5 ms·

Admissions should be 100% merit based. No special favors for anybody.

• xnyan 7y ago
  That sounds very tidy, but reality is not that simple. Here is a very real situation many schools face: you have 100 slots in your school. You objectively determine that X skills are needed to do well in your school. 1000 applicants demonstrate meeting X level of skills. Some of the 1000 clearly show they have skills well above X, but most of the 1000 are roughly equivalent. Which 900 get turned away and how do you decide which?
  • angry_octet 7y ago
    Is that really so hard? Random selection?
    • patmorgan23 7y ago
      Why is that better than any other method? Why not have legacy factor in after they've met the admissions standards?
      • stoops 7y ago
        Why not do it based on their favorite color?
        • ravar 7y ago
          If that somehow increases revenue for the institution, why not?
          • wy35 7y ago
            Selecting applicants for the highest revenue is literally discriminating against the poor.
  • leetcrew 7y ago
    the obvious question is why does X skills have to remain constant? if you have ten times as many qualified applicants as slots, why not increase the rigor of your program until the decision gets a bit easier?
    • ponsin 7y ago
      Because the difference between scoring in the top 94% vs top 97% in the SAT does not correlate well with how good the student will be