The outcomes for early applications are rolling in. Depending on your results, you may be one of the students who finds themselves wondering what more they could have done. The answer, to the dismay of many, is nothing.
A denial or deferral from a college can feel personal, but it’s important to remember that it isn’t personal – at all. Colleges are businesses first and foremost, and must consider their bottom line rather than who, specifically, they accept. When putting together a class of students, colleges are concerned with a number of things that you might not have considered, including:
- Statistics: Was there a spike in applications? Did the college over- or under-enroll in a previous year? Is there enough housing? Did they admit the required percentage of in-state students?
- Budget: How much merit-based aid can they offer? Did they lose or gain funding? How many full-pay or out-of-state students are needed to make up deficits?
- Filling Spots for Teams and Groups: In many cases, admittance of one candidate over another comes down to their commitment to a school activity or group, like athletic teams and school bands or choirs.
- Staffing and Course Enrollment: Schools also need to fill out enrollment across all of their majors, making your application to a popular major a limiting factor. Additionally, staffing concerns can play a role in the number of students a given department or major can accept as well.
- Demographics and Diversity: Some colleges prioritize certain groups based on the school’s mission or on things like gender, ethnicity, religion, applicant location, military affiliation, or special considerations like guaranteed admittance to the children of employees or “legacy” students, or prioritizing applicants from certain high schools.
So if you’ve done the work, the result is now out of your hands. Even if you are a highly qualified applicant, you may still be one of many thousands of accomplished, brilliant students. In this scenario, things like perfect test scores are no longer stand-out qualities. The bottom line is that your status as an applicant is not always a reflection of your quality. Knowing that doesn’t make up for your hard work not equating to admittance, but being aware of the complexities of the admissions process can take the sting out of an unwelcome outcome.