<p>I was on an acceptance streak of fairly competitive universities - Bowdoin, UChicago, Boston College, NYU, Vassar (and then UFlorida and UArizona), but today, I got wait-listed at Vanderbilt. Why would that be? Are their admissions standards different? I've heard they emphasize legacy? I guess my pride is just a little hurt, and I'm worried that this doesn't bode well for Ivy decisions this coming Wednesday!</p>
<p>Vanderbilt’s a really good school and has competitive admissions, more competitive than NYU and BC at least. You can’t expect to get into every top university, but be happy about the schools you did get into - they’re all great.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt totally does emphasize legacy… remember, on the common app supplement, there were no supplement essays but like 6+ slots for entering the names of Vandy alum relatives?</p>
<p>Also, apparently it had like a 15% acceptance rate or something similar this year, so it was just competitive all around.</p>
<p>I was waitlisted too, by the way.</p>
<p>Well thanks, ellopoppet!</p>
<p>Ugh, coldplaying, I remember that. Kind of annoying, but meh! Sorry to hear about your waitlist. Are you signing up?</p>
<p>I don’t think so, I’m happy with colleges that accepted me outright 
Are you going to take your waitlist position, hotchilly?</p>
<p>The thing with competitive schools is that people rarely get accepted to all of the ones they apply to. Instead, the great candidates get into some and get waitlisted/rejected at others, depending on who applied at each school and who each school happened to be looking for.</p>
<p>This doesn’t mean that you’re going to be rejected at the Ivies. It just means you were wait-listed at Vanderbilt. Your other acceptances are quite the indicator that you’re a strong candidate and you definitely have a chance at some good news on Wednesday.</p>
<p>Really, the only school of comparable selectivity on that list is Chicago, which has an entirely different flavor than Vandy. I imagine your waitlist (rather than rejection) reflects that different flavor and perhaps a personality mismatch between you and the school. Don’t be too worried (but, of course, don’t get too excited about Ivy decisions–almost no one can be confident of an acceptance when the acceptance rates are so low).</p>