<p>"I keep reading this, but I don't see it in practice. The top applicants from my d's school were accepted, even if they went elsewhere. The complaints seem to come from students who assume that great grades/SAT scores alone should be enough to get into WashU. Like other highly selective schools, that isn't enough anymore."</p>
<p>Of course. Tufts and WUSTL are extremely selective, and frequently throw numbers-driven students off guard, because, like other highly competitive students, they're looking for the same qualities (and some others unique to each of them) that JHU, Duke, GTU, etc. look for = what sets student A above all the other highly qualified applicants. People who have not researched the schools or who believe all the rubbish online think that they have been denied because they were "overqualified." If someone was accepted at JHU and denied at Tufts, it wasn't because they were the victim of some "Syndrome," it was that they didn't fit the mold for that particular school, and vice-versa.</p>