<p>Well, at least you can still get an excellent education at A&M.</p>
<p>From my experience, you can never predict the admissions process.</p>
<p>Oh wait, let me add one more school to this list, I didn't get into Emory either. Why is this happening to me!!!</p>
<p>omgosh.. thats really scary.. I'm applying to a lot of those next year, and I'm instate texas too.. blah.. but A&M is a great school, and I'm sure you'll be really happyl there, so no worries.. :)</p>
<p>Yours is a cautionary tale, Ridpat. Students with great stats should no longer count on getting into the "top" schools. You need a greater range of schools to improve your chances. Applying to all extremely selective colleges and then one "safety" seems like a bad idea these days.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Oh wait, let me add one more school to this list, I didn't get into Emory either. Why is this happening to me!!!
[/quote]
If you're not happy with A&M another possibility would be to take a gap year and take another shot at applying ... with a wider range of schools ... and with your applications possibly polished (you've done a great job it HS from the little info we see here it seems yor applications may not have brought out your great accomplishments as much as they could have).</p>
<p>Admissions people see things which we cannot.</p>
<p>I have now read numerous incredibly high scores get rejected, your scores are actually less than others in the same predicament.</p>
<p>What each of the students or parents are not seeing are the following:</p>
<p>(a) teacher recs <a href="b">I am sure a bad rec could torpedo the application</a> school's need <a href="c">this year they may need an oboe player, next year the cross country team may be thin</a> a glut of just-like-yous <a href="d">at Rice a math whiz is less stellar than in the pool at a literary giant school, hence if you jump into the school with math whizzes, you are normal while you may be contrastingly superior at the artsy language major school</a> ethnic needs <a href="e">many prestigious northeastern, as well as other schools, want to lose the old-boy impression which many have their institutions. Even those who are 1/2 latino are deemed latino for statistical purposes.</a> the girl vs. boy issue <a href="f">about 53-56% of the better candidates are girls -- guys keep this a secret as sooner or later they will discover that they will rule the earth -- and most prestigious schools fight for the 50-50 balance: result is the lesser guy gets in before the girl</a> personality match <a href="g">you may have disgusted or elated the person who you interviwed with. Or your essay hit the reader or revolted the reader. This match is beyond your control, not all of the time, but some of the time</a> weird other stuff <a href="h">one student applied to 20 schools and got into 19, and the one school brave enough to reject him did so because they knew that he would be admitted elsewhere and would jump on board at that or those other schools</a> Advantages [beyond being a minority, you may have legacy, may have a relative who works there, may have a friend of a friend]</p>
<p>All of the above factors are NOT being displayed in ANY of the threads, and yet they all are important, extremely important. </p>
<p>For that reason, I can only read the sterile information delivered in these threads with great hesitation. And, because I cannot obtain this information, I will assume that the admissions offices are doing a good job and do know what they are doing.</p>
<p>Very well said, FotB. I'll try to remember this thread when the next batch of "Rate My Stats" posts comes up for next year's applicants. This is <em>exactly</em> why some of us keep screaming that stats aren't everything.</p>
<p>A set of three numbers from the SAT can't possibly represent an applicant accurately -- it's normalized, and it only rates based on those factors present on the SAT. So to all the people who didn't get accepted to their top choice (and even to those that did), I say to you: DO NOT compare yourself to others based on these silly numbers. The same goes for GPA once you're in school, because those are even LESS standardized between grade inflation between various universities, the various majors, and the professors teaching the courses. Sure, GPA is important for maintaining scholarships, remaining eligible for your diploma and/or major, and of course grad school applications. But don't let a number define you.</p>
<p>Similarly, you cannot generalize the other sections of your profile. Take ECs, for example. There's no magic number for the quantity, listing them on an application or other sheet of paper can't really describe quality, and a demonstrated passion for a particular club or activity may outweigh a leadership role in some other that's never mentioned again in the application.</p>
<p>In short, the admissions committees at the schools you applied to have their own agendas and their own "formulas." Don't feel bad if you didn't get into your dream school. Your education is what you make of it, and you don't have to go to Rice to have fun, learn, or get a good job.</p>
<p>All quite true, of course. Still... for one with stats like ridpat's to not get admission at any of the string of schools she listed suggests that something's wrong somewhere. A guess would be that there's something awry in a rec or two.</p>
<p>Stanford_dude said he did not think interviews were important.</p>
<p>This is not true for the LAC's -- or at least for the majority of LAC's. If you are a standard candidate with the numbers, with the recs, with the EC's and the well spelled and error-free essays, you are just about anybody who applies. And, the essays are becoming more and more suspect as there is an ever-increasing number of adults who touch upon these allegedly applicant-only drafted documents.</p>
<p>Hence, interviews are where you show yourself without coaches, prompts or whatever. My alma mater takes the interview very seriously. </p>
<p>A thank you note is merely adult civility -- not a reflection on the activity being good or bad.</p>
<p>Right, for certain schools the interview is important. However, I think you misread something I said. I wrote the thank you notes to my interviewers, not the other way around. They didn't even have to respond, but they did and told me that "It was my pleasure to interview you. Let me know what happens when you find out." I don't think that sounds like I did something wrong, does it?</p>
<p>All this is moot, in any case, but I wanted to emphasize that the interviews at most schools are really formalities to let the student learn more about the school if he/she didn't have a chance to visit the campus.</p>
<p>No, that sounds like a pretty standard response. Cliches sound good for a reason, and sure, the interviewer might want to know how you turned out, but he doesn't sample the national or rather, international applicant pool-- just the regional pool.</p>
<p>Still, it's hard to say. AdComs can't tell you why and I can't tell you why without being an AdCom, so I'm sorry but I know you'll turn out fine.</p>
<p>Ok, I finally have some good news. I got accepted at Austin College with a merit-based scholarship ($12,000 per year). I just applied to this school to satisfy my dad. I am planning to do pre-med. Is Austin College a good school? Do any of you know about it? (i would post this on the Austin College thread but nobody ever replies--and plus, I like you guys more)</p>
<p>yaa, it is.. for premed.. i think they have a 100% acceptence rate for med or so my counselor says, but for premed its awesomee</p>
<p>if someone doesnt get into a school..dont take it personal. there is not just enough spots.</p>
<p>Some of those colleges that mention a 100% acceptance rate for med school, do so by only recommending a limited number of very top candidates for med school - thus effectively prescreening their candidates. If you don't have recommendations, you can forget about applying. Re: Austin College. We have two friends who attended and liked it and have been very successfull, but it is pretty small.</p>
<p>someone from my school last year turned down harvard for Austin College. It's great for pre-med. My parents both went there, and my mom chose it because of its pre-med rep. It felt very small when I visited. There's lots of emphasis on study abroad and community service. The students seemd nice enough, but definitely on the conservative side.</p>
<p>Austin College is fantastic for pre-med. I know several people who went there, one of whom is now studying at UT-Galveston Med school. Take it.</p>
<p>i have never heard of that school in my life so i cant help</p>