I still think it's reasonable to think the application form reflects thought put into the program. If I showed up shitfaced to a job interview it would be reasonable for the interviewers to wonder if I took it seriously. I may take it completely seriously, but I would understand if my behavior seeded doubt.

Your argument doesn't really sway me: I'm judging the program based on something real; you're judging it based on what must obviously be the case.

I don't completely write-off a YC-clone just because they put zero thought into the application form. But it does alter my impression.

I disagree with your static typing argument too. "Mountain out of a molehill" means making a bigger deal out of something than it is. Which means both things could be class Mound, just with different values. So in this case static typing wouldn't have saved the day ;-)