>So, it's not "we have 100 slots this year, the 100 best get in"?
If a university's mission goes beyond just collecting already-top-performing students from the best (usually wealthiest) school districts, you can't just do a straight rank on a single signal. There's a lot of variance in educational opportunity across the US, ranging from highly selective specialty public high schools [1], to places where they can only afford 4 days of schooling a week [2].
If a university's mission goes beyond just collecting already-top-performing students from the best (usually wealthiest) school districts, you can't just do a straight rank on a single signal. There's a lot of variance in educational opportunity across the US, ranging from highly selective specialty public high schools [1], to places where they can only afford 4 days of schooling a week [2].
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson_High_School_f...
[2] https://stateimpact.npr.org/oklahoma/2022/10/27/oklahoma-law...