euronymous_oystein

I will just focus on this sentence, because I have also thought about that (although I received 5/9 acceptances, there is one school that I believe has made this mistake)
 
No no no, the school did not make a mistake. All the staff/faculty that checked your application checked it very very carefully, believe me. They do not want, by any means, spend money on someone that will not give them money back, of course not directly. This is why they do it very carefully to be safe. 
 
You are good. You are suitable for this school. If you believe it, too, you will succeed.

You'll come across students all the time who don't care about your class. They don't show up, only hand in half the assignments, and are fine with their D-grade, as long as they pass. They're adults, and it's their choice. I only e-mail them if they've missed a major assignment or test (~20% of the overall grade).
 
I focus my time on the students who DO show up and put in the effort, but aren't receiving good grades.

I will just focus on this sentence, because I have also thought about that (although I received 5/9 acceptances, there is one school that I believe has made this mistake)
 
No no no, the school did not make a mistake. All the staff/faculty that checked your application checked it very very carefully, believe me. They do not want, by any means, spend money on someone that will not give them money back, of course not directly. This is why they do it very carefully to be safe. 
 
You are good. You are suitable for this school. If you believe it, too, you will succeed.

Right! Thanks

Noone knows how the committees select the students, so you cannot be sure whether you would be admitted or not.
 
In any case, don't worry about that, these universities aren't going to go anywhere and you can always apply for a post-doc there

Also maybe consider that some people aren’t just numbers on a page or a list of publications. Potentially they come from a top ranked school/Ivy League school and worked for a well known professor and got a great recommendation, which certainly helps. Or maybe their extra curricular activities are of interest to admissions committees or they’re not  traditional applicants. (I.E. we are all more than a GRE score, GPA, and a JACS first authorship and a lot more than that goes into the decision!)

Admitted to the University of South Carolina!!! I know it is not a top program but I was so worried I wouldn't get any acceptances at all I can't describe how happy I am

Wow, I was just accepted at UW, too! 

Just found out that I got into Cornell!! This is my first acceptance, and I think I'm still in shock.