<p>The problem with english is that everyone has a different idea of the meaning of “guaranteed”, “Sure bet”, “automatic”, “lock”, etc.</p>
<p>I’m starting to conclude that admissions is a two stage process:</p>
<p>1) Is the applicant academically qualified and prepared to do well here?
2) What makes this applicant special? What makes this applicant an interesting addition to the campus? Is the applicant a leader? Do I LIKE this applicant?</p>
<p>A URM with 2400 and 4.0 gpa clears the first hurdle with much room to spare. I’m not sure a huge clearance is any better than a close clearance (for the sake of argument let’s call that 2100 and 3.8 UW) … you get down the track either way.</p>
<p>So, the adcom realizes the applicant will likely prosper and add academically to the school. Congratulations, get in line with the other 12,000 applicants to Harvard that clear the first hurdle. How is Harvard then to reduce the 12,000 to 2,200? </p>
<p>Let’s suppose the URM in question is Hispanic from an underachieving public high school. Maybe there are 1,500 such Hispanic applicants out of H’s 26,000 or so, H decides about 1000 are academically qualified, and historically sees about 250 admitted. You see the problem here? Will Harvard use levels of clearance above “really smart” to decide between those 1000, or non-academic factors? I say non-academic.</p>