<p>My point was, does anyone think that high school students actually believe this. Where is their evidence? It would be interesting to see if the admitted student group actually takes fewer AP's than does the rejected group. If so, that might begin to take the pressure off. </p>
<p>The point on which this turns is "...—with no regard to a student’s happiness or personal interests—is a prerequisite for admission to Stanford..." This is a message to counselors, to be used for advising students. Stanford does not want to be seen as unduly contributing to a student's unhappiness and stress. It is a nice sentiment, but again, what is done to demonstrate that this is so? Even if no formal weighting is applied, how can one know what constitutes strength of curriculum versus too many unhappiness inducing AP's.</p>
<p>Then again, what about those students who enjoy all those AP classes and doing their EC's, and are not overly stressed? Are they at a disadvantage? Just think of the stress that is now added trying to figure out how much is too much. </p>
<p>This is all a highly subjective business for which there are few rules. Schools admit those who serve their interests and constituencies. I believe them when they say they want a broader pool from which to choose to serve those interests.</p>