They probably meant universities (bachelor or masters program), but yeah I agree with you. People place way too much faith in institutions and take it as universal endorsement of ability, meanwhile many competent people are "misfits" that have all the brains and ability but can't stand the rules and mind games of these institutions; and those accepted are not significantly better than the ones below the acceptance line.

> meant universities

Nope. I meant departments. The T10 programs handle CS admissions at the College (Engineering) and Department level.

When you apply for a BS EECS at Cal or BSCS at CMU, it is the CS department (or School of Computer Science) that handles the entire application review process.

Only more traditional LACs (the kinds modeled after Harvard College or Dartmouth College) put all applicants in the same bucket.

I think we agree, my point was that you are not talking about high school (15-19 year old children where I live).

But now I see that their reply could also mean that the people are highschoolers at the time they are applying. I understood it as acceptance to high school itself.

Makes sense!

> Nope. I meant departments. The T10 programs handle CS admissions at the College (Engineering) and Department level.

Stanford at least doesn't for undergrads. Admissions is handled at the university level and you're encouraged not to even declare a major (CS included) until after your freshman year when you've had a chance to explore options for a major.

Stanford is a more traditional LAC though, so falls under your last paragraph.