Two articles in the September issue of The Atlantic Monthly take a sausage-factory-like look at the college application and admissions process. In "The Early Decision Racket," James Fallows explores how early-decision programs have distorted the admissions process and added an insane level of intensity to middle-class obsessions about getting into college. In "Confessions of a Prep School College Counselor," Caitlan Flanagan deconstructs the perverse prejudices that fuel the elite college admissions frenzy. Unfortunately neither article is available online; you'll have to buy a copy of the magazine.
