Accepted to MIT, Rejected from USC: The How and Why
The college admissions process often leaves students feeling uncertain about their chances of getting into their dream schools. With thousands of students vying for limited spots, even the most accomplished applicants can be left wondering why they were accepted or rejected.
One such applicant is Olivia, who applied to the University of Southern California (USC) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) during the 2022-2023 season, among many other top schools. Despite an impressive academic and extracurricular record, Olivia was rejected to USC (12.5% acceptance rate) but accepted to MIT (4.1% acceptance rate). Let's examine her profile and the factors that may have contributed to her divergent admissions outcomes.
Olivia's Profile
Grew up in the Bay Area, CA
Attended a private high school
Applied for college as a 14-year-old 11th grader
SAT: 1580
GPA: 4.8 Weighted
Goals: Become an innovator at the forefront of medicine
Major: Computer Science, Biomedical Engineering, Biology, Neuroscience, and BS/MD
Target Schools: MIT, USC, Harvard, Princeton, Johns Hopkins, Case Western, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, Brown, RPI, UMKC, Yale, Columbia, CalTech, UChicago, Baylor, Stanford, UPenn, Northwestern, Cornell, WashU at St. Louis, Georgetown, Carnegie Mellon, NYU, UMich Ann Arbor (She applied to all 27 schools!)
Olivia has a very competitive profile. She has challenged herself academically throughout high school while maintaining an exceptional GPA, and her SAT score is above average for all of her target schools. However, Olivia's target schools are notoriously the most difficult programs to get into, and even near-perfect numbers don't guarantee admission.
Analysis
The strength of Olivia's applications heavily relied on her essays and how well she could illustrate her personality, experiences, values, and goals. Essays give admissions committees a sense of who the applicant is, their passions and interests, and what they can bring to the college community.
There are typically two types of essays that applicants are required to submit: supplemental essays and the Common App essay. Supplemental essays are unique to each college and often ask applicants to address why they belong there. On the other hand, the Common App essay is required by over 900 colleges and allows students to choose from several prompts. When applying, we advise all students to begin with the Common App since it will likely shape how they highlight their story in the supplemental essays.
So, where did the USC application go wrong? When we started working with Olivia, she lacked a clear sense of direction and couldn’t define her unique strengths. Despite having a distinctive biology and computer science background, she insisted on writing her Common App essay about perseverance after undergoing surgery. While perseverance in the face of adversity is an admirable trait, it may not be the ideal theme for an essay if it doesn't truly capture the essence of who the applicant is and what they bring to the table. As a result, her Common App didn’t showcase her ‘it factor’.
Our team continued working with Olivia over the next several weeks to hone in on her strengths and communicate them effectively to the admissions committee. Fortunately, Olivia was able to use her supplemental essays to her advantage. She clearly connected her passions with her experiences and goals. She showcased her ‘it factor’ and how she will contribute to the college community. Researching the schools and crafting thoughtful essays ensured that she demonstrated her full potential inside and outside the classroom.
Note that admissions committees consider many factors when deciding if a student belongs at their school, so we cannot know for certain if the Common App was the reason why Olivia was not accepted to USC.
Here's a breakdown of where Olivia was accepted (she’ll be attending MIT!):
Common App Required:
Brown, Johns Hopkins, Columbia, Stanford, Yale, CalTech, Baylor, Princeton, Northwestern, Cornell, WashU at St. Louis, Carnegie Mellon, NYU, UMich Ann Arbor
Common App Not Required:
MIT, Georgetown, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD
