December 2023

At this time of the year, many families wonder, “Why didn’t my super talented, high-achieving student get denied from that highly-rejective institution?” There are many factors that we can point to that help us understand student application decision, some of which are very black and white: GPA (including unweighted GPA recalculated by the college), test scores, and general academic performance, for example. But background information we can never fully uncover are the internal institutional needs of each university.

At the helm of most universities is the president and the cabinet or board of trustees. One can take a long rabbit hole down quick Google searches of prominent universities and who sit on their boards. Often, these boards bring forward their own agendas for the universities they serve and challenge presidents with goals to meet their needs and the needs of the communities they serve. One silo of goals will always be related to admission and retention. Examples of student populations that board might target include:

These priorities change frequently and, unfortunately, we are often not privy to that information. A quick Google search can pull up a public university strategic plan, which may or may not include this information or may be a public version of the plan. And private universities rarely publish this type of information. Add to that, perhaps, a mid-year presidential change of guard and the entire plan can be uprooted and turned a different direction.

Additionally, budget can come into play if a university takes need into consideration during the admission process. Perhaps a student is a bit below the GPA cutoff but shows in predictive modeling that he will likely enroll and is full pay. Guess what? That student may be accepted. This scenario could also be likely for a student who is Pell Grant eligible.

All of this to say that, when the denial letter lands in your mailbox, it might be a “them problem” and not a “you problem.” In some cases, we can point to a reason and in other cases we cannot. Such is life in the world of college admissions.