College game is still rigged

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People act like families are obsessed with prestige, but the price tag for private colleges is quite similar no matter what they're ranked, and the doors that open after graduation aren’t the same. This dropped into my inbox today and lays out the economics.
https://k12intel.substack.com/p/the-problem-with-fit

Thanks for sharing that piece, quite interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Admissions should be based on merit and not on subjective criteria like EC’s which can be easily embellished and manipulated. It will stop all this madness to a great extent.

Define merit….don’t say tests and grades because they do not provide a good measure of merit given the huge variation in US k12 education.

They are a fine measure of merit. SAT/ACT should be only be taken once and probably revised to make it harder so not many students get 1500 plus .. like it used to be. Students can take subject SAT’s too.

If test scores are used in context I agree. But if used this way little changes because the mid 50% at top public’s are still left behind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People act like families are obsessed with prestige, but the price tag for private colleges is quite similar no matter what they're ranked, and the doors that open after graduation aren’t the same. This dropped into my inbox today and lays out the economics.
https://k12intel.substack.com/p/the-problem-with-fit

So basically run after prestige??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People act like families are obsessed with prestige, but the price tag for private colleges is quite similar no matter what they're ranked, and the doors that open after graduation aren’t the same. This dropped into my inbox today and lays out the economics.
https://k12intel.substack.com/p/the-problem-with-fit

There aren’t enough seats at the elite colleges for the high stat students. More importantly, the elite institutions don’t even accept students solely based on their high stats. So I feel the author of the above mentioned article is ignorant of these facts.
Most non prestigious colleges offer generous merit aid and that brings down the actual cost of attendance by a lot!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People act like families are obsessed with prestige, but the price tag for private colleges is quite similar no matter what they're ranked, and the doors that open after graduation aren’t the same. This dropped into my inbox today and lays out the economics.
https://k12intel.substack.com/p/the-problem-with-fit

There aren’t enough seats at the elite colleges for the high stat students. More importantly, the elite institutions don’t even accept students solely based on their high stats. So I feel the author of the above mentioned article is ignorant of these facts.
Most non prestigious colleges offer generous merit aid and that brings down the actual cost of attendance by a lot!

Yes, he seems to miss the fact that pundits like Bruni and Selingo are writing for donut hole families, for whom the economics of elite schools are in most cases quite foolish. Obviously anyone who will get a full ride at those schools should go there if they can get in. But that’s not the people who read articles and books about college admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People act like families are obsessed with prestige, but the price tag for private colleges is quite similar no matter what they're ranked, and the doors that open after graduation aren’t the same. This dropped into my inbox today and lays out the economics.
https://k12intel.substack.com/p/the-problem-with-fit

There aren’t enough seats at the elite colleges for the high stat students. More importantly, the elite institutions don’t even accept students solely based on their high stats. So I feel the author of the above mentioned article is ignorant of these facts.
Most non prestigious colleges offer generous merit aid and that brings down the actual cost of attendance by a lot!

Yes, he seems to miss the fact that pundits like Bruni and Selingo are writing for donut hole families, for whom the economics of elite schools are in most cases quite foolish. Obviously anyone who will get a full ride at those schools should go there if they can get in. But that’s not the people who read articles and books about college admissions.

I didn't read it that way. Seems to me he is arguing that high stats kids with "realistic chance" at the T50, not just the hyper rejective elites, are being steered away from applying without regard to both the better financial aid available at many of those and the ROI advantages of more prestigious schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People act like families are obsessed with prestige, but the price tag for private colleges is quite similar no matter what they're ranked, and the doors that open after graduation aren’t the same. This dropped into my inbox today and lays out the economics.
https://k12intel.substack.com/p/the-problem-with-fit

There aren’t enough seats at the elite colleges for the high stat students. More importantly, the elite institutions don’t even accept students solely based on their high stats. So I feel the author of the above mentioned article is ignorant of these facts.
Most non prestigious colleges offer generous merit aid and that brings down the actual cost of attendance by a lot!

Yes, he seems to miss the fact that pundits like Bruni and Selingo are writing for donut hole families, for whom the economics of elite schools are in most cases quite foolish. Obviously anyone who will get a full ride at those schools should go there if they can get in. But that’s not the people who read articles and books about college admissions.

I didn't read it that way. Seems to me he is arguing that high stats kids with "realistic chance" at the T50, not just the hyper rejective elites, are being steered away from applying without regard to both the better financial aid available at many of those and the ROI advantages of more prestigious schools.

in the T25-30, most do not give merit. so if you make over $200-250K, you are getting nothing. But in the 30-50 range, plenty give merit. So do the 50-100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Applying to colleges should not be as stressful as it has become. Colleges shouldn’t be as expensive as they are now. High school students shouldn’t be expected to win national awards, present themselves as prodigies, professional athletes etc. They are just teens beginning their lives. They might not know what they want to do in college and yet they already expected to have achieved so much success in various fields. Its insane! They should instead be allowed to make mistakes and learn from them, which in the current system is not allowed. Imagine the stress when KIDS are not allowed to make mistakes. Cause one mistake (one B or C) can mean no chance at the elite schools.
Then we wonder why our kids are anxious and stressed.

This. Honestly, the influx of highly educated Asians has poisoned the system. The cheating and willingness to do anything to appease the tiger parents has destroyed academic integrity and learning environment. These aren’t inherently bad kids but they are molded into obedient jerks who will lie, claw and cheat their way through the system.

Wow. The biggest cheats at my kid’s schools are white. Both male and female. Kids who have no conscience and don’t think twice of copying someone’s answers, using a stolen test, or coordinating cheating schemes among friends. Just as counter point!

The cheating is rampant at my kids’ Catholic schools. I was surprised by this; it was not the case at my Catholic school in the 90s. No idea what changed but even the top of the class cheats. It’s a bummer.

At our school, the teachers and administrators cheat. They want bragging rights — who got how many kids into which elite schools. They will ruin innocent kids’ lives so they can boast about it. If they are rich, the bribery starts. 60K+ to get bragging rights for my kid’s admission to HYPSM!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Article in Ny times.. by Jeff Selingo


“That mind-set makes acceptance to a highly selective college feel like a game. The rules are set by colleges, then carried out by admissions offices, and are stacked against the vast majority of teenagers. Fewer than a tenth of applicants win that prize of getting into one of the nation’s most selective colleges. If that weren’t enough, every year elite colleges move the goal line with new rules for getting across it.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/opinion/college-admissions-seniors-stats.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare


I doubt most people will learn anything from his book or article. We keep playing this game and colleges keep winning..

Selingo says in this article you can’t do anything about the rules set by colleges. It’s called legislation. Abolish ED.

For the last time, anyone can do ED. You must simply run the NPC and be willing to accept the results.
However, if you are full pay (90K) and cannot afford it, nothing changes with ED vs RD at any of these schools. They still will not give you merit and make it "affordable".

You seem to not get that ED was created to benefit colleges — and not the student consumer.

It was a huge benefit to my friends who only had to complete one college application.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Article in Ny times.. by Jeff Selingo


“That mind-set makes acceptance to a highly selective college feel like a game. The rules are set by colleges, then carried out by admissions offices, and are stacked against the vast majority of teenagers. Fewer than a tenth of applicants win that prize of getting into one of the nation’s most selective colleges. If that weren’t enough, every year elite colleges move the goal line with new rules for getting across it.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/opinion/college-admissions-seniors-stats.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare


I doubt most people will learn anything from his book or article. We keep playing this game and colleges keep winning..

Selingo says in this article you can’t do anything about the rules set by colleges. It’s called legislation. Abolish ED.

For the last time, anyone can do ED. You must simply run the NPC and be willing to accept the results.
However, if you are full pay (90K) and cannot afford it, nothing changes with ED vs RD at any of these schools. They still will not give you merit and make it "affordable".

You seem to not get that ED was created to benefit colleges — and not the student consumer.

It was a huge benefit to my friends who only had to complete one college application.

+1

[Anonymous]

Notice how the PPs that are hemming and hawwing over the same 25 schools completely missed the comment that outside the top 75, schools admit on merit. Some don’t even require an essay! There’s your merit admissions. You can beg and plead Congress you want for ~50 schools your DC didn’t get into despite a 4.0 and 1600 and 10 APs. Rest of America will just say… and you couldn’t apply to Towson, Old Dominion, or Iowa?

[Anonymous]

As I’ve posted before. Tons of merit at schools outside of the top 30 unis and top 30 LACs. If your kid is so gosh darn special and smart they should’ve been welcomed by a team of admissions officers on Harvard’s campus, why can’t you make it easier on your pockets and ensure your kid will get into a school without the stress. Miami University in Oxford, Case Western, St Mary’s, Gettysburg, Ole Miss, Alabama, Ithaca College, etc. They got merit and easy acceptances!

[Anonymous]

Seats at elite colleges are a scarce resource. Of course the kids who are savvy enough to figure out the rules of the game (or their parents are) are going to have a better shot at succeeding in garnering one of those few spots. This has always been the way the world works. How is this news? It's like the scientific studies that come out and say sugar makes your fat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People act like families are obsessed with prestige, but the price tag for private colleges is quite similar no matter what they're ranked, and the doors that open after graduation aren’t the same. This dropped into my inbox today and lays out the economics.
https://k12intel.substack.com/p/the-problem-with-fit

That Substack is terrible. Poorly thought out, zero detail and generalizes small subgroups pretending that they are the norm. Read a bit of the authors other stuff as well. Equally bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People act like families are obsessed with prestige, but the price tag for private colleges is quite similar no matter what they're ranked, and the doors that open after graduation aren’t the same. This dropped into my inbox today and lays out the economics.
https://k12intel.substack.com/p/the-problem-with-fit

There aren’t enough seats at the elite colleges for the high stat students. More importantly, the elite institutions don’t even accept students solely based on their high stats. So I feel the author of the above mentioned article is ignorant of these facts.
Most non prestigious colleges offer generous merit aid and that brings down the actual cost of attendance by a lot!

Actually, only a minority of colleges offer merit aid that can make them cost less than the tuition free of top unis for the average American.