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But at institutions with sub 10% admit rates, it is random. It's not a uniform distribution because you can do things to help your odds, but unless your family
by MengerSponge 1y ago
But at institutions with sub 10% admit rates, it is random. It's not a uniform distribution because you can do things to help your odds, but unless your family has a building on campus or you're an olympian or something... admission isn't guaranteed.
- ghaff 1y agoPeople are getting hung up on the word "random." It's not random in the literal sense but it is at least somewhat arbitrary unless you're below some academic cutoff or you're well above it and have some other at least relatively notable achievements.
- MengerSponge 1y agoRandom doesn't mean unlikely to happen, so I actually think it is random in the literal sense for almost all applicants. Much of life is. You can do things to tip the balance in your favor, but the most important things can come down to chance.
- ghaff 1y agoI don't really disagree. I probably prefer other terms in those circumstances. But a lot of the ultimate decisions depend on how particular people felt about an essay or some other aspect of a submittal.
- MengerSponge 1y agoAnd how that particular person felt on that particular day was in part a function of how well they slept, whether they read your application before or after lunch (c.f. Hungry judge effect), and any uncountable other things. Random. Some people's world views aren't robust enough to handle the idea that some of what they got they didn't deserve. It's unfair in the best way. It's luck. It's grace. Every person with access to this website has been granted things well beyond what is "fair".