05-22-2015, 09:45 AM
I wonder if it would be better if the big schools just came out and said "We know that there are too many qualified applicants to choose between, so we're simply going to draw a line of achievement and then do a lottery for everyone past that line." That's functionally what they're doing now anyway, once you get beyond the Olympians or charity-founders or other truly ridiculous high-achievers. I have very little doubt that I mostly got in through sheer luck, I wasn't that different from anyone else.
Although I have to say, one thing I find weird about the AP thing is the idea that taking lots of APs is inherently hard. I took at least 4 my senior year and didn't struggle at all (5's on everything but Spanish and I think mostly A's). I'm not particularly smart (at least in terms of Stanford-hopefuls, I think I'm decidedly middle-of-the-pack), so that makes me seriously inclined to think that it really is the schools piling on with homework or other work that's not particularly necessary. I just find it really hard to square my experience with these descriptions.
Although I have to say, one thing I find weird about the AP thing is the idea that taking lots of APs is inherently hard. I took at least 4 my senior year and didn't struggle at all (5's on everything but Spanish and I think mostly A's). I'm not particularly smart (at least in terms of Stanford-hopefuls, I think I'm decidedly middle-of-the-pack), so that makes me seriously inclined to think that it really is the schools piling on with homework or other work that's not particularly necessary. I just find it really hard to square my experience with these descriptions.