Why was I rejected from SMU?

Question

I was a really well-rounded student throughout high school. I applied to SMU and I felt that I was over-qualified for acceptance there. I had a 1940 SAT score...and a 3.8 GPA for high school ( unweighted). I had excellent reccomendations from my teachers, and I have won various awards throughtout high-school. I interened with a distict court judge for two consecutive summers. I played basketball and volleyball for four years (varsity). This year I was student council vice-president. I am a very good writer, I know my essays were good. I showed interest in campus activities and even visited (which they asked about on the application). When I got my letters back, I was accpeted at NYU, Wake Forest, and Tulane. I just really don't understand why I was rejected; not even wait-listed, especially since I was accepted in to NYU and Wake, which are pretty selective.

Answer 1

I don't think that you should feel this way about the rejection letter. I mean you were accepted into some other exceptional schools. You should ignore the fact that you were rejected from this school and look at the other schools such as NYU. Just drop this issue and look forward. It was meant to be this way, fate.  

Answer 2

Did you request financial aid? That would be my vote why. NYU will accept and just not give aid but many schools won't.

Answer 3

you should be happy about the schools you did get into.  that's impressive.  as an NYU-alum, and i totally encourage you to consider going there.

i am surprised that you didn't get a scholarship from SMU, but i have heard that in interest of keeping their selectivity high, schools will reject any students they don't find likely to attend.  (eh, is that awful grammar?)  

what i mean is, if the school doesn't think you'll attend they'll reject you, so that their applicant/acceptee rate can appear competitive.  

Answer 4

They probably thought you were overqualified and didn't think that you would attend once accepted, thus lowering their yield rate.

Answer 5

It's hard to pinpoint why you were rejected. Each school looks for different qualities in students. Maybe because you were over-qualified, SMU felt that you were using them as their safety, and they really want to take students who will definitely go to the school.

While SMU is a good school, NYU, Wake, & Tulane are amazing schools. I wouldn't take the SMU rejection too hard. You win some, you lose some. Good luck!