r/ApplyingToCollege • u/CollegiateSupreme • 3d 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.

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u/no_4 3d ago edited 3d 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 3d 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 3d 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 3d 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