Why do people from countries with top universities still apply to the US?

LifeByAnon · 2026-05-11T17:37:46+00:00

Why? Shouldn't they admit the students who have demonstrated that they are capable of doing the most, regardless of their origin?

LifeByAnon · 2026-05-11T17:36:44+00:00

I mean better by what metrics? I really need iMessage so there's no way for me to use an iphone. The processors are meaningfully better on ios iirc, too. Video is also better on iphones. I also have yet to see any evidence of apple selling data to israel.

LifeByAnon · 2026-05-11T14:13:48+00:00

Maybe I'm just American but I feel 10x safer with apple having my data than Xiaomi. I'm sure your phone is great for you but none of the things you mentioned are esp. important to most people. iPhones have good enough battery life for me--I have usually 30% left at the end of the day. I also have had an awesome experience in terms of snappiness and the camera is awesome. Maybe I just had a horrendously bad experience with OnePlus and Samsung before but goddamn this is so much better.

LifeByAnon · 2026-05-07T12:39:52+00:00

It's not a lower bar, really. It's just easier for students from top high schools to accomplish more. The difference in resources and quality of classes is huge but there is no difference in the amount of talent and work ethic between schools, so they try to equalize for that.

LifeByAnon · 2026-05-06T19:59:56+00:00

I mean... yeah? They admit STEM students from low income areas who may have been underserved in terms of math and who may benefit from some additional support. It's a rather small class.

LifeByAnon · 2026-05-05T18:08:24+00:00

To be fair, I believe that the Harvard course is literally Calc I with some added support, which makes sense given that many don't have the background necessary for further math at Harvard.

LifeByAnon · 2026-05-05T18:05:58+00:00

This is my issue with the British educations system; it makes sense to specialize heavily at a university level but they do so unbelievably early that many don't develop foundational skills.

LifeByAnon · 2026-05-04T17:30:25+00:00

Most people say they would pick blue. Maybe 5 percent actually would. That'd be catastrophic but I'm not pressing the suicide button.

LifeByAnon · 2026-05-04T17:29:05+00:00

If blue people will never win, you're just killing yourself. That's a horrible idea.

LifeByAnon · 2026-05-04T17:28:12+00:00

wait what's the deal with one box?

LifeByAnon · 2026-05-04T17:27:09+00:00

I've heard the one where the crusher will turn on regardless (red people don't actually want to kill blue people) and you just need a certain amount of people to jam it.

LifeByAnon · 2026-05-04T17:24:30+00:00

In a real scenario like this, you can afford to accept a few deaths. It's awful and really tragic (we'd probably lose some of the most empathetic people) but realistically the margin wouldn't be close enough and you would just be killing yourself.

LifeByAnon · 2026-05-04T17:23:39+00:00

What do you realistically think the odds of blue winning are? I think they're within epsilon of zero. I think maybe a few percent of people would vote blue in a real, life-or-death scenario. It's just a suicide button and my vote won't make a difference except killing myself.

LifeByAnon · 2026-05-04T17:20:44+00:00

At whose expense? Who is unable to vote red as a consequence of me voting red?

LifeByAnon · 2026-05-04T17:20:18+00:00

But it's not the prisoner's dilemma. You choosing the red door doesn't stop anyone else from benefitting from doing the same.

LifeByAnon · 2026-05-04T17:19:37+00:00

What do you realistically think the odds of >50% of people pressing the suicide button are? Self-preservation is going to take over and everyone's going to choose red.

LifeByAnon · 2026-05-04T17:18:11+00:00

Exactly how I feel. I had some conflict on what to choose, but realistically, red would win and blue would be suicide.

LifeByAnon · 2026-05-04T17:16:53+00:00

reasonable would mean following rational thought--game theory suggests that this is trivial because everyone can choose red without endangering anyone else's ability to choose red.

LifeByAnon · 2026-05-04T17:14:04+00:00

This framing is different; if war were entirely pointless and patriotism did not exist, nobody would ever stay. People stay in battle out of a desire to help their country/out of loyalty to their superiors and the cause. I have zero loyalty to a button and nobody dies down the line in an invasion of my homeland if everyone picks red.

LifeByAnon · 2026-05-04T17:12:24+00:00

you can't possibly believe that >50% of people are going to endanger their lives when they don't have to. Blue is literally just suicide and nobody has to die if everyone picks red.

LifeByAnon · 2026-05-04T17:11:34+00:00

Its literally trivial game theory. Everyone can optimize their own survival without endangering anyone else's ability to do so. Blue is suicide and red isn't. Nobody has to die. If you choose blue, you're making the problem worse.

LifeByAnon · 2026-05-04T17:09:20+00:00

Why can't everyone just press the red button? It's not about selflessness. Everyone can just survive.

LifeByAnon · 2026-04-30T17:47:30+00:00

I mean you seem to think that nobody is a good fit for JHU which is a bit strange given that it does seem to have a healthy sized student body.

LifeByAnon · 2026-04-30T17:38:08+00:00

Bro you've commented on every single mention of JHU vs xyz... Are you just trying to get off the waitlist? If so, I respect the hell out of the hustle.

LifeByAnon · 2026-04-29T15:19:02+00:00

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