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. Assuming that he's a typical applicant, 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 ‘a typical applicant, he figures that his chances of getting into both Harvard and Stanford must be about 0.09%.

a) How has he arrived at this conclusion?

b) What additional assumption is he making?

c) Do you agree with his conclusion?