I would be excited about a common application. My sense is that the only reason it doesn’t exist is that no one has put the time in to create it; when I’ve talked to hiring managers, most were in favor of the project (though there are some concerns, e.g. the fact that applications are currently a costly signal is helpful for identifying the applicants who actually really want to apply).
The more arbitrary college admissions criteria become, the more the students at elite universities will simply be those who were most determined to get in.
I think “actually really want to apply” is not enough of a correlation to base decisions on. The fact is that even qualified+motivated applicants would need to apply to a dozen+ places, and often EA application questions require a lot of thought anyway.
To give an example, lots of EAs are from top unis, and I’m pretty sure the meta-strategy for applying to selective unis is to not fall in love with any particular one and shotgun a lot of applications. This reduces the role of personal fit.
One thing I always thought was interesting would be to have an actual application limit like UK colleges do. I applied to 20 colleges, and I would’ve been fine applying to 5 with improved odds.
I would be excited about a common application. My sense is that the only reason it doesn’t exist is that no one has put the time in to create it; when I’ve talked to hiring managers, most were in favor of the project (though there are some concerns, e.g. the fact that applications are currently a costly signal is helpful for identifying the applicants who actually really want to apply).
Paul Graham had a nice take on this:
I think “actually really want to apply” is not enough of a correlation to base decisions on. The fact is that even qualified+motivated applicants would need to apply to a dozen+ places, and often EA application questions require a lot of thought anyway.
To give an example, lots of EAs are from top unis, and I’m pretty sure the meta-strategy for applying to selective unis is to not fall in love with any particular one and shotgun a lot of applications. This reduces the role of personal fit.
One thing I always thought was interesting would be to have an actual application limit like UK colleges do. I applied to 20 colleges, and I would’ve been fine applying to 5 with improved odds.