Am I the only one who hates it when headlines use the phrase "X admits Y"? It always frames the story in a certain way regardless of the actually context.
Princeton admits record-low 3.98% of applicants
61–70 of 227 posts
Re: Princeton admits record-low 3.98% of applicants
#62It's a shame that we're here in 2021 and the best we can do is basically just "selection bias." Basically all universities have no statistical proof that they can educate people beyond this. This is not to say that the schools are bad, but most of the education is simply due to the types of peers you have, not really due to the school itself. Princeton and Harvard admit, for the most part, people who already excelled…
What selection mechanism would you recommend for early indicator of ability than high school? I agree that everyone should get opportunities regardless of affordability (ex: international talent)
Re: Princeton admits record-low 3.98% of applicants
#63It's a shame that we're here in 2021 and the best we can do is basically just "selection bias." Basically all universities have no statistical proof that they can educate people beyond this. This is not to say that the schools are bad, but most of the education is simply due to the types of peers you have, not really due to the school itself. Princeton and Harvard admit, for the most part, people who already excelled…
I remain stunned by the level of incompetence in university administration. The covid epidemic really shined some light on it for me. I have one child still in university, and the school still has no plan for what to do about the foreign study and foreign internship requirements for his degree program. Everyone is just on-hold and unable to graduate. We also continue to run into silly requirements to appear in-person, which requires flying him out and back. Basic stuff that seems obvious to me seems unsolvable to them. And they won't even admit it. The answer for everything is just that they "understand" and "are working on it".
Re: Princeton admits record-low 3.98% of applicants
#64When looking at acceptance rates of Ivies, it's good to remember that the concept of a "reach school" that counselors push on students means that almost every kid is applying to some school they are not really qualified to get into. These disproportionately end up being top schools like Princeton and Harvard. If you're going to reach, why not really reach? Is the chance of getting into Princeton 4%? No, if you're wel…
There seems to be a trend toward students submitting ever more college applications. It's not uncommon for seniors to apply to a dozen schools or more, of which perhaps 1/3 are unlikely to accept.
So my question is, what is the larger context of applicants this year? Has a year of COVID sequestration altered the numbers? Are elite schools admitting fewer students? Has the total number of applications gone up? Is each student sending out more applications? Are kids applying to more elite schools than in years past?
One bare statistic really doesn't tell a useful story.
Re: Princeton admits record-low 3.98% of applicants
#65It's a shame that we're here in 2021 and the best we can do is basically just "selection bias." Basically all universities have no statistical proof that they can educate people beyond this. This is not to say that the schools are bad, but most of the education is simply due to the types of peers you have, not really due to the school itself. Princeton and Harvard admit, for the most part, people who already excelled…
It makes sense to group people for education based on ability. If a low performer is in a class of high performers, one of two things will likely happen: * the low performer will be left behind, because the course moves too quickly or sets the bar beyond their abilities * the class will have to be dumbed down so that the low performer can participate, which means that the high performers haven't realized their full p…
Considering that there are legacy admissions, sports admissions, and students that get in because daddy & mommy donated a new wing to the library, etc. does it really matter? There are also students that are smart and capable, but just unmotivated, or going through life issues, etc.
Some people are there to just get a piece of paper that shows they graduated from a top school, regardless if their GPA was a A or a C; and that school name on that piece of paper could still open doors a lesser school might not.
It's kind of like FAANG. You could have an engineer with FAANG on their resume who otherwise did relatively unremarkable work. Another person has only no-name companies but has accomplished a lot. Yet the FAANG alumni is the one who will have recruiters and employers groveling to hire them, not the other guy.
Re: Princeton admits record-low 3.98% of applicants
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
As a non-US citizen I was always surprised US universities doesn't require any examination test for the admission.
Most universities require either an ACT or SAT test score to prove your ability. These are not administered by universities, though.
They don't really prove anything though. For engineering degrees the math section is too easy; for arts degrees it's irrelevant. The English section is all about memorizing a bunch of words you'll never use.
It's not a good test.
Re: Princeton admits record-low 3.98% of applicants
#67Am I the only one who hates it when headlines use the phrase "X admits Y"? It always frames the story in a certain way regardless of the actually context.
Headline is referring to university admissions not factual admissions
Re: Princeton admits record-low 3.98% of applicants
#68It's a shame that we're here in 2021 and the best we can do is basically just "selection bias." Basically all universities have no statistical proof that they can educate people beyond this. This is not to say that the schools are bad, but most of the education is simply due to the types of peers you have, not really due to the school itself. Princeton and Harvard admit, for the most part, people who already excelled…
That's assuming random people are driven to excel in highly competitive environments and that going to university is a mostly academic and self-improvement pursuit and not just a diploma.
Re: Princeton admits record-low 3.98% of applicants
#69It's a shame that we're here in 2021 and the best we can do is basically just "selection bias." Basically all universities have no statistical proof that they can educate people beyond this. This is not to say that the schools are bad, but most of the education is simply due to the types of peers you have, not really due to the school itself. Princeton and Harvard admit, for the most part, people who already excelled…
What selection criteria would you recommend for early indicator of ability than high school?
I agree that everyone should get opportunities regardless of affordability (ex: international talent), but having non-intelligent agents in control by gaming the system is very dangerous (as seen in politics).
I think ethics matter more in the long run, maybe that should be a factor for university screening. We have too many intelligent people doing harm in the world (ex: ad business)
Re: Princeton admits record-low 3.98% of applicants
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
You may have received some incorrect information - US universities will require an SAT or ACT exam score and some programs will even require subject based exams (ex an SAT Math or Chemistry exam) However at the differences at the top 5 or even 10% are marginal at best, and even the top 5% represent a more than magnitude of students than have slots at elite schools.
Many schools, including Princeton, did not require an SAT or ACT score last year. And they say they will not require it this year either.
COVID is more of an exception that the rule.
I would be cautious about schools that do this. Unless its published that SAT score presence didn't affect chances to get in, I would assume its largely a play to get more applicants to reduce acceptance rate, with no scores counting against you heavily.
Anecdata of 1, but in my grad program, standardized test scores were used to sort students best to worst, and then they were evaluated one by one, given an accept/reject rating until all slots were filled. The score didn't affect your chance of being accepted given you were considered at all, but it did determine the chance of being considered.