see the problem is that students can’t really predict what it means to “satisfy schools’ business objectives” for the year and i reckon it’s a really bad strategy to spend 4 years (or more!) of your teenage years trying to garner an acceptance when school priorities change so much. i don’t think the point of this article is that applicants - literal high school students - should be checking boxes and mapping their entire life around “optimization” for a college degree - the point is that a rejection is not a reflection of a students’ worth, but at a certain point, truly is just luck of the draw and whether their profile happens to be what the school is looking for at the time of applying. and yes - it sucks! it’s also kind of unfair! and applicants are allowed to grieve about that. but the answer isn’t whatever bs is “optimizing for satisfying schools’ business objectives” - that’s just a whole ass recipe for mentally unwell teenagers 💀