[stupac2]

Of course, it's also true that relatively few of them are pursuing MIT or Harvard or Stanford, and that could make a difference.

I think it makes a brobdingnagian difference. I follow the stanford subreddit, and something like 1/4 of all posts are some flavor of "how do I get in???" I saw one of those that saw posted by someone who was a freshman in high school.

I was a counselor for a Stanford summer camp called EPGY, and pretty much every single one of the attendees was there to try to boost their chances to get in. The kids are 8th-11th grade and from all over, many are local-ish but some are international. It seems to me that there's a large amount of anxiety around getting into these colleges, if you're on the upper end. If your someone whose "reach" school is Florida? Probably not so much.

[stupac2]

Of course, it's also true that relatively few of them are pursuing MIT or Harvard or Stanford, and that could make a difference.

I think it makes a brobdingnagian difference. I follow the stanford subreddit, and something like 1/4 of all posts are some flavor of "how do I get in???" I saw one of those that saw posted by someone who was a freshman in high school.

I was a counselor for a Stanford summer camp called EPGY, and pretty much every single one of the attendees was there to try to boost their chances to get in. The kids are 8th-11th grade and from all over, many are local-ish but some are international. It seems to me that there's a large amount of anxiety around getting into these colleges, if you're on the upper end. If your someone whose "reach" school is Florida? Probably not so much.