Please don’t email me to break the news that Harvard just had the lowest acceptance rate in its history at 5.95%, or that Yale dropped to 6.8% and put 1001 onto its wait list, or that Cornell got 37,800 applicants, took 16.2%, and put 3,000 on the waitlist.
1. I'm aware.
2. Who really cares?
The press runs this story every year. "Competitive schools got even more competitive." Somehow, it’s treated as breaking news. If I charged people to come to a seminar and then spent the entire time teaching them that it’s hard to get into prestigious colleges, they’d ask for their money back. But like clockwork, here come the annual stories again.
Here's a story worth talking about. There are only 40 colleges in the country that admit fewer than 20% of their applicants. There are 1600 colleges that admit more than half. We all get to make a choice. We can talk about all the bad news and focus on the fact that when Harvard takes 6 out of every 100, your chances of getting in are close to zero.
Or we can talk about how many great colleges there are out there that will gladly take you just as you are and give you a transformative four-year experience.
I know which story I’d rather read.
Eric says
Very refreshing perspective – couldn’t have said it better myself!