31–40 of 159 posts
It's a cynical move to hit their enrollment numbers, sold to the public as something to improve "diversity". But it's really just laying the groundwork for schools to cope with life after the college boom is over. For elite schools, it also makes it easier to provide cover for legacy and donor admissions. You no longer have to explain how Keese James Shackleford IV got into the the Shackleford school of dkljalfjaf wh…
I got a 1000/1600 on my first try of the SAT. Then I went through a $6,000 SAT summer camp, and got a 1600/1600. I used this score to tutor privileged children charging upwards to $100/hr. The conclusion, for me? The SAT has become just another way for the privileged to incestuously perpetuate privilege among themselves. I believe it's a great move to stop considering these test scores.
Next: no grades needed to get BS, MA, PhD. and no attendance necessary. After all some groups are at a disadvantage and they will not be able to attend the classes.. While we're at it - why don't we have The Degree Lottery (tm), or better yet, give degrees right after conception.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Common sense should tell us that standardized tests like this are not fair assessments of actual student academic potential. Common sense should tell you no such thing! Why wouldn't a test that measures a list of aptitudes (writing, comprehension, logic, math, etc.) not correlate to some extent to academic success in a liberal arts degree? Literally the classes you have to take are related to writing, comprehension…
The tests have been gamed by a test prep industry that extracts money from wealthy families. Colleges aren't admitting students based only on diversity. They are taking kids with excellent grades, volunteer work, etc. and giving them a closer look. It relies on the judgement of all of the student's high school teachers, rather than a centralized corporate assessment. Poor kids don't get second or third tries at tests…
One would hope this to be the case, but considering only about 50% of college freshmen come back for a second year, it doesn't seem like they're doing that well picking applicants with staying power.
I got a 1000/1600 on my first try of the SAT. Then I went through a $6,000 SAT summer camp, and got a 1600/1600. I used this score to tutor privileged children charging upwards to $100/hr. The conclusion, for me? The SAT has become just another way for the privileged to incestuously perpetuate privilege among themselves. I believe it's a great move to stop considering these test scores.
I mean, if a graphics card review told you how many FPS you could expect on Half Life 2, it might not show the differences between modern graphics cards. But that's just a sign the reviewers should use a more modern game for their benchmark, not that they should switch to reviewing whether the card's designer sometimes volunteers at a soup kitchen or whether the maker spends a lot of money on ads in the magazine.
Next: no grades needed to get BS, MA, PhD. and no attendance necessary. After all some groups are at a disadvantage and they will not be able to attend the classes.. While we're at it - why don't we have The Degree Lottery (tm), or better yet, give degrees right after conception.
Regarding mandatory attendance - welcome to the German model. Most universites don't have mandatory attendance, which is good for subjects where there are many more students than available seats :). Also it's very handy for students who (have to) work in order to finance their studies.
This doesn't say you can't submit scores. Most still will. But it does say that performance on one specific exam doesn't have to be a deciding factor, which I see as a step forward.
Here in Ontario admissions goes by your top 6 "university level" high school class grades. It helps prevent your future from being determined by a single test, which to me seems like a terrible design.
This is because they want to enroll people too stupid to solve basic math problems.
... well, this is the real reason, but I don't think any professional would word it that way! Here[0] is a story about a group arguing (a bit successfully, I might add!) that "forcing" students to have the ability to at least pass algebra to get a college degree is a civil rights issue! [0] https://www.npr.org/2017/07/19/538092649/say-goodbye-to-x-y-...
It's a cynical move to hit their enrollment numbers, sold to the public as something to improve "diversity". But it's really just laying the groundwork for schools to cope with life after the college boom is over. For elite schools, it also makes it easier to provide cover for legacy and donor admissions. You no longer have to explain how Keese James Shackleford IV got into the the Shackleford school of dkljalfjaf wh…
Not just enrollment, but also % of applicants accepted.