<p>couple of thoughts:</p>
<p>Mentioning that less than 1% of applicants who score below a 600 on their SAT Verbal begs to ask the question, why did you apply? Lets take star quarterbacks or scholarship athletes out of the discussion on this one please. </p>
<p>Yes, I’m sure there is the outlier who scored below 2000 on their SAT and was accepted. But the stats show that is the exception not the rule. </p>
<p>And the flip side of that stat is that even if you scored a perfect 2400, you still have an 86% chance that you will be denied.</p>
<p>If I sat down at a blackjack table and the odds were 86% certain I would lose my money, I would call the 14% chance of winning, wait for it, a gamble. I know the admissions counselor doesn’t want to use that term and I respect him for it. In no way do I think that it is a group of people in Palo Alto pulling applications out of a hat.</p>
<p>If the word “gamble” or “lottery” are disconcerting to some, let me amend my statement to the following:</p>
<p>“Stanford admissions decisions do not appear to have a predictable pattern due to non quantifiable variables and the large volume of applicants.”</p>