Reply to Where are my 90s era Harvard classmates sending their kids?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]What this shows is that getting into Harvard used to be immensely easier. People who went to Harvard in the 90s wouldn’t be in at anywhere comparable today. [/quote]

It’s not harder or easier per se, but the grade inflation is making the signals of quality very noisy. A few decades ago, the high school grades already helped the admissions pick the outstanding (academically) students pretty accurately. In addition, applicants these days are supposed to play victim and write a sob story about what kind of hardship they have gone through and how they have overcome their hardship and what lessons they have learned. It’s like everyone is applying for a script writing major![/quote]

Wrong. It is easier. Harvard used to have a much higher admission rate. In 1988, it was 14.6% and less than 15,000 applications.

https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1988/7/8/freshman-class-sets-application-records-pthe/

In 2025, there was a 3.43% acceptance rate out of 57,435 apps.

https://features.thecrimson.com/2021/freshman-survey/makeup-narrative/#:~:text=This%20year%2C%20the%20College's%20acceptance,totals%20a%20historic%201%2C965%20students.[/quote]

In 1988, you had to type out your application on a typewriter.  The lower acceptance rate is as much a function of the improved ease of application as it is anything else.  The denominator changed more than the numerator. [/quote]

Tell me you grew up with enough money to pay for college without telling me you grew up with enough money to pay for college. [/quote]

What does that mean?  Kids who applied to state schools also had to fill out applications on a typewriter. [/quote]

you're missing her point, Harvard grad. everyone had to type applications. but there were fewer apps to HYP because there wasn't robust FA unless you were dirt poor - and usually a minority. The ol' barbell. That cut out 80% of the competition. Those kids went to University of Illinois or whatever (with a typed application).  The typing wasn't the limiting factor, it was tuition. Now with that barrier gone, it's a tougher admit even for families who can pay it. [/quote]

I went to a T10 that wasn't Harvard in the late 80s/early 90s.  My school met full need, and plenty of my friends were there, in part, because with aid the school was cheaper than their in state option.

Did Harvard really not have robust aid then?  [/quote]

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