Ime, ratings are just a shorthand, not an absolute. Not everything fits into neat little boxes: is he a 3 or a 4? Not at Harvard, either.
With the volume of apps, I guarantee this becomes blurry. And the apps themselves don’t help. These are 17 year olds, not us, with our years and layers of experience.
Holistic isn’t rack and stack.
Many times, I think yes, just graduating is a goal. Not who does it with a 4.0. Who goes on to an educated, engaged life, not the CC thinking that being on a Forbes list is the peak.
It’s an exercise to strip away the hierarchical thinking, but we can try.
Sorry for the OT. Yes, Blum should not have written the letter and the Chancellor and Dev should not have forwarded it. My original point was that WE not leap to conclude he bought this kid in. Sheesh.