I think the commenter is suggesting that algebra skills are a reasonable heuristic for the applicant's ability to perform well in an academic context. In other

I think the commenter is suggesting that algebra skills are a reasonable heuristic for the applicant's ability to perform well in an academic context. In other words, if after four consecutive years of mathematics training centered on algebra, you still can't do algebra, you're probably not going to be able to deal with Shakespeare or Heidegger either.