Here's what I don't understand

[Anonymous]

I don’t see how such negative things are concluded on DCUM. These kids work extremely hard and build up a resume where most of us didn’t.

[Anonymous]

I feel like kids today are much further advanced in stem, but much further behind in humanities.

Understanding references to great works of literature or great pieces of art. Understanding the nuances in Shakespeare and being able to talk about it coherently at 18 or 20. It is only a very pointy kid that can do that well with the humanities.

- Have kids at ivies

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Far fewer applications were sent to colleges. Students had to write out each application and sometimes call up the school to even get one (if none was kept in the guidance counselor's office). There was no common application. For point of reference, Penn's acceptance rate was more than 40% in the early 1980's. A school like Boston College had a greater than 50% acceptance rate.

Demographics at the high end have changed (more high achieving Asians to compete with high achieving white students). The advent of the internet made colleges much more visible.

Also add in far more foreign studen visas to top schools.

Even mediocre foreign students have better admisdions odds than top US students.

[Anonymous]

There are multiple factors, but one is that each applies to far more colleges than 30 years ago (due to common app, online apps, etc). Consequently, acceptance rate plummeted, making schools that had been targets for top students reaches. So the natural response is to apply to more schools to increase your chances of getting in somewhere. It’s cyclical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are kids these days way smarter than kids of our generation? (80s-90s)
Every kid seems to have top scores and all As. Whereas, at my rigorous public high school in the mid-90s, regular bright well-rounded kids with As/Bs but not Einstein-level grades, were going to Northwestern, Dartmouth, UPenn, Wellesley, etc. I had strong but not exceptional grades and got into Vassar. Now it seems in order to get into a T30, you need all As and all APs. Am I missing something here? How is this happening? Did this generation produce geniuses?

"All kids" do not have this . . . Not around here. Not in my rust belt hometown.

Colleges are gaming the system, protecting yield in an attempt to be "selective." And it's gross.