Are you working to make yourself a better person or just a better applicant?

In a new study released this week, researchers found evidence that it is indeed more difficult for students to get into selective universities today than it was for previous generations. But the study also delves into what students are doing about this heightened competition.

In their working paper, entitled Playing the Admissions Game: Student Reactions to Increasing College Competition, John Bound and Brad Hershbein of University of Michigan and Bridget Terry Long of Harvard University, report that some students are responding by taking more advanced placement courses. But others are simply focusing more attention on test- preparation courses and other strategies for improving their scores on the SAT or ACT. Read more about their findings in Inside Higher Ed or access the study online.

The working paper is available from NBER at a cost of $5.