<p>Can someone explain? Don't flame, I'm being serious.</p>
<p>I think there’s tons of reasons for this! Perhaps the student displayed little interest in Penn through his/her essays but raved about Yale in his/her supplements.</p>
<p>There are things important to each school. Penn only has 2% who were not in the top 10% while Yale has overall higher stats. Go figure!</p>
<p>Perhaps the student submitted a weak app to Penn, and strengthened it for Yale. For instance, essays and short answers could have been mediocre for Penn. Personal also may have retaken some tests and gotten higher scores.</p>
<p>I was waitlisted for UPenn and accepted at Harvard. When it comes to schools at that level of selectivity, it can come down to factors that only the admissions committees really know.</p>
<p>stoompy: why do *you * think it happened? Do you think there’s an Ivy logarithm that just accepts one sort of student?</p>
<p>It’s been said before: it’s an art, not a science. Subjectivity. period</p>
<p>Improved mid-year grades?</p>
<p>Right, but he applied ED and obviously demonstrated the passion and enthusiasm for Penn in his application. I’m just curious as to what other factors may have played in. And mid-year reports won’t go from rejection to acceptance… it’s more likely to occur the other way around.</p>
<p>Remember that schools not only accept individuals but also compose a class of freshmen. It is entirely possible that this student presented a series of compelling attributes that were lacking in the pool at Yale but overly represented at Penn. </p>
<p>In addition, a number of details might have played a role … rushed applications, missing scores by the ED deadline, different essays, and many others.</p>
<p>And, fwiw, I am sure that you will find more than one student who was rejected by Yale and accepted at Penn! Or at Duke! Or at WUSTL! Or at Harvard!</p>