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Selective college admissions is a race

OK, I will concede that one - you got me LOL

It is most definitely a competition.

A competition for a place in supposedly academic institutions that actually work to not accept the most academically proficient applicants in the name of an unlikely and highly toxic mix of political correctness (the underqualified from 'chosen' population groups) and Establishment self-preservation (the underqualified children of the true rich, aka legacy programs).

Become what you are