# March Madness Part 2: "How Do You Decide?"

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/admissions-beat-4462287/march-madness-part-2-how-do-you-decide
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/admissions-beat-4462287/march-madness-part-2-how-do-you-decide.md
Podcast: [Admissions Beat](https://stenobird.com/podcast/admissions-beat-4462287)
Published: 2026-03-17T08:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://admissions-beat.simplecast.com/episodes/march-madness-part-2-how-do-you-decide-Tcwi6_Th
Audio file: https://cdn.simplecast.com/media/audio/transcoded/5f9b28a5-bf1d-4441-9db5-096790089ed7/b86abed6-d3fe-4642-bea6-db292e207f10/episodes/audio/group/e6480eb9-1161-4479-8f29-d1634271d354/group-item/80ab1724-d888-4400-8273-478f83384cde/128_default_tc.mp3?aid=rss_feed&feed=Xa7viccF
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/admissions-beat-4462287/episodes/march-madness-part-2-how-do-you-decide
Duration seconds: 2443

## Resource

"How do you decide?" is one of the most probing questions associated with selective admissions. With so many qualified candidates competing for limited spots, decisions are often presumed to be random for those on the outside of the process. In the second conversation of AB's "March Madness" two-pack, New York Times journalist and best-selling author Jacques Steinberg interviews AB host and Dartmouth Dean Lee Coffin to unpack and illuminate the deliberations that unfold in a selective admissions committee. As Steinberg (who has observed such meetings) notes, there is no simple formula dictating their final choices. "I can tell you with every confidence that it doesn't exist. This is my Indiana Jones quest, and so far, I have come up empty, and I expect that I will always come up empty," he says.

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## Transcript

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