This was downvoted; however, it’s correct. There are over three thousand nonprofit colleges in the USA; it’s hard to get a spot at one of the top twenty most prestigious, but it is not hard to get into college in any absolute sense. People who want to be part of the top ~1% in any category will always face severe competition, but people who want to get a quality education need not compete to do it. Frankly, I think it’s ridiculous to act as though competition for an inherently positional good reflects actual scarcity.
There’s an easy way to avoid competition for a restricted pool of elite slots: some students could go to less competitive schools.
This was downvoted; however, it’s correct. There are over three thousand nonprofit colleges in the USA; it’s hard to get a spot at one of the top twenty most prestigious, but it is not hard to get into college in any absolute sense. People who want to be part of the top ~1% in any category will always face severe competition, but people who want to get a quality education need not compete to do it. Frankly, I think it’s ridiculous to act as though competition for an inherently positional good reflects actual scarcity.