[jasonshen]

I love the intent behind this letter. So often talented people are just below the "cut off" for whatever opportunity they are seeking, and they see themselves as unworthy. Some may give up, especially if they are young and have not had other forms of recognition.

I think this is why YC sends notes to rejected applicants who are in "the top 10%" by whatever standard they are grading folks on, and encourage them to apply again.

[yellow_lead]

Is that message from YC truthful? I ask because I've seen a lot of people receiving it, probably a bias towards sharing it if you receive it though.

[choppaface]

Not to mention that the “top 10%” shifts year-to-year as much or more than HYPS admissions.

Talent _development_ requires substantive feedback, or at least substantial visibility into the competition versus a binary outcome. For example, tell Founders if they have the substance or right fidelity but poor sense of timing. (And market timing often in the hands of the VCs anyways).

Without real feedback, it’s much closer to a real estate license than an academic math program.

[sesm]

Assuming Gaussian distribution, how many criteria should be graded, so that 90% of applicants are in top 10% for at least one criterion?

[lupire]

There is only one overall criteria in this case.