<p>I think the numbers quoted are a gross over-estimate, based on what the universities want you to believe. The reality is it is entirely in their interest to have as many applicants as possible, and of course they will also want you to believe they are almost all high calibre too.</p>
<p>Having sat on way too many graduate school selection committees, at an Ivy, a State, and now Canadian school, I can tell ya…you see all kinds of applicants. The vast majority go quickly in the out pile and its no where near as low as 10%. I don’t buy the rhetoric of undergraduate colleges at all.</p>
<p>Yes the folks on CC are well informed. As are many school counsellors. But many many parents, and kids have little understanding or they figure “what the heck” (like buying a lottery ticket).</p>