I applied for the second round of admissions, and if space opened up, they would look at the waitlist. I got rejected so I would not even be on the list of candidates.
My GPA was higher than 4.7, my cousin went to Andover, and I had stellar ACT and SAT what gives? I knew about the dorms, the campus, I talked about the school culture, the interview went well, and she seemed to like me. Like why would you flat out reject me and I was on the shortlist for another boarding school meaning they would consider me.
There are so many great candidates. All of what you have, everyone applying to Andover has. What do you have that makes you unique? Any national/international credentials? What make’s you outstanding? What thing do you do that it’s likely no one else who applied does? There are 7-9 candidates who meet all the criteria for admissions. What gets you in is what makes you unique. And even then it’s still luck and guesswork on their part. They know what they need and will slot in candidates they think fit.
Applying late also didn’t help.