U.S. College Question

They probably were denied from top tier colleges, or maybe their SAT/ACT was garbage or their essay was trash. There are many colleges in the US that accept pretty much anyone who applies.

Kek must have only been applying to good schools.
In every single state there's at least one (if not more) school that basically accepts everyone as long as you have a high school diploma and an ACT score above 18 (Average is 20).
>I go to one of those schools.
Heres the kicker though, depending on your degree, employers do care where you've been. If you went to Shit U, while another applicant went to Harvard, of course they aren't picking you.

They could have been denied for other reasons too, such as they didn't think he'd be able to pay for it. He could also be lying about his credentials, it's youtube after all.

I applied to 3 colleges out of high school, I was only rejected by one. But I also had a 2.something GPA.
Still though, that should tell you about how easy it is to get accepted to /a/ college, that my barely passing ass got into one, it just might not be your first choice or a good one.

They were probably only applying to Ivy leagues.

When people talk about having straight A's, tons of extracurriculars, etc. and not getting into even local schools, they're LYING. Because it just doesn't add up.

I went to the most prestigious public school in my state (University of Colorado at Boulder). Again, unless you're an engineer, this is the #1 public school in Colorado. That said, I had mediocre test scores because I didn't study or prepare for the tests at all (1850 SAT, 27 ACT), a 3.15 GPA (just above a B average), and a couple lame extracurriculars (did kung fu until I was 16, volunteered for nature conservancy because my school made me, interned at a recording studio). And that's the best school in the state. Some other well-reputed schools will basically let anyone in with a pulse.

Here's the thing: now there are so many people applying to the top schools because everybody wants to go to schools like Harvard, and they get so many strong applicants that they literally have to resort to a raffle system to decide who gets in. Go ahead and apply to top schools, but also be open-minded to the next step down, because it's honestly not much of a step. Plus, there are a number of schools that are just as well-reputed as Ivy's, but less competitive because not everybody's applying, like Harvey Mudd College, which is one of the most sought after engineering schools by employers like Apple because it's an amazing school, but doesn't have the same name recognition as MIT.

The fact is, as long as you have a high school diploma and a pulse, somebody decent will take you.

The other thing is, it's kind of unpredictable who a school will take. My stepbrother did even worse than me in high school. He had a number of C's. But he's charismatic and he went to "clown college" one summer, which I guess Carnegie Mellon liked because they let him in.

If your essay is shit it doesn't matter how good your grades are. Assuming an adequate education, writing is a great measure of self-awareness and intelligence.

Reasons for a 4.0 GPA and still being rejected.

1) Too competitive of college choices means more likely to get rejected.

2) Bad standardized test scores will literally prevent your application from being read by and administration committee.

3) Criminal or drug charges on your record.

4) Bad recommendation letters. I don't mean generic quality, but like a teacher that roasted you in the letter and you don't know about it so you keep circulating the same letter to every college. Does this really happen? Three years ago back when I was applying, I was at a college committee workshop where one of the admittance admin said she personally got to hold the letter in question.

Straight A's in 12th grade don't mean shit if you had crap scores in the other years. That's why I put the disclaimer in the beginning.

Don't worry, you'll be fine. It's honestly not that hard to get into some decent state schools in the country. Sure, they might be tier 2, but the acceptance is 60-70% and I doubt that professional schools care about where you earned your undergraduate.

>>17641740
They're lying, they're only applying to elite schools, cannot write an essay, or theres a major issue they haven't mentioned. I work with high school kids, I have a client who made it into a tier 1 engineering program as a white male with a GPA in the high 3s and no extracurriculars.

>>17641777
/thread

For whatever reason this question was really bothering me but your answers helped a lot, thanks anons, question's pretty much been answered.