Objective or subjective admissions

Pizzagirl
Wed, 28 Mar 2012 10:49:15 +0000

“I have a hard time believing that the kid who was turned down at Wash U was overqualified just because he was also accepted to NW, when I can see 6 other kids accepted to both schools and a bunch of ivies as well. Just doesn’t figure to me.”

Oh, see, by the numbers - I wouldn’t think twice if I saw a kid get into NU and not into WashU or vice versa. It wouldn’t make me think anything about the institutions or that one of them was playing games with said kid. It seems as obvious as can be that they can’t admit all the kids that are qualified, and so the kid pulled the lottery number at NU but not WashU (or whatever).

I also think you guys are way underestimating the competitive sets. Not every part of the country is as Ivy obsessed as the Northeast, and it’s misguided to think that every kid out there who is bright is either a) aiming for an Ivy and / or b) would certainly choose the Ivy over the non-Ivy if given a choice. Out here, people just don’t live and die by USNWR rankings the way you guys seem to; there’s more of a “there are a lot of good schools” mentality, and not the “sharp” HYP>rest of the Ivy League>other schools mentality.