I know nothing about this situation. I do, however, know something about the admissions process at a few colleges and the systems for making decisions are complex with many factors being considered. Each college has its own personality and the admissions folks are looking for a good fit between the personality of the student and the personality of the school. While this includes GPA and test scores, personal essay and letter of recommendation also are very important in the process. These are more intangible and harder to quantify, but very important.
There are many excellent colleges and they are not all looking for the same things. I suspect that any of the kids represented on this board will be able to get into a good college (assuming that that is what they want!), but sometimes it takes some leg work to find the college that is the best match for the student. You should not just assume that because a college is good on paper that it will necessarily be the right place for your child to thrive. I hope that the student in this article finds that he likes where he ends up and doesn't fret too much about the one that got away.
