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[quote=Anonymous]This discussion reminds me of advice I often give to parents with kids who are exceptional for one reason or another, and that's to give a close look at some of the schools that aren't uber-competitive and swimming in surplus applications.

Someone might say, "well, duh, their admissions standards are lower," but that's not what I mean.  Often it's the case that the top-tier schools aren't able to give as discerning a look at those in their applicant pool who might be a bit off the beaten path.  This is a well-established phenomenon in behavioral science -- whether it's online dating, choosing food off a menu, or a school admissions office -- the more choices one has, the more one tends to filter down the choices according to superficial criteria, and consequently not make the best ones.  We all do it, schools included.

So if you want your kid to go to a school that appreciates specifically what they can bring to it it's often a good play to go to a less selective one -- not because the admissions standards are lower but because they can take a closer look and enable you to find that optimal match.

I've seen this phenomenon at work in the professional world as well.  I hired away two incredible talents who were angling for jobs at a longer-established, more historically prestigious shop than mine.  They couldn't even get a look there because the other shop was much more focused on choosing from the big names that were applying and not looking as closely at future productivity.  They didn't know what they had sitting on their doorstep.  I did.  My friends over there have since wondered how they let these two get away, but the fact is they weren't looking closely enough.

Schools do this, too.  Often it's the uber-competitive schools that don't realize what kind of talent is coming in their door because they have to use sweeping, superficial criteria to narrow down the list of possible acceptances.  This creates an opportunity for other institutions, and some of them use it to build some terrific classes.[/quote]

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