Colleges have been overrun by applications. Colleges that use be fairly
easy to get with a solid B and a 1100 on the SAT, have been able to pick and
chose. My state university is only accepting the top tier students, they
average jumped their criteria up considerable.

First-Year Students Percent Who
Middle 50% of

Submitted Scores
SAT Reasoning Verbal: 560 - 660
97%
SAT Reasoning Math: 570 - 670
97%

My son is going to Columbia, last year they accepted 8% of the applicants,
and you know only the top tier students even bothered to apply.

As you said, most kids would be better off learning a trade.