An open letter to all rejected students?

[taxguy]

I see lots of posts about folks being rejected and not understanding the reason despite having above average SATs, GPAs, vocal or musical auditions etc. I see people constantly asking about their chances who have above-average ( for that school) SATs and GPA. I also see people perplexed that 800 SAT kids and NMS get rejected. Let me elaborate

There are numerous reasons for rejections that I have seen over the years. Believe it or not, most of the people that I see who get rejected have the right qualifications and many may even be better than some who were accepted! You shouldn't take this personally. Here is why?

Schools accept students based on the school's needs! Please recite this mantra five times!Thus, if a school puts a limitation on the number of applicants from each state, then you may have to have above average SATs, EC,s GPAs etc. if you are from those competitive states vs. what you would need if you were from a state that doesn't have the same number of applicants. This has NOTHING to do with your qualification. It is somewhat based on serendipity.

Secondly, schools like diversity. This includes gender and racial diversity, not to mention economic diversity. You may have above-average qualification but due to diversity reason, they will take other people. Again, this isn't your fault! It is a bit based on the school's needs at the time. Lets face it, a guy applying to an art school that is mostly female will have a better shot over a girl with the same credentials. Likewise, a girl applying to an institute of technology or science school will have a better shot than a guy with similar credentials. Again, this isn't your fault.

Economics also play a role although it may be unstated by the school. Consider this, many schools need full paying folks in order to subsidize others. If you don't need aid, you will have an advantage at those schools that don't have huge endowments. Even schools with large endowments play this game. I met a Yale trustee who boldly noted that Yale admits a higher percentage from private schools because these kids probably won't need financial aid. Economics do play a role at about 99+% of the schools. Make no mistake about this.

If you attend a very competitive high school or magnet school, you are also at a disadvantage from what I can see. This is known as the Thomas Jefferson Syndrome. Thomas Jefferson is widely considered to be one of the best, if not the best, public high school in the nation. They have an average SAT that exceeds 1400 ( M and CR). However, no college will take the whole TJ student body. Each college will place limits on how many they will take from a public school. Even though it is very difficult to get into schools like TJ ,and even though most of their kids are as good as the top 5% found in other high schools, these kids will be at a disadvantage in admission unless they are among the top at that school. This is true for just about any public high school.

Moreover schools admit based on special needs such as athletic prowess in a sport, special talents that are needed for that year ( such as a tuba player), and special connections. Lets face it, President Bush had 1200 SATs but got into both Yale and Harvard. Gore got into Harvard with 1300 SATs. Could the average person do that? Both had special connections...period!

Finally, colleges make mistakes! Admission is not a precise science. I guarantee that every school has kids who they admitted and wished that they didn't. Likewise, there are plenty of kids who schools have rejected and wished that they accepted. Grades and SATs and ECs are only part of the equation. Attitude determines altitude. Attitude can overcome a LOT. I have seen NMS flunk out! . I have seen kids with great academic scholarships at my daughter's school do badly based solely on poor work ethics or due to distractions. I see a lot of this too.

My point is that if you get rejected, it probably isn't because you weren't good enough or didn't have the right credentials. Serendipity does play a role as does extraneous factors over which you had no control!

If it will make you feel any better, you probably will be financially better off in the long run attending a lessor cache school or state school and receiving a big scholarship over having to shell out a lot of tuition.

[jmmom]

Good points, all, taxguy.

I would relabel your "finally" point as "Also," and then say:

Finally, colleges themselves don't always "understand" why they reject one applicant over another. If you read The Gatekeepers or, I'm sure, any other inside-the-admissions-process books, you will see that it DOES happen that Admissions Committees sit with two folders on the table - both applicants who are more than qualified, both applicants that they would like to accept, neither applicant having a decision-tipping hook, BUT they only have one slot left. Sometimes, they just pick one. Candidate A has one committee member championing him or her, Candidate B has another. Sometimes they almost have to flip a coin. Sometimes, Candidate A's committee member just won the previous "battle", so Candidate B's champion gets the nod.

[Dean J]

Very comprehensive and well written, tax.

Each college will place limits on how many they will take from a public school.

This is the only line that I don't think is true. I've been at schools where this was the case and I've been at schools where it isn't.

[mini]

All this amounts to, really, is "Sorry, we found students we wanted more than we did you. As to why we wanted them more than you is none of your business, so if you ask, we won't tell you. Thanks for the check."

[jude_36]

From what I've read, you may also be rejected if the admissions office thinks you're likely to choose a different school. So if you apply at college "A", college "B", and Harvard, college A may reject you because they think you'll be accepted at Harvard, and will go there. Sort of the 'you didn't fire me, I quit' mentality. It's to keep them looking competitive in the rankings.

[guillaume]

Excellent! Thank you. I'm keeping this in my favorites.

[menloparkmom]

And don't forget that at colleges with low acceptance rates-i.e. HYP, Ivy' etc, MOST applicants ARE going to be rejected! There simply isn't room to accept all those who are qualified!

[mini]

By definition, those they rejected are "less qualified" (for what they were seeking) or they would have accepted them.

[nyumom]

Well- said and definitely worth bookmarking!

[taxguy]

Yes, I left out one other reason. This is called the Tufts Syndrome,although I don't know if Tufts really does this.

There are some schools who REALLY don't want to be considered as a safety. Tufts was known to reject amazingly qualified kids if they felt that they were using Tufts as a safety if they didn't get into their ivy school of choice. There are schools that have this philosophy. Again, this has nothing to do with your ability. All you can do is to make it known to these types of schools that you are very interested in them!

[mini]

It may have nothing to do with "ability", but everything to do with being "qualified". Folks who use Tufts as a safety are unqualified in their minds, in terms of who the school wants to attract.

[2331clk]

But what is qualified? Perhaps the adcoms are having a good, or a bad day, or they're tired, or had a crappy weekend or a great one. Their moods change, and how they see the same application one day or week may be entirely different the next week. How do they define "qualified" Jan 10, when they're just beginning their reviewing apps, vs March 10 when their minds >may< be numb reading too similar applications over and over hundreds of times. Too many times I've read, here, the kid accepted to Harvard or Yale, but not at considerably less competitive schools.

I think taxguy's use of "serendipity" is apt.

[Karen Colleges]

Thanks, Taxguy. Great explanation as to why students shouldn't take rejections as a personal slap in the face.

[mini]

"But what is qualified?"

Qualified are that GROUP of students who, in the admissions directors' minds, are most capable of carrying out the institution's mission as given to them by the President and board of trustees. NOTHING is left to chance.

[idad]

It doesn't hurt to keep this in mind as well.

Elite Colleges Not Necessarily Best Ticket to High Earnings
Study Shows Students Attending Next Tier Gain About the Same
Princeton - News

...They found that where a student applies is a more powerful predictor of future earnings success than where he or she attends. ...Says Krueger, Bendheim Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University: "It appears that student ambition, as reflected in the quality of the school to which he or she applies, a better predictor of earning success than what college they ultimately choose or which college chooses them."