Why was I rejected ED?

got2surf2
Tue, 20 Mar 2018 15:24:26 +0000

@armian - congratulations. Columbia is much more selective than Cornell.

My daughter got a likely and Rabi Scholar from Columbia and was rejected by WashU - admissions is a somewhat arbitrary process once you go beyond the gatekeeper qualifications (GPA, SAT etc.) and they boil down to how interesting you are from the perspective of the application reader (essays primarily). A rejection is not a reflection on you as much as it is an indication that with the inexact science of admissions good people get rejected without significantly impacting the composition of the incoming class because there more smart people applying than the school can accept.

The other issue you run into occasionally (not saying Cornell does this but it is highly likely WashU does) is they reject people that they believe are unlikely to accept an offer of admission because that lowers their “acceptance rate” number as well as increases the “matriculation rate” number. Both impact US News rankings.