Harvard Basics?

[DwightEisenhower]

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How much randomness you see in the process partly depends on whether you look at it from the perspective of a member of Harvard’s Adcom, or that of an applicant. When my son who’s now at Harvard was applying to college, we figured his chances were best at Princeton (where he was a legacy), somewhat lower at Yale (where he was also a legacy), and much lower at Harvard (the toughest of the three, and no legacy status). He was wait-listed at all three, but in the end, only Harvard said yes. Why H but not P or Y? It’s a mystery we don’t expect we’ll ever decode. For all we know, it might as well have been random.

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<p>The bolded portion is key here. It may seem random to non-admissions officers but that doesn’t give you any basis to say it actually is. Just because you don’t understand why a particular applicant was accepted/rejected doesn’t mean there wasn’t a reason that made him appealing to Harvard and not Princeton or Yale.</p>

<p>Admissions officers at top schools repeatedly say that they put careful thought and consideration into their decisions. I don’t see why we should call that into question and say it’s random without any supporting evidence.</p>