<p>jonri, I’m sure we could have some interesting discussions about this and other topics, but i think we’ve beaten this one to death. Example: do we really need to go into the distribution requirements - which haven’t substantially changed in 30 years - versus what one might take at some hypothetical other school? It ends up being anecdotal. We narrowed the point to a few issues - essentially, the profile of the actual admitted group.</p>
<p>There are many other issues we could bring in. For example, when there’s rampant grade inflation, how is that distributed and do all students choose to benefit from inflation (even if it were evenly distributed across departments). If for example grades in science are lower - as they tend to be, partly because grads in those areas are less important for graduate school and employment - then you’d find fewer non-law school applicants in the lower grade pool and more in the upper percentages. How much of an effect? That would become a complicated regression. </p>
<p>Now as for AMC, one of the good things about going to Yale is that you’re supposed to learn critical thinking. If it sounds like I’m being snarky, I am because it should be beneath you to offer drivel like, “I’m curious where * went to school.” That’s the rhetorical equivalent of “nyah, nyah, nyah” and you can do better. But more importantly, why be defensive? Challenge your beliefs and don’t defend them with nyah, nyah, nyah and distortions (like saying I said a 4.0 at UND is “always better”). Why are you defending Yale? Isn’t Yale tough enough, well-established enough, prestigious enough to take a punch? </p>
<p>Here’s the simple truth - as Greybeard has also noted above: most of the people in your class, likely including you just by dint of numbers and nothing personal*, will not amount to much of anything. A few will be wildly successful, but those will not necessarily be the ones you currently would pick - or even people you currently respect. Most will do fine and a number will screw it up. Go to your 20th, 25th, 30th, etc. reunion. You’ll see: most of the people are indistinguishable from the rest of the upper middle class population and many of them will see their time at Yale as their high point. That isn’t wrong, not by any means, but life is not a degree and if there is a secret to success beyond school - other than naked ambition and selling your soul for cash, which many do - it is to challenge yourself, repeatedly and critically. Yale grads’ life stories follow the same normal distribution as the rest. The center line is skewed higher - but then you have to control for incoming wealth advantages - but is the deviation really so much less that the 95% confidence interval covers a tiny spread? (The answer is no, but the assumption people tend to make is yes.)</p>
<p>*The phrase “It’s only business, nothing personal” - known from The Godfather - is attributed to an associate of Dutch Schultz.</p>