Unsurprisingly, this year Stanford was once again inundated with a record number of applicants — more than twenty-five thousand — and once again admitted a record low of 9.5 percent. As news articles from both The Daily and the Stanford Report reiterate, 2008 was a “record-setting” year for Stanford admissions. But, instead of placing such emphasis on shattering records and ranking, we as a student body should take the time to appreciate the incredible opportunity we’ve been given.

Does it really make us better people to walk into a classroom knowing that Stanford became half a percent harder to get into this year? Does rejecting a few thousand more applicants make us a better university? Considering the fact, oft-stated by admissions officers, that the incoming class could be filled many times over with equally impressive individuals, it’s doubtful that we’re gaining much tangible benefit, other than a better position in the U.S. News & World Report rankings, by becoming marginally more selective.

Nor are these just “applicants” — abstract collections of SAT scores and essays — these are the growing number of our close friends and siblings who must handle nearly inevitable rejection. No doubt many of us had to comfort tearful high school friends, and perhaps even suppress the urge to kick Montag Hall after the admissions department within failed to accept someone so obviously perfect for the Farm.

While these occurrences are often emotionally trying, they are unlikely to change. Clearly, Stanford cannot admit everyone who applies, no matter how qualified. Even if the class size is expanded as recently proposed by President John Hennessy, thousands of qualified students be rejected. Nor would admitting everyone who applies and wishes to come here improve the quality of education.

What we can do, however, is be thankful for the opportunity we have been given, and eschew the occasional competitive and elitist notion.

For instance, one individual commented online in response to an Oct. 11 Daily article announcing Hennessy’s desire to explore an expansion of the freshman class, “Unfortunately, President Hennessy appears to view Stanford admission as something to be handed out from a cheap goody bag to as many ‘qualified’ people as possible . . . President Hennessy, let me tell you what ‘qualified’ means. It doesn’t mean having a minimum score or GPA. It means being among a very small percentage of the absolute best all-around applicants (in terms of scores, grades, accomplishments, etc) from a given pool of applicants, regardless of whether that applicant pool is more competitive than previous years.”

Another student submitted a Jan. 31 Op-Ed to The Daily, mentioning Stanford ranking “a dismal 19th in the latest Times of London Higher Education Supplement,” and lamenting, “although Stanford was once ranked first in the U.S. News rankings for a couple of years in the 1980s, we have since lost that spot to Harvard, Princeton or Yale — and we haven’t been ranked in the top three in quite some time.”

Attitudes such as these, while not universally held, are what we must fight against. Stanford students should be ever cognizant that for the vast majority of us, our spot could have gone to any number of other qualified applicants. On Mar. 30, 2007, immediately prior to sending out admission decisions to the class of 2011, Dean of Admissions Richard Shaw wrote an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times, citing “many exceptional youths who did not get offered one of the 1,650 slots in the class of 2011,” and describing the process as “as much an art as it is a science.” To believe that we are somehow better and more qualified than our peers who are not offered admission is arrogant, incorrect and unproductive. The emphasis on ever-lower acceptance rates and the belief that arbitrary rankings say much of anything about the quality of our institution are similarly corrosive.

We are all privileged to attend an incredible university, and we should never lose sight of that fact. Everybody should be proud of his or her accomplishments and proud of Stanford — but record-setting selectivity should not play a factor in that pride. Let us all remember our equally accomplished friends and peers who were not offered admission to Stanford, and strive to fully embrace the opportunities that we have been given in life. Stanford students have a long record of achievement and giving back to the community, and that is the record of which we should be proud.