The college admissions scandal, while illegal, acted as an equalizer within the top tiers of wealth. It enabled families with hundreds of thousands of dollars to "buy" admission through bribes, a path previously accessible only to the ultra-wealthy who could donate tens of millions.

The ability to navigate the college application process independently is a key indicator of a student's readiness for higher education. While parental help may improve outcomes, it undermines the development of essential confidence and self-reliance.

Elite universities with massive endowments and shrinking acceptance rates are betraying their public service mission. By failing to expand enrollment, they function more like exclusive 'hedge funds offering classes' that manufacture scarcity to protect their brand prestige, rather than educational institutions aiming to maximize societal impact.

Increased economic disparity makes parents intensely anxious about their children's future success. This fear drives them to over-schedule and micromanage their kids' lives, focusing on resume-building activities rather than free play, which contributes to a more stressful childhood.

The binding nature of 'early decision' programs prevents accepted students from leveraging competing financial aid offers. This tactic, combined with universities raising prices in lockstep, effectively creates a cartel that maintains total pricing power over families.

The frenzy around elite college admissions is a systemic 'collective action trap.' Even parents and students who understand the limited value of prestige are forced to compete due to intense social pressure and status anxiety, amplified by social media. Opting out individually carries too high a social cost.

When companies use black-box AI for hiring, it creates a no-win 'arms race.' Applicants use prompt injection and other tricks to game the system, while companies build countermeasures to detect them. This escalatory cycle is a 'war of attrition' where the underlying goal of finding the right candidate is lost.

To recruit for his unconventional school, Steve Levitt directly tells students and parents that the traditional promise—good grades lead to a great career—is a lie. This provocative framing invalidates the status quo and resonates deeply with families already feeling dissatisfied, proving more effective than pitching features.

Life is full of 'hidden markets' for scarce resources like school admissions or popular reservations. These don't use price but have specific rules like lotteries, queues, or preference rankings. Understanding and mastering these non-obvious rules, as Wharton economist Judd Kessler explains, is key to getting what you want.