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Breaking the Myths: The Reasons Why Students Get Denied by Elite Colleges

Williams College – Open Source Image

Every year tens of thousands of students apply to top schools, and only a small fraction of them succeed in getting accepted. What does it take to get accepted to those schools? How can YOU become the next Ivy School student?

The main reason why, would probably be because you are not meeting their requirements. Different universities have different requirements. Some prioritize/value test scores more than others, some value good grades, etc. Though what if you meet all the requirements, and still get rejected? The main reasons are: lack of experience, impression, not the right fit for the school. Though there may be more reasons, the ones I listed in the previous sentence will be the ones I will be covering in this article. Lack of experience. You could lack experience needed for your major. An example would be if you were majoring in management you would need leadership skills, but if you don’t have enough experience with leadership roles the school you are applying to might think that you should have more experience with leadership. Either way you should seek the aspects your major need, so you could have a lot of experience to prove that you are the one to be accepted. The more experience you have the better because schools want to help you get better at what you’ve chosen. There are ECA’s provided in our school to help you get more experience. There is also the Student Council which is a great way to demonstrate leadership abilities.

Impression

Whether it’s in the interview, or the one you left after the admission officer read your application essay. Some students aren’t prepared for their interview. If you really want to be noticed by the admissions officers that go through thousands of applications each day, write about something memorable. Admission Offices like to see essays that they will remember; not the kinds they’ve read many times. Interviews give you the opportunity to show your true self. The interviewers like when you show enthusiasm and interest in the school. Which then they could identify if you are a good candidate for being accepted. 

Not being the right fit

It is always that schools look for enthusiastic learners. Though they sometimes look for more specific things, such as hobbies. This year the school might look for more d1 athletes, another year they might look for more orchestra players, etc. It is always different. Imagine you are a football player, The school might look for more volleyball players because their team has been losing. They might not look for as many football players because the football team is doing just fine. This could also be that the school thinks that they aren’t the fit for you academically; they might be looking for something else. 

There isn’t a guaranteed way of getting into top schools. Though sometimes people get rejected not because of their grades, test scores, etc. Some people get rejected because of different aspects such as:lack of experience, impression, not the right fit for the school they applied to. You should always apply to a variety of schools because you never know what other schools are looking for. If you do apply to many schools, you will most probably find the right fit for you.