<p>Oh, but about the insecurities, we’re all in the same boat. I don’t think there’s a single person on the MIT forum right now who WOULDN’T be devastated by a rejection (or even deferral, for EA-ers). But, you have to realize sooner or later, that there’s a certain threshold you reach, where your stats are competitive within the highest circle of colleges and really don’t make much of a difference anymore. Your scores and grades will be ABLE to get you into Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and all the rest, but still a large majority of the people with those competitive scores are rejected each year. It comes down to factors that we, online, can’t possibly judge - like your interview, your essay, recommendations, how you present yourself to the college in your application. And the rest is thrown to chance - maybe the admissions officer reviewing your application is in a great mood that day, or maybe she/he is extremely stressed and frustrated.</p>
<p>I think I was just EXPECTING the students with stats like shanghaiwes’ to be able to recognize that fact. After all, I see an outstanding academic and test record to be a reflection of intelligence, common sense, and worldliness to SOME EXTENT - (though that may be argued). You should know that with near perfect scores, there’s no way you WOULDN’T be competitive at these colleges, especially against those of us who don’t happen to have such “stats”. It’s really out of your hands now. All there is left to do is count the days and hope for the best.</p>