4 ms·

When I went to college - there were 30 people per 1 college placement for comp-sci. In order to even be considered u had to have top scores from high school (go

When I went to college - there were 30 people per 1 college placement for comp-sci. In order to even be considered u had to have top scores from high school (gold metal is better). And that was in regional college - I can only imagine what was happening in the capital. TIL - getting in harvard is easier. Americans have it easy.

pitt1980 7y ago
Which country are you from?
- dominotw 7y ago
  i am guessing india ( regional college )
alexibm 7y ago
"Gold medal" ??? You are probably from Ex-Soviet countries or one of their ex-satellites. Limiting number of people who can attend undergraduate studies by setting bar so high that 99% people will fail either by failing entrance exam or grades to get in, is a dumbest given such a prevalence of Computers everywhere.
- arrayThrowaway 7y ago
  You should look at graduates of Tsinghua and the IITs. The IITs, as the top engineering schools in India, have a 0.92% acceptance rate. [1] Meanwhile, Tsinghua accepts 0.92% of Beijing applicants and close to 0.1% from elsewhere in China. [2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Entrance_Examination_–_Advanced https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Entrance_Examination_–_A... [2] https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d674e7841444d78457a6333566d54/share_p.html https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d674e7841444d78457a6333566d54/...
bilbo0s 7y ago
I've always wondered why we're so over the top about college admissions? It's weird. It's already really easy to get into our schools compared with other nations. And the data in this article really does agitate on the side of an uncompetitive application as the reason for any failure to gain admission. This article is hitting the nail on the head. It's not a glut of international students taking up all the spots because they'll pay more. That's not why you didn't get in. It's not legacies taking your spot in the class. There really are not that many unqualified legacies at Yale and Harvard. It's not blacks or latinos taking your spot via affirmative action. The blacks and latinos at Yale, Harvard or MIT likely outclass you along any dimension on which we'd care to take a truly objective comparative measure. Here's reality, there are just a whole lot more people trying to get into college now. It was easy before, but if you want that spot today, you have to beat out a lot more people to get it. That's why we have all the bribes and whatnot going on. If a thousand people or whatever are all going after the same spot, it's not likely yours will be the winning application. So people try to game the system instead. But even with the increased competition, our schools are relatively easy to get into. In America, you can always get into some school.
- commandlinefan 7y ago
  > The blacks and latinos at Yale, Harvard or MIT likely outclass you My kids can claim hispanic status through their (very very Mexican mother) and conventional wisdom is that they can both breeze into any college they care to by checking the right box on the application. Whether that's true or not, I've always warned them not to rely on it - if they coast in and find themselves surrounded by people who know the material backward and forward while they're still struggling with the basics, they're going to end up coasting right back out.
  - umanwizard 7y ago
    The conventional wisdom is not true. They’ll get a boost but certainly can’t “breeze into” competitive places.
  - bilbo0s 7y ago
    They won't even get in if they "coast". The blacks and hispanics at MIT or wherever, they are definitely not "coasters". That's an urban myth that will be roundly dispelled about 15 minutes into a working relationship with one of them.

pitt1980 7y ago

Which country are you from?

dominotw 7y ago
i am guessing india ( regional college )

alexibm 7y ago

"Gold medal" ??? You are probably from Ex-Soviet countries or one of their ex-satellites. Limiting number of people who can attend undergraduate studies by setting bar so high that 99% people will fail either by failing entrance exam or grades to get in, is a dumbest given such a prevalence of Computers everywhere.

arrayThrowaway 7y ago
You should look at graduates of Tsinghua and the IITs. The IITs, as the top engineering schools in India, have a 0.92% acceptance rate. [1] Meanwhile, Tsinghua accepts 0.92% of Beijing applicants and close to 0.1% from elsewhere in China. [2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Entrance_Examination_–_Advanced https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Entrance_Examination_–_A... [2] https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d674e7841444d78457a6333566d54/share_p.html https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d674e7841444d78457a6333566d54/...

bilbo0s 7y ago

I've always wondered why we're so over the top about college admissions? It's weird. It's already really easy to get into our schools compared with other nations. And the data in this article really does agitate on the side of an uncompetitive application as the reason for any failure to gain admission. This article is hitting the nail on the head. It's not a glut of international students taking up all the spots because they'll pay more. That's not why you didn't get in. It's not legacies taking your spot in the class. There really are not that many unqualified legacies at Yale and Harvard. It's not blacks or latinos taking your spot via affirmative action. The blacks and latinos at Yale, Harvard or MIT likely outclass you along any dimension on which we'd care to take a truly objective comparative measure. Here's reality, there are just a whole lot more people trying to get into college now. It was easy before, but if you want that spot today, you have to beat out a lot more people to get it. That's why we have all the bribes and whatnot going on. If a thousand people or whatever are all going after the same spot, it's not likely yours will be the winning application. So people try to game the system instead. But even with the increased competition, our schools are relatively easy to get into. In America, you can always get into some school.

commandlinefan 7y ago
> The blacks and latinos at Yale, Harvard or MIT likely outclass you My kids can claim hispanic status through their (very very Mexican mother) and conventional wisdom is that they can both breeze into any college they care to by checking the right box on the application. Whether that's true or not, I've always warned them not to rely on it - if they coast in and find themselves surrounded by people who know the material backward and forward while they're still struggling with the basics, they're going to end up coasting right back out.
- umanwizard 7y ago
  The conventional wisdom is not true. They’ll get a boost but certainly can’t “breeze into” competitive places.
- bilbo0s 7y ago
  They won't even get in if they "coast". The blacks and hispanics at MIT or wherever, they are definitely not "coasters". That's an urban myth that will be roundly dispelled about 15 minutes into a working relationship with one of them.