@CrispyBullet They aren’t connected…I was just saying that the people who complain about Oxford are complaining about their lower stats which are actually on par with many of the public and private schools that they revere such as UCLA. And ironically, that scenario you mention is quite common and is definitely the case for the UC system and Georgia’s very own elite STEM university, Georgia Tech has programs with community colleges and lower tier colleges and universities throughout Georgia that basically guarantee transfer admissions if certain conditions are met. The attitude of outside Oxford haters (as in those who did not attend or even apply) is actually quite snobby and ignorant. I still remember my “slap forehead” incident of overhearing a student say “Georgia Tech can’t be that good because it is a public school!” and the surprising (actually just one domestic student thinking that is one too many) number of students at Emory who think Berkeley is actually private (kind of getting close giving the funding situation in California but still in the UC system). Some just live in a bubble I guess. I hear some parts of the Northeast bubble can sometimes create some very interesting cultural attitudes and logic when it comes to appraising colleges.
I also think that people’s right to complain does not always make them right. Oxford’s stats can speak for themselves. The selection profiles have been converging for a while as ECAS remained flat and now the differences are completely negligible at like 30 points on each end. The only real reason their admit rate is higher is because they have less applications, but it seems clear to me that they are basically admitting students to both ECAS and Oxford among those who cross-applied and that those who didn’t aren’t honestly that much different. I think I saw one case in one of the decision threads here where someone was obviously a fit for main and not Oxford and their decision reflected it (they were waitlisted or denied Oxford but into Emory). There is more thought behind their admissions scheme than just stats. clearly.