Every year, we receive calls and emails from parents asking why their perfect students got rejected from every college. In fact, many of these parents had kids who boasted perfect profiles. 4.0 Unweighted GPAs. Captain of the tennis team. Robotics champion. National-level competitor. Non-profit starter. The list goes on.
Yet, even with perfects stats and extracurriculars, they were rejected by every college they applied to.
This begs the question:
WTF is happening?
Better yet, “WTF do I do if I or my perfect student is rejected from every college across the board despite being a shoe-in?
There’s no clear answer. The reality is that perfectly acceptable students get rejected every year for a variety of reasons. And, factors are externalities too obscure to measure.
Nonetheless, we’ll deconstruct this phenomenon in the simplest way. We’ll also provide some step-by-step recommendations we provide to people who were rejected all across the board.
Table of Contents.
- Why Do Colleges Reject Perfect Students?
- What We Recommend to Perfect Students Who Were Rejected From Every College
- Conclusion
Why Do Colleges Reject Perfect Students?
The Elephant in the Room: College Consultants and the 1% of the 1%
Alright, time to be brutally honest here. The biggest contributing factor to perfect students getting rejected is this: money.**
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Specifically, it’s money in relation to the college admissions industry.
To understand why students with perfect stats get rejected from every school, you must also understand how the college admissions industry works.
For the sake of brevity, we’ll keep it simple. The college admissions industry prioritizes the 1% of the 1% of students who have the funds to invest in student education. Often, these are professional firms that hire full-time workers to assist students every step of the way from Freshman through Senior year.
And, while it may be true students from lower income backgrounds can (and still do) perform well in academics and standardized test scores, they do so without the same resources. The time cost of studying for the SATs and writing essays for AP Lit is significantly more for students without consultants. Meanwhile, families that deploy college admissions consulting services benefit immensely by reducing student time commitment, labor, and stress. These seem trivial; but, it certainly plays a significant role in helping students boost their applications tremendously.
In the face of these obscenely, impossibly great applications, universities have no choice but to reject countless perfect students like yourself.
It’s actually this exact “pay-to-win” system of boosted admissions that leads to the next problem: the “inflation” of college admissions.
The Economic Inflation of College Admissions.
How hard is it to get a 3.3 GPA? Well, it’s a B+; or, a final grade of 87-89%. Now, how hard s it to get a 3.5? What about a 3.75? Or, a 4.0?
It’s safe to say that the higher your GPA, the stronger your academic performance. Therefore, high grades = higher chances of acceptance into prestigious institutions. Right?
Well, sorta.
Take a look at our question in the beginning. How hard is it to get a 3.3 GPA? Well, you just need to average a B+ in you overall academic courses. Now, how hard is it to do that? When you really drill into this question at multiple levels of analysis, you start to realize that there’s a lot more ambiguity than you may expect.
What if you attend a wealthy school by a gated community, where competition is fierce? Or, what if you’re at a low income area where the standards are low? How about being in a low income area where the students are majority Asian American, and follow strict educational standards? What if —and we know, this happens all the time— you get a teacher who just hates you and unfairly marks you off for assignments?
The fact of the matter is GPA is a multivariate phenomenon, and is subject to a plethora of externalities. Thus, it’s not as rigid or reliable as other measurements like the SATs or ACTs.
Additionally, “pay-to-win” college consulting services and elite tutoring services for the wealthy increase the number of high-performers. Other elements like cheating and lowered standards (at an administrative level) have lowered the bar and made earning a 4.0 much easier.
Oh, and don’t forget about No Child Left Behind (NCLB). It wouldn’t be an education article without taking a jab at ’em!’ And, for good reason: their pushing students forward no matter the consequences has diminished the standardization of academics —practically reducing the value of your 4.0 GPAs to dust.
What used to take hard work, grit, and determination has slowly lost its value due to worldwide academic dishonesty, tutoring for the elite, and the diminishing of standards. After all, it doesn’t take that much digging through Reddit to see this problem spreading all across the board.
Plus, this grade inflation is exactly what makes the college essays so important. If you’re looking to stand out from the rest of the admissions pool through your college essays —without the extortionate fees of most consultants— consider working with us! We’ll get back to you within 24 hours!
“Counterfeit” Grades and ECs in College Apps.
Cheating comes in many forms. Sometimes students share answers with one another. Other times students create fake clubs and non-profits with highly-exaggerated titles. Sometimes, something as inconspicuous as unfair nepotism or popularity contests can give students unearned leadership titles like Student Council President or President of Chess Club.
Now maybe you didn’t cheat. Or, perhaps you’ve once cheated on a Spanish test by hiding flashcards under your sleeve.
Frankly it doesn’t matter.
What matters is that cheating is more rampant in the classroom now than ever before. And, it’s reducing the trust admissions officers have on student applications.
Let’s say you hold the title of Student Council President and have started your own non-profit. Sounds pretty good, right? Except, many other students have done the same thing. And, a good number of them have cheated their way through those positions. Countless cheaters have earned the same titles you have for practically 0 effort.
This reduces the value of your experiences further.
Not only that, it also increases the value of quantifiable or “verifiable” extracurriculars. If you can back up your extracurriculars with solid fact and evidence, hey great! If not, you’re going to be under a scrutinous eye.
And, with the rise of cheating such as AI-generated Amazon books and other low-effort projects diluting the college admissions pool, it’s become even more difficult to stand out from the rest.
Supply and Demand.
Let’s face it. The supply of college spaces is slim. But, the demand has not diminished. In fact, applications have increased significantly in 2023.
While students with perfect stats and extracurriculars may have had what it took to land a top-tier college, demand has only increased over the past few years. And, with that demand comes a hefty number of perfect students just like you.
While colleges have been doing all they can to expand and accommodate for the increase of students, they’re limited. They can’t just let anyone in. And, with demand so high, your perfect profile isn’t going to be as impressive as it was years ago.
US News and World Report
The fact is colleges benefit immensely from having drastically low acceptance rates. By rejecting more students, they inexorably appear more impressive to prospective students. This improves their image amongst students, parents, administrators, and of course…
…drum roll please…
The US News & World Report.
Rejection rate is a ranking factor in the US News and World Report. The more students a school rejects, the higher their bond rating. That’s actually why elite institutions will purposefully advertise to students with lower stats and qualifications, only to reject them when admissions season comes around.
Brutal? Yes. Effective? Definitely.
And, it works well enough to get perfect students like you and many others flooding the admissions gates. Of course the more they reject, the higher their chances of beating out other schools and their rankings!
So, “off with their heads!” said admissions offices around the globe. Oh, and that includes perfect students with stellar profiles like yours too. Y’all are not exempt. After all, rejecting a good handful of impressive students only increases their demand, notoriety, and exclusivity.
What We Recommend to Perfect Students Who Were Rejected From Every College
1 Contingency Plan.
This step is very simple. Painful? Sure. But, it’s important.
There are 2 parts.
- Seeing what the school considered weak in your application
- Making a step-by-step plan to compensate for those weaknesses.
This helps you prepare for the next admissions cycle, whether that means you’re applying as a transfer, grad, waitlisted student, or appeal applicant.
First, analyze “what went wrong.” Did you write a weak essay? (This is the most common one we see.) Did you have low standardized test scores? How about your extracurriculars? Have you had weak extracurriculars that seemed more like vanity titles like “president” or “treasurer” rather than actual experiences substantiated in work?
One of the best ways to see where you were lacking is to look at your rejected institution’s Common Data Set. Simply search in Google, excluding the quotation marks and brackets, “[ School Name] Common Data Set”. Then, look for the most recent data set for the latest year. Then, look at all the variables the school values as important and very important. What are you missing? Where are you lacking? Chances are, you’ll see some blind spots that you can compensate for inn the coming years.
Next, comes the contingency plan. Based on the weaknesses you’ve found comparing your rejected application with the institution’s Common Data Set, you create a plan for the coming months and years to compensate for your insufficiencies. This may include getting help increasing your Standardized Test scores, having a qualified admissions consultant work with you on your essays, or even just taking on more interesting programs in the summer that can boost your extracurriculars list.
Of course, if you’re not sure how to create a solid contingency plan based on your weaknesses, consider speaking with us for help!
Ask yourself: as a smart student, what other options do you have despite your rejections? If you’re rejected as a Freshman, you can apply as a transfer. If you’re rejected via transfer, you can still apply as a graduate student.
Think about what grades you’ll need to get accepted into these upcoming admissions cycles. Additionally, consider what other elements you need to compensate for such as extracurriculars or essays.
2 Measure the Value of Prestige (Seriously!)
If you’re reading this, chances are you’re upset you didn’t get accepted into a top-rated prestigious school.
Most students apply to big schools for the name. And, if prestige isn’t your top priority; it likely is up there in terms of importance. After all, prestige often plays a more significant role in landing top positions than most people think, with some industries demanding it more than others.
Of course, there are exceptions.
Some industries such as artistic game design don’t require prestige at all. Other paths like computer science or entrepreneurship won’t care at all for your college title.
It’s important to know just how crucial a role prestige ACTUALLY plays in your future success.
Do you NEED prestige in order to land the investment banking positions of your dreams at Goldman Sachs? How important is prestige to your family, and how much do they play into your decision to attend a top-tier school? Or, does prestige play a bigger role than you expect because the top-tier schools with strong names carry great networking opportunities for your discipline?
These are all important questions to ask yourself as a student rejected from every school. For, many people don’t know just how much utility prestige can afford them both in and out of their career.
You don’t want to value prestige too much. But, you don’t want to underestimate it.
By knowing what role college prestige has on your future, you can properly assess just how much effort you need to put into getting accepted during the next admissions cycle —whether that means applying as a transfer or grad student.
3 Get a (Reasonable) College & Career Consultant to Work With You.
If you’re rejected from every school despite having perfect stats, and still want to attend a top-tier elite school, it’s in your best interest to work with a reasonable college & career consultant.
That’s the fact.
Cut and dry. That is it.
Why?
Well, look back at what we mentioned in section 2, 3, 4, and 5! The landscape is significantly different from what it once was. And, frankly, students are relying on expensive college admissions consultants and advisors (who are literally paid hand over fist) to get a competitive edge over other students like you.
Now, is it REQUIRED that you get a college consultant to increase your chances? No! But, in this modern college admission economy, you’ll be at a severe disadvantage without one. It’s certainly unfair. But, that’s the reality of the modern college climate.
In addition, this incentivized many consultants to charge extortionate fees for college consulting and essay advising services.
How do I know this?
I used to work as a consultant and tutor at a prep center in Los Angeles. And, I’ve seen all the tricks in the bag. Admissions consultants and firms know parents are anxious to the bone about which schools their kids will get into. So, they bump up their rates knowing parents and students will shell out any amount of money to get accepted into the colleges of their dreams.
This is why it’s absolutely crucial you work with a professional college admissions consultant who is actually reasonable and good faith. The modern admissions climate dictates that, to maximize your chances of getting into a top school, you’ll likely need every admissions advantage you can get. And, that’s best done through a trustworthy college admissions consultant who isn’t just there to squeeze you dry.
That’s why we created our own college admissions consulting and counselling services to fit every individual’s needs depending on their background and budget: to give everyone a fair fighting chance at top schools regardless of income.
4 Learn to Pivot From the “Meta Pipeline.”
There’s a very fascinating video that Destiny (a famous YouTube personality, debater, and games streamer) made. While it’s about the changing landscape of how creators make money online, it’s overarching philosophy explains the college admissions climate perfectly.
Check out the video below and start at 4:00.
Long story short, the internet used to be a “Wild West” of sorts. And, this unregulated New Frontier was great because people could very, very easily create content that earned a lot of money. Advertisers used to pay a fortune for “easy” and “low effort” content. That changed! Making money online has become more difficult and complex.
Ultimately, the market has changed; and, there is no going back.
Again, a little louder for those in the back.
The good old days when things were easier are gone; and, there is NO GOING BACK.
The same principle of change applies to college admissions.
A 4.0 GPA used to be good enough to get students through the door of elite institutions. Now, that’s not the case. Often, students need to work infinitely more now than ever before just to attend great schools. And, there is no going back to the good ol’ days. There are times when the “good ol’ days” made things easy. But, that’s not the case anymore. The landscape has changed. And, with it, you must change too.
The solution is to pivot.
Let’s face it: the strategy touted back in the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s is NOT going to work anymore. The “meta” pipeline from 4.0 student to Harvard is no longer reality. You can’t just do well in school and guarantee an acceptance into a prestigious institution. So, you must know how to carve out a future for yourself that does not rely on an archaic admissions format.**
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Often, this involves attending as good a school as you can; then, finding creative ways to approach your industry at an interdisciplinary level. Chances are, if you’re creative enough, you can carve out a niche for yourself that is both interesting and not competitive. Take our accepted Columbia MBA applicant for example. They were very interested in a small niche in art history that boasted few experts. And, ironically, Columbia thought them compelling enough to accept. Nonetheless, the principle still stands. You must be willing to pivot by drilling into your industry of choice; then, looking for creative angles (often interdisciplinary in nature) to tackle it that don’t involve low-acceptance-rate prestige chasing.
Conclusion
It’s a tale as old as time. Gifted and talented students with perfect grades and profiled catch rejections from Ivy League schools and other top-tier T35 schools all the time. University bureaucracy, Academic inflation, and the rise of cheating and dishonesty have skewed the admissions game beyond belief.
Nonetheless, year by year, students march onward toward uncertain admissions rates. More students are applying every year; and, the rise of the shotgun strategy is certainly doing no favors to that.
If you’re one of many perfect students rejected from every school, don’t worry. You’re not alone in this. Of course, if you want to have a competitive chance during your next admissions cycle, it may be wise to consider the help of a trustworthy college admissions consultant. Sure. the industry can be quite scummy and borderline unethical. But, the right support and advising from trustworthy professionals can go a long way in maximizing your chances of acceptance, especially in this modern admissions climate.
