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Yup. The thing is, they get so many applicants that they have no reason to care if they miss some good ones. The ones they end up taking are just as good. An

Yup. The thing is, they get so many applicants that they have no reason to care if they miss some good ones. The ones they end up taking are just as good. Any of the elite schools could throw out their entire admitted class, admit their next 2k choices, and no one would be able to tell the difference. The schools have a huge incentive to admit students who will succeed. They have no incentive to admit all such students. This results in the admissions process that we have today.

metaphorm 11y ago
> The ones they end up taking are just as good I disagree with this sentiment. humans are individuals and unique. none is "just as good" as another. each is different. the college admissions process treats human beings as fungible commodities. like ears of corn at the grain silo. > The schools have a huge incentive to admit students who will succeed. They have no incentive to admit all such students. what does succeed mean? some of the most well-regarded members of our society were poor students, or dropped out of college when they were young. some of our most damaging criminals were excellent students and graduated from Ivy League schools with honors.
- stephencanon 11y ago
  "Just as good" in the sense of "equally viable on the scale used by admissions", not in the capital-G sense of Good or in a hypothetical "equally valuable as human beings" sense. Yes, they are different, but those differences are often not relevant to the task set before the admissions committee.
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- pavornyoh 11y ago
  @Metaphorm, Good post. A good example of damaging criminals from an Ivy League School is Marc Dreier (Yale for undergraduate studies and then Harvard Law). In the 45 minutes interview "Unraveled", he said there is so much pressure to succeed when you graduate from such top schools that you do all sort of things just to prove you have made it. But then again, you wonder how true that comment is.. :)

metaphorm 11y ago

> The ones they end up taking are just as good I disagree with this sentiment. humans are individuals and unique. none is "just as good" as another. each is different. the college admissions process treats human beings as fungible commodities. like ears of corn at the grain silo. > The schools have a huge incentive to admit students who will succeed. They have no incentive to admit all such students. what does succeed mean? some of the most well-regarded members of our society were poor students, or dropped out of college when they were young. some of our most damaging criminals were excellent students and graduated from Ivy League schools with honors.

stephencanon 11y ago
"Just as good" in the sense of "equally viable on the scale used by admissions", not in the capital-G sense of Good or in a hypothetical "equally valuable as human beings" sense. Yes, they are different, but those differences are often not relevant to the task set before the admissions committee.
- deleted 11y ago
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pavornyoh 11y ago
@Metaphorm, Good post. A good example of damaging criminals from an Ivy League School is Marc Dreier (Yale for undergraduate studies and then Harvard Law). In the 45 minutes interview "Unraveled", he said there is so much pressure to succeed when you graduate from such top schools that you do all sort of things just to prove you have made it. But then again, you wonder how true that comment is.. :)