“Changes in College Admissions” by Zvi

This post brings together various questions about the college application process, as well as practical considerations of where to apply and go. We are seeing some encouraging developments, but mostly the situation remains rather terrible for all concerned.

Application Strategy and Difficulty

Paul Graham: Colleges that weren’t hard to get into when I was in HS are hard to get into now. The population has increased by 43%, but competition for elite colleges seems to have increased more. I think the reason is that there are more smart kids. If so that's fortunate for America.

Are college applications getting more competitive over time?

Yes and no.

1. The population size is up, but the cohort size is roughly the same.
2. The standard ‘effort level’ of putting in work and sacrificing one's childhood and gaming the process is dramatically up. So you have to [...]

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Outline:

(00:19) Application Strategy and Difficulty

(01:16) Spray and Pray and Optimal Admissions Strategy

(06:37) Are Kids Getting Smarter?

(07:57) What About Considerations Changing?

(09:30) Holistic Admissions Will Eat Your Entire Childhood

(15:43) So You Want to Be Elite

(20:14) The Price of Admission

(20:56) The Art of Discrimination

(26:11) The Return of the Standardized Test

(32:58) Legacy Admissions

(34:56) Modest Proposals for Admission Reform

(41:09) The Gender Gap

(46:01) Missed Opportunities

(49:20) The Price of Attendance

(50:56) In and Out of State

(57:41) The Value of Admission

(59:18) The End of an Era

(01:05:25) The End of the World

(01:08:13) Making an Ordinary Effort

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First published:
April 24th, 2024

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/PTC7bZdZoqbCcAshW/changes-in-college-admissions

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.