Question: College admissions II. In Exercise, we saw that in 2007 Harvard accepted about 9% of its applicants, Stanford 10%, and Penn 16%. Jorge has applied to all three. He figures that his chances of getting into at least one of the three must be about 35%.

a) How has he arrived at this conclusion?

b) What assumption is he making?

c) Do you agree with his conclusion?

Exercise: College admissions. For high school students graduating in 2007, college admissions to the nation's most selective schools were the most competitive in memory. (The New York Times, "A Great Year for Ivy League Schools, but Not So Good for Applicants to Them," April 4, 2007). Harvard accepted about 9% of its applicants, Stanford 10%, and Penn 16%. Jorge has applied to all three. Assuming that he's a typical applicant, he figures that his chances of getting into both Harvard and Stanford must be about 0.9%.

a) How has he arrived at this conclusion?

b) What additional assumption is he making?

c) Do you agree with his conclusion?