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Think you're focused on the wrong issue there. The most likely reason your child is unlikely to get into a good university is because good universities have con

Think you're focused on the wrong issue there. The most likely reason your child is unlikely to get into a good university is because good universities have consistently chosen not to increase class sizes in line with the number of qualified students apply, as a result your child is way less likely due to pure statistics to get in. That's because the schools are social institutions not academic ones.

anonymoushn 6y ago
In some contexts it is considered a bad look to tell people facing discrimination for their unchosen group membership that people of all groups face the same issue and their concerns about the issue are equally valid.
jollybean 6y ago
The ratio of qualified students to good uni seats has always been overloaded. In the context of 'culture wars', the 'number of seats added' is not really a culture war issue. Also, there are tons of great universities in the US. In 'culture wars' we have to have some way of allocating sets to 'the top schools', and it could be just 'SAT', family connections, entrance exam, race, class, etc.. Some groups feel slots should be allocated base on race, some feel otherwise. That one is actually a little bit complicated because although SATs do provide some basis of objective rigour, it's probably the most easily 'gamed' thing and to the extent it's 'gamed' it has little meaning. Do we really want to limit top uni entrance to the 0.1% of HS students spend all of their time preparing for 'A Big Test'? That might be a little bit counterproductive ... but then that 'test' was also one of the more objective metrics. So it's complicated and a ripe area for 'culture war'.
- Traster 6y ago
  16% of candidates to Harvard were accepted in 1992, this year that has dropped to 4%. So even if there is a problem with the selection criteria it’s likely marginal compared to the real issue which is the refusal of the top schools to actually meet demand despite clearly having the funds to do so.
  - anonymoushn 6y ago
    How many schools did each candidate apply to in 1992 and in 2021?
  - jollybean 5y ago
    " refusal of the top schools to actually meet demand " Doesn't work that way. Every student probably wants to go to Harvard, demand is unlimited. If they lowered the standards for example, there would be more applicants. The number of applicants varies by all sorts of factors. Students probably have started applying to far more schools than otherwise. There are more total uni students, even if the number of seats across america has grown commensurate, the number of applications to Harvard will still go up. Finally, Harvard probably wouldn't be Harvard if it were 10x bigger, moreover, they have no obligation to do so. They can do as they please, there are tons of good schools in America. This is not the issue we face with selectivity and race/class/gender, that's a lot harder and it's a problem they cannot avoid.

anonymoushn 6y ago

In some contexts it is considered a bad look to tell people facing discrimination for their unchosen group membership that people of all groups face the same issue and their concerns about the issue are equally valid.

jollybean 6y ago

The ratio of qualified students to good uni seats has always been overloaded. In the context of 'culture wars', the 'number of seats added' is not really a culture war issue. Also, there are tons of great universities in the US. In 'culture wars' we have to have some way of allocating sets to 'the top schools', and it could be just 'SAT', family connections, entrance exam, race, class, etc.. Some groups feel slots should be allocated base on race, some feel otherwise. That one is actually a little bit complicated because although SATs do provide some basis of objective rigour, it's probably the most easily 'gamed' thing and to the extent it's 'gamed' it has little meaning. Do we really want to limit top uni entrance to the 0.1% of HS students spend all of their time preparing for 'A Big Test'? That might be a little bit counterproductive ... but then that 'test' was also one of the more objective metrics. So it's complicated and a ripe area for 'culture war'.

Traster 6y ago
16% of candidates to Harvard were accepted in 1992, this year that has dropped to 4%. So even if there is a problem with the selection criteria it’s likely marginal compared to the real issue which is the refusal of the top schools to actually meet demand despite clearly having the funds to do so.
- anonymoushn 6y ago
  How many schools did each candidate apply to in 1992 and in 2021?
- jollybean 5y ago
  " refusal of the top schools to actually meet demand " Doesn't work that way. Every student probably wants to go to Harvard, demand is unlimited. If they lowered the standards for example, there would be more applicants. The number of applicants varies by all sorts of factors. Students probably have started applying to far more schools than otherwise. There are more total uni students, even if the number of seats across america has grown commensurate, the number of applications to Harvard will still go up. Finally, Harvard probably wouldn't be Harvard if it were 10x bigger, moreover, they have no obligation to do so. They can do as they please, there are tons of good schools in America. This is not the issue we face with selectivity and race/class/gender, that's a lot harder and it's a problem they cannot avoid.