If you applied to an Ivy League school this year, chances are you will be receiving a letter with a big fat “Denied” stamped on it. According to the New York Times, acceptance rates for the big “Elite 8” are at an all-time low. Harvard, for example, received a record 27, 462 applicants this year, but they only accepted 7.1% of them. Ouch! There are going to be a whole lot of distraught high school seniors with angry parents this month.

As it turns out, being the best at your high school isn’t enough to guarantee you admission into your dream school anymore. Got a perfect score on your SAT? Meh, so do 2,000 other applicants. Managed to become valedictorian? Yawn, so did a majority of your competition. That’s right, people; some of the Ivies have sent rejection letters to people with perfect scores and transcripts! The reason? There are just too many people applying and not enough room for them all.

I wish I could watch as a cocky HS senior with perfect grades opens their rejection letter from Harvard. The bitter, bitter tears that would flow thereafter would be more than enough to fill my Chalice of Broken Dreams. Better luck next time, kid! Sometimes being perfect just isn’t enough.