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>1. High schools that tend to send high numbers of people to schools with acceptance rates less than 20% tend to be dis-proportionally represented. [1] > 2. Hig

>1. High schools that tend to send high numbers of people to schools with acceptance rates less than 20% tend to be dis-proportionally represented. [1] > 2. High schools that send kids to good college are more expensive (either inherently, or because they're in an expensive area). True, but there's nothing MIT can do about it except stop being MIT. At MIT, freshman calculus (if you didn't AP out of it - which you need a 5 on the BC to do) is not one year, but one semester. Multivariate calculus is also one semester, and if you're not done with it by the end of freshman year, you're not likely to graduate. Yes, it's unfair. But it's not MIT's fault. > Not to mention that MIT and other 'elite schools' barely teach well anyways I strongly suspect you are not in a position to provide empirical backup to that assertion.

seanmcdirmid 10y ago
> I strongly suspect you are not in a position to provide empirical backup to that assertion. Not that I agree with parent, but given selection bias they can't empirically prove the opposite either (that elite schools teach well given that they select the best students). The lack of proof for the positive of course doesn't prove the negation, but I wish someone would do this experiment (admit a bunch of students randomly into a bunch of universities, compare academic performance over 4 or so years).
uiri 10y ago
At my University, there were Calc I, II and III - roughly AB, BC and Multivariate. Calc I is a review of the high school curriculum (at least for local students). I think having a quick review of the chain rule and proceeding from there would be much less of a waste of time. I can't imagine anyone who got through HS Calc failing the first calculus course (although I'm sure it happens) and I think passing the Calc II course on the first try is a good test of the kind of intelligence needed for CS/Engineering. Doing Calculus at MIT's pace doesn't seem unfair at all. That said, plenty of people repeat Calc II and go on to graduate (often in 5 years instead of 4). My University has a strict rule where if you fail a required course twice, you get kicked out of your program.
- ocschwar 10y ago
  What is unfair is that too many high schoolers don't get the opportunity to be MIT-ready when they graduate, and thus MIT does indeed get many incoming freshmen from the elite schools the parent comment is complaining about.

seanmcdirmid 10y ago

> I strongly suspect you are not in a position to provide empirical backup to that assertion. Not that I agree with parent, but given selection bias they can't empirically prove the opposite either (that elite schools teach well given that they select the best students). The lack of proof for the positive of course doesn't prove the negation, but I wish someone would do this experiment (admit a bunch of students randomly into a bunch of universities, compare academic performance over 4 or so years).

uiri 10y ago

At my University, there were Calc I, II and III - roughly AB, BC and Multivariate. Calc I is a review of the high school curriculum (at least for local students). I think having a quick review of the chain rule and proceeding from there would be much less of a waste of time. I can't imagine anyone who got through HS Calc failing the first calculus course (although I'm sure it happens) and I think passing the Calc II course on the first try is a good test of the kind of intelligence needed for CS/Engineering. Doing Calculus at MIT's pace doesn't seem unfair at all. That said, plenty of people repeat Calc II and go on to graduate (often in 5 years instead of 4). My University has a strict rule where if you fail a required course twice, you get kicked out of your program.

ocschwar 10y ago
What is unfair is that too many high schoolers don't get the opportunity to be MIT-ready when they graduate, and thus MIT does indeed get many incoming freshmen from the elite schools the parent comment is complaining about.