<p>Here’s my two cents. I was admitted to MIT and Harvard, waitlisted at Princeton, and rejected at Yale.</p>
<p>Now, I found that a lot of kids were admitted to multiple elites… and that a lot of kids weren’t. Some didn’t get into schools that are generallly regarded as easier to get into than HYPSM, such as Cornell. I found almost no one who was admitted to every elite they applied to. These qualities were common among both the Harvard and MIT admits. No amount of latin phrases will convince me that college admissions is not a crapshoot. Besides a small group of truly top applicants (RSI kids and such), applicants need a little luck.</p>