Vox Mentis

Have you tried complaining that accepting only one applicant is a dumb policy? What if they get more than one really gifted applicant at once? Conversely, what if the last person standing is kind of shitty compared to previous groups, and wouldn't have gotten in if their whole group hadn't been below average? Etc etc etc

As for curly haired boy, try a combination of playing off pity for your circumstances [if you can get him to feel any, he might be ruthless], and make him feel a bit paranoid about the academy itself. ~So secretive~ and all that.