Yeh - I got rejected from Notts for economics, but accepted by Warwick, which I was pretty pleased about. I was never really gonna go to Nottingham, but because of the sheer strength of Warwick's economics department, I was glad to get the offer. I've heard it said that Notts reject ppl cos they don't do 4 A-levels - is this true? I myself do just the 3.
As for all this conspiracy stuff, isn't it the truth that unis can't see what other unis you applied to? I know some may say unis look at your past grades etc and if they're pretty good, make the assumption that you applied to oxbridge too, but not everyone with high grades applies to oxbridge or the other elite unis. Unusual perhaps, but it does happen.