<p>“It is not accurate to say that state U honors programs are full of people who turned down Harvard or Yale, or who would have been admitted if they had applied. Many programs probably have a few of each, and they are full of kids with stats similar to those of the HYP students, but that’s not quite the same thing.”
I agree with this - but I think the trend is different if we look just one level below on the prestige scale. As the quality and funding of honors programs improve,and the outcomes of the students are measured, I think we’ll see more and more students making the choice to attend. Perhaps not the HYP admits - but more the Cornell, Penn and other top 25 admits. My son knows many students in his honors program who turned down schools in this range. I think this will continue, especially as we march through the next few years of this “bubble”. It’s a good choice for many (not all) students.<br>
The draw of HYP is huge - so I don’t see the statistics changing much in the future.</p>