<p>So there are people with perfect stats, a lot of ECs, great recs and all that rejected from colleges? Don't tell me this whole college process is totally random; schools with great prestige don't do random things to climb up in their rankings</p>
<p>Someone from MIT’s admissions office head once said: all of our applicants have outstanding credentials, but only a few have creativity.</p>
<p>it is untrue then. Not all MIT applicants have outstanding credentials. Maybe some, but not all. I don’t take admission officers’ at their words. They sometimes have to lie.</p>
<p>It ultimately comes down to who you are as a person. Great colleges want you to use the education they give you to become tomorrow’s leaders, creative geniuses, etc. They don’t just want students who know how to get an A in every class they take, or get a perfect score on the SAT.</p>
<p>“Why are perfect applicants get rejected from college?”</p>
<p>Maybe because they don’t practice proper grammar? </p>
<p>:D</p>
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<p>You really need to put aside the pedantic desire to always correct people’s grammar on the Internet, because it just makes you look like a tool. In addition what if the OP is studying English as a second language? Maybe it’s because I go to a boarding school and am familiar with people who are from other countries, but it’s impolite to correct people or make fun of their grammar when they could truly be trying their hardest to learn English well. Open your mind; you don’t live in a bubble.</p>
<p>kingcat, I only meant to expose the admissions officer quote. I do believe that not all of the applicants are straight A students, but we can certainly pick at least 5,000 applicants in MIT’s pool (as an example) and they will share similar stats. Given that not all of them will be accepted, this is where subjectivity (creativity) comes in.</p>
<p>Nowadays, there is a widespread belief that having great scores and everything isn’t a direct ticket to a top college; that is absolutely right.</p>
<p>You have also to consider diversity as a variable in this problem. Many top universities invest a lot to keep their students’ community multifarious.</p>
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<p>You are right; it’s not random. The simple answer is there are more of those students than there are spots available at the very top schools. Applicants like that do not get rejected by 2nd tier schools, only by the very top ones. </p>
<p>And like all schools, the very top ones want some diversity in talents, achievements, culture, and creativity among its students. Thus it won’t do to have an entire class full of GPA/SAT robots. All the students admitted to the top schools will be very high achievers, but they won’t all be high achievers in exactly the same way.</p>
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<p>Best sentence I’ve heard in a while here in CC, congratulations (:</p>
<p>Agreed- the schools look at the whole person and put together a class they feel is best for them. They look at more than numbers and a list of ECs.</p>
<p>kingcat - from your tone it sounds like you are not really looking for an explanation, but are ranting about the “unfairness” of the process. However, the simple fact of the matter is what Harvard has said a few times: “We could wipe out the entire class of 2,000 freshmen, take the next 2,000 we were not able to accept, and we would see no decline in quality”. Don’t take the quote marks literally, I am paraphrasing from memory, but it is essentially correct. You can say he is lying, but A) he isn’t; and B) you would have no proof he is. Given that there are far more applicants with qualified applications (not just stats but in all aspects) than slots available, they do have to decide somehow. There is indeed a degree of luck and randomness involved. Small, but it is there. Mistakes happen, for example. That would be bad luck if it happened to your app. BTW, there is no such thing as a perfect applicant, because there is no definition of perfection here.</p>
<p>@DemolitX: I typed this when I was half sleepy. You can go eat your grammar dirt :)</p>
<p>Well, I’m really looking for an explanation. Life is not fair, and I know that. But my question really means, do colleges, when they pay attention to your EC, care more about how interesting you are rather than how much you can accomplish?
And admission officers lie when they’re in office. Their answers aim to make applicants feel good and apply. I don’t think Harvard or any school could scrape 2000 applicants with a perfect SAT score; the number is just too few to be significant. Don’t tell me 2400 is not unique. How many people do you know get a 2400 on the SAT?</p>
<p>Fairly or unfairly 30-60% of the successful applicants at the top schools have hooks or min-hooks that the schools value higher than pure grades and SAT scores. The higher up the list you go the more these factors influence admission. A very top SAT/grades applicant is quite likely to be rejected from most or all of the top 5 or even the top 8 but will almost certainly get into a top 15-20. In many ways the top five is like scoring tickets to a hot sold out show.</p>
<p>Very good SAT scores are important for acceptance into a good college. Perfect SAT scores are not at all necessary. Those kids that spend a lot of time prepping for top SAT scores are not doing other things that would look better on an application. </p>
<p>My son was applying to top colleges. I told him he needed to get a score high enough that it would not ring bells with the adcoms.</p>
<p>It’s not about being the best applicant, it’s about being the best you.</p>
<p>With the availability of surerscoring, getting a 2400 isnt as rare as it used to be. It is part of an application package, but it is not the whole package. And remember, schools with acceptance rates of say, less than 20% will be rejecting 80% of the applicants, including ones with perfect SAT scores. Lots of disappointed applicants with great scores, ECs and reccs.</p>
<p>Several years ago our high school had twins as valedictorian and salutatorian. Needless to say they were both very accomplished and well rounded students. MIT rejected them both and the explanation was that they reject at least one out of every 10 valedictorians. After all every high school in the U.S. has one along with student government leaders, student athletes, artists, musicians, newspaper and yearbook editors plus all the competition from international students. My older d’s friend, an Intel finalist (1 of 40) was waitlisted from Wash U because they had already taken too many in her preferred major early decision.</p>
<p>@WhiteBoyNJ123: lol it was just a joke, hence the emoticon at the end. I’m an international student so yes i know there are people with english as their second language, though the OP has stated that he is not one of such persons. Plus, after doing so much SAT Writing practice, it’s almost become a habit lol.</p>
<p>To the OP’s question though: At the end of the day, luck is the final factor. It’s not about having the perfect scores, it’s about where or not the admissions officer thinks you’ll “fit” in the school. That is something subjective and cannot be measured by mere scores, which is why the essay plays a big part.</p>
<p>Perfect scores are a dime a dozen, when a student applies to a top ranked school. We have to face the facts, here…for every one person with an outstanding Academic resume out of HS, there are about 100-200 others that have similar resumes. </p>
<p>Admissions Counselors look for special qualities that set someone apart from the rest of an applicant pool. Some people are ultra smart, but when it comes to having common sense, communication skills, and other such factors…they lack in an area that is not deemed “uncommon.” </p>
<p>Most of these very selective schools are hell bent on finding that emerald in the midst of a million rocks. Forgive me for the cheesy metaphor, but people need to understand that the competition is VERY tough. Why you may feel your record is one of a kind, you don’t know what other applicants bring to the table. Some of famous celeb connections, others have parents who were alums, and some just take part in extraordinary events…that make an admissions counselor say, “we want him/her.” Then when everyone asks where did that kid go to school, you know the kid who was featured on the national news for saving 4 of his friends from a capsized boat?" </p>
<p>Good Luck.</p>
<p>“And admission officers lie when they’re in office.”</p>
<p>Just as students lie on their apps? All? Few? None?</p>
<p>High quality schools seek high quality students, so schools promote their best features, as do students.</p>