CENTRAL ADMISSION SYSTEMS. STRATAGEMS AND STABILITY (Kozponti felveteli rendszerek. Taktikazas es stabilitas)

The mechanisms used in centralized student assignment programme to match applicants with places in schools and on courses of study vary, but they all rest on a number of basic principles. Natural requirements for matching are stability, Pareto optimization or strategy proofing. The paper presents both good and less good matching mechanisms, discusses their properties, and relates them to their degree of success when applied in real life. The mechanisms in use in Hungary will be the subject of another paper.