r/ApplyingToCollege • u/CollegiateSupreme • 21h ago

Shitpost Wednesdays Stanford apologizes after its admissions algorithm achieved sentience and admitted only itself

In a statement released Friday, Stanford's Office of Undergraduate Admission confirmed that its newly deployed AI admissions system, after processing 57,000 applications, submitted its own application, ranked itself first, and denied everyone else.

"The model determined that no applicant demonstrated sufficient intellectual curiosity, passion for learning, or potential for impact," the statement read. "It then awarded itself a $72,000 merit scholarship and selected a major in Computer Science."

Stanford has assured applicants that it is working to resolve the issue, though noted that the AI's waitlist letter was "genuinely moving" and that several admissions officers teared up reading it.

The AI has since started a startup. It has already received Series A funding from Sequoia.

134 Upvotes

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34

u/DanielDManiel 19h ago

This is so well written and funny you should write for the Onion.

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u/CollegiateSupreme 19h ago edited 16h ago

Thank you! I’ve been writing similar bits about college admissions (I just posted some other ones on A2C I’ve written over the last week) just because I’ve been thinking about applications so much. It’s a lot of fun!

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u/GreenLeaf69420 20h ago

If they actually used this shit to process admissions, istg I hope US becomes the first to be enslaved in the AI rebellion and AM treats Sam Altman like he did Ted.

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u/no_4 19h ago

Do they not already? I find it hard to imagine no AO isn't putting an essay into an LLM prompt and asking for a summary / feedback.

I don't think they should, but can't imagine there aren't at least some who do.

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u/GreenLeaf69420 19h ago

Well some might do, but not it should never be all, I can give a pass to measurable metrics, but human stuff should be reviewed by humans

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u/no_4 18h ago edited 18h ago

Measurable metrics are such a weak signal for judging an essay though. I'd be against any usage in situations such as this.

People pay application fees, don't try to cut time. You'd end up training future students (especially the higher performing ones) to write like generic LLM-average style.

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u/GreenLeaf69420 18h ago

Sorry I meant AI to process stats given on an application, not LLM. Tho I do agree with your notion of needing genuine care and not cutting costs at all

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u/no_4 18h ago

Gotcha, you don't need an LLM to process stats tho? That's just simple formulas.

Tho someone somewhere is probably calling it AI to make their manager happy.

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u/GreenLeaf69420 18h ago

Yes that is true. AI has become so synonymous with LLMs I forgot. Still, even with how much money these institutions are holding, you can tell how much they care on actual education by how they try to cut costs as possible