@bisouu raises an interesting point…I always wondered about that. Part of me thinks it’s the yield dilemma…some of the less competitive programs thinking that Kid X is most likely going to get into a top program, so they are not going to waste a spot on them, b/c Kid X will probably end up going to said top program. But who knows…it is a very strange phenomenon. Maybe it is simply that they have enough of that type already. But honestly, doesn’t EVERY program want to pick the kids that have the most chance of making it? B/c that’s what gives the schools much of their reputations and the applicants…their successes.