<p>^^ I totally agree it’s a general problem, and I guess the one thing (whether unrealistic or not is another story) I favor is for there to be face-to-face encounters with students, or at least phone-to-phone encounters, in which what they are like is confirmed. And I mean, for instance, actually asking them – what kinds of math have you studied? What ideas were interesting to you? </p>
<p>Nobody can fake being passionate about math or physics to me if I get to actually talk to him/her, even if over the phone. And I’m no expert admissions officer. It’s pretty clear when someone is vastly into the subjects he/she studies, and has interest in going deep.</p>