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In a new study released this week, researchers found evidence that it is indeed more difficult for students to get into selective universities today than it was for previous generations. But the study also delves into what students are doing about this heightened competition.

In their working paper, entitled Playing the Admissions Game: Student Reactions to Increasing College Competition, John Bound and Brad Hershbein of University of Michigan and Bridget Terry Long of Harvard University, report that some students are responding by taking more advanced placement courses. But others are simply focusing more attention on test- preparation courses and other strategies for improving their scores on the SAT or ACT. Read more about their findings in Inside Higher Ed or access the study online.

The working paper is available from NBER at a cost of $5.

When the Senate confirmed federal Judge Sonja Sotamayor last week as the first Hispanic justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, it marked the biggest milestone in a life already filled with remarkable achievements. But would Sotomayor ever have reached the nation’s highest court if her SAT scores had been the determining factor in her Ivy League college admission? Sotomayor herself thinks not. In a video circulated widely on the Internet, Sotomayor describes herself as a “product of Affirmative Action” and concedes that she never would have been admitted to Princeton and Yale based solely on her standardized test scores. Why? According to Sotomayor, there are “cultural biases” built into the tests that work against someone like her — a Puerto Rican woman raised in a “socioeconomically poor” family in the South Bronx. Click here to watch the video. Whether we agree with Sotomayor or not, her historic Supreme Court nomination gives us all food for thought. Are those of us in higher education turning away highly qualified applicants strictly based on test scores that may or may not reflect their true ability?

The New York Times and Chronicle of Higher Education have been doing a great job blogging about the Rethinking Admissions conference. The Times’ education writer Jacques Steinberg wrote about the conference on his new blog called “The Choice,” which examines all facets of the college admissions process. Steinberg is also the author of a book on the topic, “The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College.” The Wake Forest conference is also popping up on the Chronicle’s News Blog, and generating plenty of comments from readers. Be sure to check out both blogs.