I will copy part of a comment I made on another thread:
The students who were accepted… are fantastic and they deserve those spots. There’s just more deserving students than there are spots.
I wholly agree that it’s unpredictable, that there’s no guarantee at almost any school, that the admissions process can be opaque, that rejections hurt, that no one should take it personally, etc. I find the whole process maddening, and you have to wear a thick skin and hold things at a distance.
I celebrate all the admits and awards even when they’re not going to my loved ones. And no one should ever feel like they have to second-guess whether or not they deserve their offers. I hope everyone ends up with some offers that their kids are excited about – it sounds like there’s a lot of love shown from colleges, it’s just hard to predict which ones will give it to which kids. Congrats and condolences and best wishes to everyone!