I always tell the same stories in these comments, excuse me if you've read this before... When I started at university (in the uk, top 10 but not top 5), the a

I always tell the same stories in these comments, excuse me if you've read this before... When I started at university (in the uk, top 10 but not top 5), the admissions tutor (for the school of physics, not the whole place) who admitted my year group was forced to do the job. He considered himself a scientist (he was an FRS, a leader in his field after all). He looked at all the factors used for entry and found them all to be bs. Grades (predicted and actual), personal statements, references, extra curriculars, age/gender/socioeconomic group etc. So he admitted everyone that applied. He admitted people with low grades, he admitted people without the maths requirements (usually the most important grade for a physics under grad, you generally can't do any physics course without one). The result was a bumper class of 120ish instead of the usual 60ish. But by the end of the first year / start of second year, we were down to the usual number. Everyone else had transfered out, failed and left or was repeating the year. The interesting thing was that there were a few of the people who wouldn't usually have made it who did not transfer out. 2 of the 10 without the maths qualifications went on the get degrees. 1 is a teacher, the other got a PhD. His philosophy was that if someone could pass first year exams, labs, etc they deserved a spot in second year and so on. He didn't care what they came with. Just whether they passed. The chance he gave people was mostly wasted. But not entirely. He radically improved some people's lives. I only know because we got drunk together because he was my tutor and we had a very friendly tutorial group and relationship. As a straight A student with good extra curriculum activities, references, even work experience, I was scandalised and insulted to hear what he'd done. But I learned new definition of equality and it challenged me as a person. I think a lot of schools in particular work the other way around: hard to get in, then you just sit there for a few years and walk into jobs without further examination. That helps no one.