BTW, I think it said more about the personality of the AO, and less about the candidate the way it went down. But to SPS’s credit, I witnessed the new rector/headmaster at the time come out to the waiting room to meet with a family from the West Coast whose son had been waitlisted in the previous admission round. The family just “showed up” taking their chances, hoping to talk with someone. The rector was very empathic, and spent time with the family sharing that there were just too little spaces for many well qualified candidates, and reassured them that his app was given a lot of consideration and that this no way reflected on their son’s and the identified candidate’s capabilities. I was very impressed with him. I think we all just want to be treated with respect, and be given full consideration. With all the time and diligence that goes into these apps, we all just want a fair shake and to feel that we are given full consideration, not capricious decisions.