<p>coureur has it exactly right.</p>
<p>we love to think of it as a crapshoot as a kind of scapegoat for when we get rejected. “oh EVERYONE gets rejected to stanford/harvard/etc!” but it’s really not.
there are reasons for rejection and maybe hidden reasons for acceptance. i sometimes wish i could talk to the adcom and see their retionale for choosing some candidates and rejecting others.</p>