you thought you had less of a chance than most applicants and you got in. I've definitely heard of qualified candidates not getting accepted at some safeties/matches. So there has got to be some surprise acceptances out there. In other words, the admissions officers saw something in you that you failed to see in yourself.</p>

<p>I guess i will go first.. my friend two years older had average 1630 SATs, average-ish 3.4 GPA UW, asked for financial aid, international, Meh ECs, good recs apparently and he is freaking Asian Canadian. He got into NYU. Needless to say, i envy his luck/unknown skill but he is a good guy so i guess he deserves it. </p>

<p>So anyone willing to share miraculous acceptance stories that even shocked you? Feel free to comment.Thanks</p>

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<p>your friend prob got into the general studies school at NYU (which is pretty average/bad) so thats not so weird...</p>

<p>tell me he got into the college of arts and sciences and thats a little more interesting</p>

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<p>Aha, I remember someone on this board saying something I really liked...</p>

<p>"The biggest factor in your acceptance could be whether your application is reviewed before or after the coffee break."</p>

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<p>Haha I've heard that before, and that's where the whole "crapshoot" thing comes into play. I want mine to be read after the coffee break!!!!!!!!!</p>

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<p>Dont say that. Scare the poo outta me.</p>

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<p>hmm, i am actually not sure where he got in.. i was just like... what...:) good job! lol, coffee break interesting? I just don't want mine read after a 2400 SAT, million ECs dude.</p>

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<p>I dont want mine read @ 9pm, before a coffee break, after a 2400 SAT/awesome ECs guy! Maybe I could put a note on my app: "To whom it may concern....."</p>

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<p>lol it sounds biased huh?
my friend told me because he used to work in the admission office, he saw one day the manager had a trouble with her husband --> reject all applications she read during that day.</p>

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<p>that would suck if that stuff really happened. i'm nervous now. i wonder how deciding who gets rejected/accepted really goes down. hopefully its more of a team effort so one person can't just deny everyone like that.</p>

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<p>don't worry much about it. there are tons of school for you to choose. each has its own benefits. if one gets rejected to Harvard may seek to go to Stanford or Yale.</p>

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<p>well the chances of that pms'ing lady ruining your college chances are rare. At the very least your app will be read by two different people...in many cases they will be read by multiple members of an adcom. So they try to take as much of the 'crap shoot' out of it as they can, which is a little comforting.</p>

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<p>They usually just have one or two people sort through apps to sort out all of the obvious rejects, and then bring the competitive ones to a full table of about 10 people or so. One person's day shouldn't screw you over as long as you are competitive.</p>

<p>I know I saw a video about it, I think it was from CBS, about admissions at a small LAC (Amherst if I remember right) that did it like that.</p>

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<p>lol, then it's a complete and utter miracle that I got in XD</p>