<p>When you’re talking about super selective schools like MIT, then merit matters, but hardly anyone is a shoo-in for MIT. </p>
<p>My father served on the admissions committee for a top 10 national university (not MIT). He said he always felt great about the applicants they admitted and anguished about those they turned down, because a lot of them were top-notch. They just can’t take 'em all. He also said if the committee had come back the next day and started over from scratch, they would have admitted a very different class. There would be a lot of overlap to be sure, but for the applicants on the bubble, there is definitely an element of chance.</p>