<p>I agree that getting accepted is not a “crapshoot”. They are not rolling dice or pulling names out of a hat. Everybody gets accepted or denied for a reason (actually more likely a combination of reasons), it’s just that the reason is often unclear to an outside observer. There are patterns or trends as to who gets accepted, but there are always lots of exceptions to the pattern. To someone who wasn’t privy to the committee’s discussions, these exceptions lend the illusion of randomness.</p>