<p>I totally agree with Smirkus. The “profiles” tell a very small part of the story. Every person is different, every high school is different, every admissions officer is different. There’s no way to stabilize all the variables of college admissions and draw a firm line between “qualified” and “unqualified.”</p>
<p>There were a few surprises this year in my neck of the woods-- Chicago has traditionally accepted most, if not all of the applicants from my high school, provided that they have taken mostly honors courses and have done well in them. This year, a student who fits the profile of admitted students from my high school from the past few years, was deferred. Had he applied last year, he would have very likely been accepted.</p>
<p>That’s a very fancy way of me saying that I think that a lot of deferred applicants are probably just as qualified as the admitted applicants. Again, though, the crapshoot. Not everybody who is qualified makes it in.</p>