It's random. You start with a 5/20 chance of acceptance and then several factors can increase that chance.
https://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/expansionpacks/discoveruniversity/degrees/physics.php
The skills you mention increase the chance by x8 each, which is a lot, but it's still not a 100% sure thing.
You can check university application status at a computer to bring up the notification screen again and confirm whether you were accepted to the distinguished degree or not.
If not, you can either wait a few days and apply again, or load a previous version of the save and replay your application :) It would be very unlikely to fail to get in twice in a row with those skills.
