trevon martin ford is is "nightline." >> tonight, college crunch time. emotions running high. but as these kids wait to find out if they got accepted, country may be changing the rules. dozens supporting wide-sweeping reforms are we're behind the scenes at harvard and mit. will the hours ofworth it? >> i'm really excited for college. sarah palin hits the trail with donald trump and she's fired up. >> donald j. trump! >> as house heats up with the palin effect help or hurt trump?

son's arrest? it got big schumer's live at the apollo. >> i'm old school, the guys should have to pay on the first date for sex. >> so did this from wendy lieberman's standup routine from 20 years >> maybe i'm old fashioned but i like it when the guy pays -- for sex. i mean that. >> the "trainwreck" firing back at claim she's a jokesy. first the>> this toilet paper reminds me of a wash cloth. >> that's charmin ultra strong, so clean you could wear your day. >> tell me i did not just hear that. >> i said you could, not that you would. >> charmin ultra strong helps clean better than the leadingd. four times stronger and you can use up to four times less. >> it cleans better. you should try it, skids. >> we all go, why not enjoy the

good evening. thanks for joining us. you're about to meet two ambitious high school students who we've been following for rse work and test prep in the mad dash towards college. but just this week 85 top schools, including the entire ivy league, signing on to try to tone down the pressure.ally game-changing proposals. so what does it mean for kids with big college dreams?arly weekend morning. and while most kids are sleeping in, chris carpavich is t moments to go before he takes the s.a.t. and tensions are running high. >> can you not jump out of the

i'll go walk. mom. >> he's been very stressed out. he has a cold. and it's raining. a lot of us go, oh, high school, that fun. that was when i did all those things. i hung out with my friends. he really doesn't have time to do any of while chris and millions of stressed-out students are applying for the class of 2020, hell-bent on finding the fabled holy grail of that perfect application, a sea way that threatens to revamp the very system on which admissions are based. >> in our day and age young people are too focused on achievement. a more balanced set of messages. >> reporter: richard weiss of harvard and his team publishing a new report called turning the a student body obsessed with personal success over the common good. calling for sweeping recommendations to what some see as a broken college admissions body knows that the system's irrational, out of whack.

painfully aware of it e college admirations just chokes all of the joy out of childhood? >> yes. i say it needs to stop. something needs to give. i can't. why not? "they" are looking for. >> reporter: chris is a senior at rye high school just north of new york city. ambitious students and a curriculum making it one of the best public schools in the nation. >> this is ap scholar national honors society. this isthropy award. >> reporter: checking off boxes prestigious universities say they scout for. he has near-perfect grades, captain of the cross country and debate teams. and spends countless hours bread of life, his parents' food pantry, even creating a chapter at his own school. >> how much sleep do you get a hours, maybe. >> he's moody. he doesn't sleep. you see fatigue. you shouldn't see that on a orter: but you do, on

years of sacrifice, huge chunks of his childhood, he says all in the hopes of getting into his dream school, harvard, parents went. what happens if you don't get into harvard? >> then -- my other choices.ome to that. >> reporter: with competition at an all-time high it very well might. harvard university is ground zero for this reform movement.n down the heat on the pressure cooker. >> how did the college process become so stressful? >> middle and upper-class y focused on a small number of colleges are. parents start signalling to each other these are the colleges that are most important to get your kids into. >> reporter: the recommendations, pragmatic yet ing. emphasizing quality over quantity. encouraging fewer extracurricular activities. fewer ap courses. even in some cases making the . >> so this is the big moment. >> yep.

checking for his s.a.t. results, it's far from optional. his chances of getting in, he ith his future, hangs in the balance. >> are you nervous? my hands are getting clammy. >> the site's down. >> oh my gosh. the site crashed. >> so many kids areight now that the site's actually down. >> do you ever try to tell him, honey, there's more to life than har him to go to the best school for him but he insists he's worked very hard -- out of his mouth, i have sacrificed so much, i have to get into the best school possible.r: across town the new recommendations could help students like sorca, a junior at rye high, who won't bet year. behind the smile a sadness and a story that before may not have counted so heavily in the admissions process. >> i was 11 years old. so i really -- i had to become an adult when i was still in

>> reporter: she lost her mom, an architect and professor at columbia, to father forced to work multiple jobs to support four kids. sorcha helping care for her brother conner who hasple didn't know how to interact with him. we just love him all the same. this is me, seamus, conner and i -- >> reporter: she finds comfort in photographs and this is my favorite photo of my mom. this one. people told me when i show them the photo, they say i look like my mom.r. >> reporter: sorcha founded a meningitis awareness club, a final promise to her mother to help others. >> i wanted to makebody in my community had to go through what i go through. >> so how is meningitis diagnosed? >> reporter: she argues it's notork in school but it's service like sorcha's, provided at home in a time of

>> a lot of family come kids especially, often their contributions don't count in theions process. >> reporter: a month later, chris is busy putting the finishing touches on his harvard application. adding his near-perfect s.a.t. scores. >> i hope colleges see that i'm not just a bunch of numbers. >> reporter: nothing left to do but wait. the ivy league and more than 50 colleges have endorsed the though there's no sure-fire way to ensure enforcement, mit is already putting them to work. >> we added a question, how have you improved the lives of all happening right here? >> it's all happening right here. >> i feel the heat coming off the door right now. how carefully do you pore over all the admissions? >> we look at everything that comes in on every application. we look at every application more than once. i was amazed at how thorough we really are. in new york,

until the harvard decision. >> your mom quoted you as saying you sacrificed so much. >> i've tried my hardest to sort of do thecan. >> they tell you, this is your future. that's the message he hears. >> reporter: it's not the decision they'd hoped for. chris is deferred. he'll have to wait until harvard's final decision. >> it wasn't the best outcome. >> reporter: his disappointment, a study in understatement. >> you feel like you haven't someone to accept you, but in the end, i think that it gives me an opportunity to look at a lot of other schools. >> reporter: trying to keep things in perspective, some principal to help him absorb the blow. >> what's the 36-hour rule? >> if they are deferred or denied we say, 36 hours you pout, you feel bad for yourself, to start working and we're going to find another first choice. >> reporter: chris is doing just that. as he continues applying to 16

cornell, u-penn, carnegie medical son, johns hopkins, stanford, university of michigan, university of northwestern. >> reporter: a dream deferred perhaps for chris but it could be different next year for sorcha. her hours of personal her application, which in years past may not have counted so much. >> being here makes me think about my mom. >> reporter: as she walks the campus where her she hopes her application may cap capture the fuller picture of who she is. >> a chance to start about the future. up next, sarah palin is firing up the race. and why she's taking heat for casting blame on president obama. later, comedy goddessmer reacts to joke theft allegations. something in the air. but here's the thing:n over 40 have some degree of erectile

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s yogi berra would say, it's deja vu all over again. the country it seems is once again captivated by former alaska governor sarah palin. turned politician is back in the limelight, this time shoulder to shoulder with gop front-runner donald trump. and the darling of the tea party quite a stir. hires abc's david wright. >> reporter: on the campaign trail this week, a blast from the past.oklahoma! it's so great to be in iowa! we're here thawing out! >> reporter: like a champion musher from the iditarod in alaska, she's back.

>> the next president of ourof america, donald j. trump! >> reporter: along with that black led are jacket also reprising some of her winningesth john mccain. >> drill, baby, drill. >> it's time to drill, baby, drill. >> reporter: the only maverick out there who can match her when it comes to going ogue left and right, that's why he's doing so well. >> reporter: the reality show star -- >> you're fired. >> reporter: turned politician -- >> we're going to make america greatorter: turning to the politician who became a reality star. >> this is really the first time in this campaign that we're seeing donald trump kind of take a back seat to someone else. the spotlight and the headlines. we saw it in that body language. he stood behind her and seemed to be uncomfortable as her speech went on, as if saying, be the one in the spotlight. >> reporter: trump is clearly hoping that palin's endorsement

in those early primary>> she waded into south carolina, new hampshire, and iowa and endorsed candidates in the last few years and all three of those candidates won. >> reporter: but the return of the palinsge also brings with it a certain amount of drama. >> guess it's kind of elephant in the room. >> reporter: this week it was her 26-year-old son track, a combat veteran arrested after allegedly punching his girlfriend in the face. track palin pled not guilty the same day his momn joined trump.ound a silver lining to the scandal. >> when my own son is going through what he goes through, some ptsd, and it makes me realize more we have that commander in chief who will respect them and honor them. >> reporter: but at least one nonpartisan veterans group was quick to caution against turning political chew toy. >> i think a lot of vets are

excuse for his behavior. if he has ptsd, he's still houldn't be beating up his girlfriend, he shouldn't be a violent person in the community. we hope he goes forward and gets help. >> reporter: not all pain lin's fans are happy about her on her facebook page more than a few complaints. unhappiest of all perhaps, ted cruz, who hoped for that endorsement himself. >> not this but the last --z spoke with george stephanopoulos ahead of tomorrow's "good morning america." he insists no hard feelings when it comes to trump. >> i like trump. i'll sing his e him? >> he is bold, he's brash, he's an amazing marketer, an entertainer and marketer par so i'm not going to attack him personally. >> reporter: the latest polls show trump pulling well ahead of cruz in iowa. on the democratic sideng way out in front of hillary clinton there too. today the sanders campaign released this upbeat new ad.

orter: the music, simon and garfunkel. the song, a hit nearly 50 years ago. back when hillary and bill clinton were in law ve all come to look for america >> reporter: that golden oldie -- it's time for me to going to fake it >> reporter: a huge contrast to the soundtrack of the clinton campaign. today clinton had demi lovato on the campaign trail. >> you ready for a better eporter: in iowa, katy perry has lent her voice too. you're going to hear me roar n that famous roar hasn't been enough to help clinton win over young voters. >> it's a lot less believable thanmon and garfunkel, but what hillary clinton is trying to do is

voters, millennial voters, that are critical for herernie sanders is getting them in such large numbers. >> reporter: the 74-year-old sanders with simon and garfunkel crushes clinton and her possetars by a margin of nearly 4-1 among young voters in new hampshire. he beats her soundly among young iowa voters too. keep in mind young vnes who made such a huge difference for barack obama in the iowa caucuses back in 2008. >> if you compare the data, the polling data, with younger bernie sanders campaign, hillary clinton's campaign, he has a big advantage. she's really trying to tap into that in these final days. >> reporter: now as we head into iowa, the two anti-establishment are defying the odds. in the catbird seat, front and center, trump and sanders, angry men both. as sarah palin reminds us,ay is just one

>> i want you to rye to try to picture e thing to picture. exactly one year from tomorrow, former president barack obama --lause ] he packs up the teleprompters and the selfie sticks and the greek columns and all that hopey changey stuff and he headschicago. >> reporter: the question is, can you imagine either of them taking the oath of office a year from now? right now, against all m to have the momentum. i'm david wright for "nightline" in new york. up next, the caught in a comedy scandal. the comedian now firing back at joke-stealing claims.

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you know, it really seemed amy schumer stole the spotlight this year. snatching up awards, hosting shows, and the jokes justoff her tongue. isn't laughing. here again is abc's david wright. >> it's probably a mistake.world's hottest female comedienne is defending herself from a potential train wreck, accused of stealing jokes from other funny women.rom her new hbo special "live at the apollo." >> i'm very old school. i think the guy should always pay on the first date for unlike this gag from wendy leadman's standup routine 20 years ago. >> maybe i'm old fashioned but i

sex. i mean that. or there's this skit from schumer's comedy central show about a new diet and exercise plan. >> then before you can say slap shaft they knock it out of yourmouth. >> reporter: compare that to kathleen madigan. >> you have enough money to pay a man to stand there and literally slap [ bleep ] out ofou put it in your mouth. >> reporter: we asked but no comment from madigan's camp. liebman told us,n honest mistake. but in the comedy world, accusations of joke-stealing are no laughing matter. >> they're very self-policing sort of community of artists. and your jokeskrurncy. >> reporter: schumer is defending herself online and on the airwaves on the jim norton advice show podcast. >> i'm being accused of stealingi wanted to come and talk to you about it and clear my name.

and i never have.n vowed to take a polygraph and air the results on her show. comedy doesn't usually depend on the cliffhanger. but this one ight for "nightline" in new york. >> i'd tune in for the results. thank you for watching. and tune in tomorrow for gma. as always we're online one facebook page and at