<p>"I have actually never met a person who told me that they got into say HYP(SM too), but was rejected from Cornell. I have not even ever heard of this. However, I am willing to believe that it could happen. "</p>
<p>Come on now, yes those schools are yet more selective in the overall big picture, but individual decisions are not all made in lockstep and, with only 1/5 of applicants admitted, of course there are bound to be some decisions that buck the trend. Particularly where expressed interest and fit are factors that are given consideration.</p>
<p>One might not encounter instances of it much because that would require:
- regular encounters with a large number of graduates or students at these few schools in the first place;
- asking these people whether they were also admitted to Cornell, which is not a normal thing to be asking about;
- them to “fess up” and admit that they were rejected there, which may diiminish their preferred public image of invincibility.</p>
<p>In fact, I’ve read posts acknowledging specific instances of this on CC. Perhaps coupled with “well I didn’t care about it…”- which, if this attitude was manifested in the application, could well have contrbuted to the results.</p>
<p>One such instance, as well as some other very analogous cases, is cited on this post:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/481349-theres-no-room-yale-berkeley-reject.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/481349-theres-no-room-yale-berkeley-reject.html</a></p>
<p>We have a family friend who was an active alum of one of these schools, when his child was admitted there he told me that, absent his involvement, the kid, on own merits, would probably have been targeting Cornell. Had he applied, Cornell might well have rejected him; whereas, as legacy he was admitted to the HYPSM.</p>