i don't have any inside info but I will say UNC was #6 for me and i got a fellowship. Ross was #5 and i got an interview.... Yale was #3 and i was denied no interview...so idk. There might be some element of truth but I don't think it was so cut and dry.
Yale seems to have rejected an unusual number of folks outright (even non cgsm - check out the main yale thread). I think we will find out when the stats are released that their apps went up and with such a small class they were probably uber -selective. I don't know how yours went but my video interview for yale wasn't that great IMO so there's that.
I know someone who ranked NYU #5 and they offered them the deans scholarship to try to steal them away from their #1 ranked...
all this to say, who knows? Look at the dude from Grant me admission - he did everything most people say you need to do yet didn't get in this year. It's possible he was unlucky or there was just something about his story that did not click. Looking at how large the candidate pool is, sometimes it just works out to luck! You'll get in somewhere - as they say all you need is one!
LazyBoy8
I am starting to believe that rankings do play a larger role than I was initially led to believe. I feel pretty strongly that my work experience GPA and GMAT are in the ballpark for the schools I have been dinged from. I believe that yield management -now more than ever- is of particular importance for many schools. The change in the application process that happened recently changed the game. Michigan has already exceeded last year's whole application cycle through round 2. Yale is up 37% YoY through the January round. I think some schools are less willing to take risks this year with people who may balk. It makes sense to me as a business person. As an individual whose pride has been smacked around ehhhh it doesn't make as much sense.