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> It not that top colleges are biased against the lower classes, but that lower classes may just be less inclined to apply or score lower on standardized tests
by jhayward 5y ago
> It not that top colleges are biased against the lower classes, but that lower classes may just be less inclined to apply or score lower on standardized tests
Oh, my. This is such a straight-textbook example of not seeing systemic bias.
- paulpauper 5y agoGenerations ago, elite colleges had quotas preventing or discouraging certain groups from applying. Those barriers have been removed. As it turns out, selecting for intelligence yields more for endowments and other benefits than selecting for prestige or lineage. This may not be completely fair, but is more fair than the old way.Tons of people apply to these schools. The SAT is still a useful despite being an imperfect filter.
- jiofih 5y ago“Selecting for intelligence”. You have the answer under your nose and can’t see it. You’re not selecting for “intelligence” when the barriers that were in place for 200 years are what define it.
- BurningFrog 5y agoAre they really selecting for intelligence though? The SAT, which actually does that fairly well, is on its way out.
- PaulDavisThe1st 5y agoIf success in college is indicative of intelligence, then the low correlation between SAT scores and college success would argue against your claim.
- BurningFrog 5y agoIt's easy to find seemingly well informed smart people who claim that, and also those who claim the opposite. Outside physics, there is always a study that supports whatever you want to believe, so we can all keep believing whatever feels good, while being supported by Science! I like to think I'm different. But odds are I'm not...
- PaulDavisThe1st 5y agoThe reason why the SAT is "going away" as you noted, or at least the cited reason, is precisely what I noted. If you want to take the position that there is no truth (or even just a better approximation thereof), that "we can all just believe what we want to believe", then there's no way to ever progress on such matters.
- BurningFrog 5y agoI'm absolutely not a "there is no truth truther". More noticing the prevalence of confidently certain people for every opinion.
- fra 5y agoAll serious research I have seen says that the SAT correlates to wealth, and not to college success. Indeed GPA is a much better predictor of college success.
- BurningFrog 5y agoHere is a seemingly well informed text claiming the opposite: https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/please-think-critically-about-college https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/please-think-critically...