| I'm sure that did sting, GFG, & I can understand why the conventional wisdom was what it was. However, you/your family & friends saw only the competing student's outward appearance -- what was known to you. Did not actually see the application, nor the recommendations. For example (not saying it was true in this case, but I've seen it), I've seen nerdy type students, including Asians, post on CC. Before results rounds they seem to indicate they're just "all stats." When the results come up & it's all fleshed out, it's quite obvious why they've been selected. The particular academic accomplishments, beyond those stats, are exceptional & consistently exceptional. At times they involve research, they involve academic initiatives, they involve academic programs outside the scope of the school that your family may not have known about.
What I'm impressed with in the postings of some of these results is the clear self-profiling that is occurring. Conclusion? Bet your bottom dollar that the application was probably at least as eloquent & clear. This is not a negative comparison to your own eldest, merely a guess that they might have been choosing, in your case, between fractionally different values to the school -- one in the other student's field, one in yours, or even both in the same field. Sometimes such decisions are just toss-ups, & honest reps will concede that such does happen. |