https://www.theatlantic.com/id...-competitive/675219/

A Yale student writing about how competitive the student clubs are at Yale. Even the volunteer and supposedly affiliation based clubs involved elaborate application processes and have low acceptance rates.

A poignant paragraph from the article:

quote:

Yale is a place where everyone is a winner. Less than 5 percent of people who apply are offered a spot. You might think that this selectivity would make students feel confident and secure—if we had to beat out 95 percent of our peers to get in, we must be really special. But the opposite seems to be true: Students, fueled by insecurity, feel the need to over-justify their worthiness. And so they impose endless hierarchies on one another.

quote:

Less than 5 percent of people who apply are offered a spot.

Fewer.

I see that "less vs fewer" when talking about percentages is the subject of much debate. One example:

https://english.stackexchange....a-countable-quantity

There are lots of other examples out there.

It’s a personal hobby horse.

J. D. Vance also learned to write at Yale and his book is a hot mess.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:
It’s a personal hobby horse.

J. D. Vance also learned to write at Yale and his book is a hot mess.

So are his changeable political views ...

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:

quote:

Less than 5 percent of people who apply are offered a spot.

Fewer.

I think I’m in love.

Yale, meet sorority rush at any major southern university.

When I was in college, therapists bought billboards offering help to young women rejected by the sorority of their choice. (Or, perhaps, all sororities, which did happen and is pretty emotionally difficult to come back from.) Those billboards may still exist. If they don't, they probably should.

Yes, I participated in this fairly horrible social institution, but you all know me well enough to be sure that I was the weirdest sorority girl ever born.

An actual conversation:
"Are you coming to the special meeting tonight?"
"No, I have to study."
"But...I thought you were smart..."