<p>“The question, is, figuring those who’re going to be “at top” in college and admitting them to the schools with the best resources with good consistency.”</p>
<p>The top colleges have retention rates that tend to be from 90% to 98%, so it seems that by your standards, their selection methods are working. Since it’s not possible for everyone at a college to be at the top of the class, retention rates are probably the best way to figure out if people are taking advantage of the opportunity to attend those colleges.</p>
<p>"If people applied to schools based on academic quality for their interests, the Ivies wouldn’t be such a big deal. "</p>
<p>The top colleges aren’t designed to be vocational schools. Those colleges expect and rejoice in the fact that many students who attend them change their prospective majors once they get there. That’s the beauty of liberal arts curricula.</p>
<p>Once in college, the students are exposed to subjects that they may not have been exposed to before, and consequently they may end up majoring in different things and planning on different careers than they had considered when in high school.</p>