[Farm93]

I wonder how many 3***, 4**** or 5***** football or basketball players were amongst the unfortunate 95%.........

Very few.

If those 3-5 star athletes that were accepted had decided to apply to Harvard they would have been accepted there too.  No doubt.  If they opted to go there that 3-5 star athlete would have simply bumped one of the many 1 or 2 star athletes that will attend Harvard.  Meanwhile at Stanford, if that 3-5 star athlete was rejected they would have been replaced by a different 2-5 star athlete.

Those highly qualified, but rejected, applicants are missing the mark when they point to those athletes or others with special talents.

It is much easier to get into Stanford than to become a 5 star athlete.  Any high school kid should know by now that if they have a 40" vertical or can run a 40 in 4.3 seconds then they will have lots of choices.  Since that athlete path is known to everyone in the USA I must suspect that a grumbling HS student likely discovered long ago that they were not going to become a 5 star athlete.

There are plenty of schools around the world that take the best test takers.  I think the USA and the elite American colleges are better for not just picking the kids that master the art of test taking.

[Farm93]

I wonder how many 3***, 4**** or 5***** football or basketball players were amongst the unfortunate 95%.........

Very few.

If those 3-5 star athletes that were accepted had decided to apply to Harvard they would have been accepted there too.  No doubt.  If they opted to go there that 3-5 star athlete would have simply bumped one of the many 1 or 2 star athletes that will attend Harvard.  Meanwhile at Stanford, if that 3-5 star athlete was rejected they would have been replaced by a different 2-5 star athlete.

Those highly qualified, but rejected, applicants are missing the mark when they point to those athletes or others with special talents.

It is much easier to get into Stanford than to become a 5 star athlete.  Any high school kid should know by now that if they have a 40" vertical or can run a 40 in 4.3 seconds then they will have lots of choices.  Since that athlete path is known to everyone in the USA I must suspect that a grumbling HS student likely discovered long ago that they were not going to become a 5 star athlete.

There are plenty of schools around the world that take the best test takers.  I think the USA and the elite American colleges are better for not just picking the kids that master the art of test taking.