The hottest Admissions Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Education Topics

America's Future Leaders Are Learning To Become Grifters

Rob Henderson's Newsletter • 5814 implied HN points • 15 Feb 26
🚌 Education Admissions
  1. Claims of disability are much higher at elite colleges, with many students using diagnoses to get accommodations like extra test time, priority housing, and flexible deadlines.
  2. Younger people and privileged students increasingly see bending rules and claiming victimhood as acceptable ways to get ahead, which makes gaming the system feel normal.
  3. The system creates perverse incentives—wealthy families can buy diagnoses and clinicians face conflicts of interest—so institutions may be training future leaders to exploit advantages and erode social trust.

Colleges

David Friedman’s Substack • 305 implied HN points • 11 Mar 26
🚌 Education Admissions
  1. College has become much more expensive partly because schools now offer luxurious amenities and many more administrative and support services, and they use heavy price discrimination so published tuition often overstates what students actually pay.
  2. Many colleges actively organize students' social lives with curated housing groups, orientation trips, and staff-led programs, which reduces opportunities for students to learn how to make friendships on their own.
  3. Recent campus sexual-misconduct policies give institutions strong power to adjudicate disputes and can chill sexual activity by creating risks for one partner if accusations arise, effectively replacing old parental rules with administrative enforcement.

No More Gifted Students in Mamdani’s New York City

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 1400 implied HN points • 04 Feb 26
🚌 Education Admissions
  1. The new mayor plans to phase out the city’s gifted and talented kindergarten program, affecting roughly 18,000 current G&T students and about 2,500 new admits each year.
  2. Many parents and advocates warn that abolishing G&T would hurt high-achieving kids who need advanced academic support and runs counter to what families want.
  3. Critics frame the move as part of a broader progressive shift that challenges merit-based programs and point to other recent policy decisions they say have had harmful consequences.

Yes, Affirmative Action Justifies Discrimination

Cremieux Recueil • 893 implied HN points • 18 Dec 25
🚌 Education Admissions
  1. Affirmative action often results in beneficiaries being, on average, less qualified by standard ability measures than those selected without preference, which creates measurable performance gaps.
  2. Because those gaps devalue the credentials of favored groups, it can be rational for employers or consumers to avoid or discriminate against beneficiaries to protect quality.
  3. These effects misallocate talent, strengthen credentialism, and lack solid evidence of compensating benefits, making affirmative action both practically harmful and morally questionable.
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Harvard Students Are Better Than You

Tracing Woodgrains • 825 implied HN points • 10 Jul 23
🚌 Education Admissions
  1. Affirmative action in elite college admissions can lead to opaque and arbitrary admissions criteria.
  2. Harvard is seen as an elite institution that prioritizes 'defining the best' over 'finding the best'.
  3. The complexity and tension of race relations impact admissions and the values underlying elite institutions like Harvard.

COVID 2023 (part 1)

Logging the World • 538 implied HN points • 01 Jul 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Admissions
  1. COVID numbers in 2023 are significantly lower than previous years, with restrictions lifted and admissions decreasing for months.
  2. 2023 has been relatively quiet in terms of new COVID variants, with no significant growth in headline variants, but the possibility of an evolution remains.
  3. While concerns about future COVID waves persist, it is suggested to enjoy the present moment and not overly worry about potential scenarios.

Don't mess with the Zohran

Philosophy bear • 214 implied HN points • 05 Jul 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Admissions
  1. A person named Zohran is being accused of misrepresenting his race to get into Columbia University. He marked himself as 'Black or African American' on his application because he grew up in Africa.
  2. While he made a questionable choice about his race, there isn't strong evidence that he intentionally lied. Many people pick options they think will help them, especially in competitive situations like college admissions.
  3. The issue has been made more complicated because the information about his application was leaked in a shady way. This raises questions about whether it's right to judge someone based on information that isn't ethically obtained.

Nice story in the new College Access Rankings

Science Forever • 338 implied HN points • 09 Sep 23
🚌 Education Admissions
  1. Washington University in St. Louis made impressive strides in increasing economic and racial diversity through strategic financial aid policies and initiatives.
  2. Efforts to attract low-income, Black, and Hispanic students did not compromise academic standards, challenging stereotypes about test scores and student demographics.
  3. Progressive financial aid policies, like need-blind admissions and a no-loan policy, have significantly improved access to quality education, setting a positive example for other institutions.

Childhood Roundup #2

Don't Worry About the Vase • 1568 implied HN points • 11 Apr 23
🚌 Education Admissions
  1. Child care is becoming more regulated and expensive, making it challenging for parents to afford quality child care.
  2. Parents are facing challenges in allowing their children to play and be independent due to strict regulations and societal fears.
  3. The education system is facing criticisms for ineffective techniques, pushing unnecessary pressure on students, and focusing more on signaling than actual education.

UK COVID data, week starting 21st November 2022

Logging the World • 318 implied HN points • 24 Nov 22
🏥 Health & Wellness Admissions
  1. UK COVID admissions have stopped falling and are now flat, indicating a potential change in trend.
  2. Analyzing the pandemic on a graph reveals unusual fluctuations from July to December 2021, with linear trends before and after.
  3. Weekly ONS infection survey shows a welcome drop in COVID cases, although there are hints of a slowdown in the decline.

The SAT is not fairer than grades

Pershmail • 78 implied HN points • 03 May 23
🚌 Education Admissions
  1. For poorer students, high school grades are a better indicator of success than SAT scores.
  2. Standardized tests, like the SAT, can be biased towards wealthier students by reflecting their better access to resources and test preparation.
  3. There is a need for multiple pathways to success in education that do not solely rely on grades or standardized tests, providing second chances for students.

Bias in Admissions and Hiring

Cremieux Recueil • 175 implied HN points • 05 Feb 24
🏥 Health Politics Admissions
  1. Bias in admissions and hiring is a significant issue, especially in areas like India and Bangladesh.
  2. Using unbiased testing is essential to reduce discrimination in the selection process for students and employees.
  3. Subjective selection methods can be biased and unreliable, making tests a more objective and fair alternative.

Education and Privilege Laundering

Symbolic Capital(ism) • 39 implied HN points • 10 Jul 23
🚌 Education Admissions
  1. Elite education institutions, from K-12 schools to universities, primarily serve to maintain and enhance social privileges of affluent families through a complex system of privilege laundering.
  2. The emphasis on elite education can often lead to a false perception of meritocracy, where affluent students receive favorable treatment and higher grades despite not necessarily outperforming their less privileged counterparts.
  3. Scandals like 'Varsity Blues' shed light on the reality behind the illusion of merit in elite college admissions, revealing the pervasive nature of privilege laundering in the American educational system.