I thought of that study yesterday, after the Justice Department announced it had indicted 50 people for trying to rig the admissions process. The alleged scam involved payments funneled from parents to college coaches, who in return would falsely identify applicants as athletic recruits to the admissions office. But the musicians don’t generally receive a 30-percentage-point boost on their admissions chances. Their extracurricular activities are not treated merely as an important part of a college application, but as a defining part. They are extremely good, yes, and they work hard, yes — but that also tends to be true of high school musicians, student government leaders and so on.

Source: New York Times March 13, 2019 12:11 UTC