The value of startupschool (as a previous graduate) is the individual attention we got from a hand selected instructor.
I know yc screwed up with the emails, and their response was to please those that they have misled, accidentally of course. But I think they also devalued the class. It's gonna be much harder to offer the quality attention of the past.
I think the right thing they should have done, which is harder, was for yc to apologize for their mistake and move on. I know it sucked for those who were selected then deselected, but if you are a startup owner you need to be prepared to be rejected, cause someone will reject you.
I don't know what criteria startupschool goes through to select a company, but I think they must have seen something unique in those four thousands.
I do congratulate them for this decision still because obviously the influx of students is gonna be a great challenge to surmount.