5 ms·
I mean, we've known that universities aren't just looking at academics, test scores, and extracurriculars. If that was the case, the majority of colleges would
by applecrazy 6y ago
I mean, we've known that universities aren't just looking at academics, test scores, and extracurriculars. If that was the case, the majority of colleges would have algorithmic admissions. (Although, surprisingly, there are some universities who do use a composite scoring algorithm to aid admissions)
Having flexible processes give institutions the ability to "shape" the incoming class—after all, isn't it good for marketing to have people from X different states or Y different countries represented in your student body? The campus climate is also dictated by the student body—do you want a cutthroat academic atmosphere (similar to Berkeley) or a party-rich campus (similar to LSU or Penn State)?
- s5300 6y agoHaha. Penn State. Penn State blows hard and always has. You ever try to go on a nighttime booze run in PA? t. OU (which also now blows/has blown for a while)
- m0zg 6y ago> ability to "shape" the incoming class Also known today as racial discrimination where Asians are heavily downweighted, similar to how Jews were downweighted 40-50 years ago. Then again when Columbia rejected Richard Feynman because he was a Jew, it put a permanent stain on their reputation, and Feynman did all right anyway. I'm pretty sure smart kids will do all right, Ivy League or no Ivy League.
- jonahbenton 6y agoWith respect, no. This lens misunderstands both the "admissions" process, the larger goals a given Uni has, and charter they operate under. In practice at the Uni level a much more significant amount of filtering is done through aid packages.
- chongli 6y agoThere are plenty of elite schools outside the Ivy League which do not discriminate against Asian students. The aforementioned Berkeley, for example, had only 21% incoming white freshmen in 2019 but 17% incoming Chinese freshmen [1]. This is particularly striking given that only 1.3% of US residents are Chinese-Americans [2]. You’ll find a similar story for the representation of other Asian and south Asian freshmen at Berkeley. [1] https://opa.berkeley.edu/uc-berkeley-fall-enrollment-data https://opa.berkeley.edu/uc-berkeley-fall-enrollment-data [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Americans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Americans
- SpicyLemonZest 6y agoCalifornia law prohibits Berkeley from applying discriminatory racial preferences. It's my understanding that, with a handful of exceptions, almost all elite schools which are allowed to discriminate do so.
- will4274 6y agoAnd there's a ballot measure in November that would allow Berkeley to discriminate based on race again.
- strikelaserclaw 6y agoHarvard isn't trying to pump out just academics or engineers, lawyers and doctors. They want to pump out prominent businessmen, politicians, activists, fields like these have a looser correlation to raw technical ability and can't really be measured by sat scores or GPA
- 6y ago