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> "Poverty makes things harder, no doubt." This is all you needed to say. The problem is that the system is designed to identify the most effective parents, n

> "Poverty makes things harder, no doubt." This is all you needed to say. The problem is that the system is designed to identify the most effective parents, not the most talented children. If you look at college admission as a function of personal merit, then it's unfair to judge a child based on their parents' ability to raise them. If you look at it as a system to identify those who will benefit society most by being educated, then you're going to get a lot of false positives that have parents from higher socio-economic classes. Providing a test that produces an empirical result is just making it very easy for parents to game the system. It's a single, stationary target that they can fire money at. If you take away the test you're still selecting for the best parenting (all of life is). But it lets universities put more emphasis on grades and personal stories, areas where students whose parents have never heard of the SAT can still excel. If you can use money to game the test then it's culturally loaded toward people who have enough money to game the test. A broader admissions criteria doesn't have this specific flaw

rayiner 5y ago
There is no such thing as “personal merit” independent of parenting. Kids are a product of their genetics and upbringing. And you’re missing the point re: income, which is that all poor kids aren’t similarly situated. Asian kids raised in the bottom 20% of the income scale have a 25% chance of ending up in the top 20% as adults. For white kids it’s only 11%. Socioeconomic status is a factor but it’s not dispositive or insurmountable. As to grades—you think it’s easier for a bright but poor kid to do their homework in time for 12 years than to study for one test? As to “personal stories”—that’s just a vector for manipulation by the whites people who run the admissions system. It’s remarkable to me to read anecdotes from admissions counselors, who say stuff like that they are looking for weird and non-conforming kids: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/22/former-stanford-admissions-officer-well-rounded-is-not-enough.html https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/22/former-stanford-admissions-o.... Talk about cultural loading!
- hooande 5y ago
  Even if you remove personal merit from the idea of college admissions, which most people do not, then you've still got a system that's selecting for the cultural knowledge and position of parents instead of the benefit received from educating a particular person. This seems to be working well enough so far, but it isn't optimal. I never said that someone's income quantile was dispositive. If my parents never took the SAT and have no idea what it is, I'm at a huge disadvantage to do well on the test by any measure. Regardless of their income. Again, the SAT isn't testing for academic aptitude but for the cultural knowledge of parents and peers. As a wealthy parent I know exactly how to throw money at prepping for one test: hire expensive tutors and purchase practice tests. Gaming years of GPA or coming up with a compelling story is more complicated and difficult to solve with the application of financial resources. A system with vague and subjective criteria is subject to bias, for sure. They are also more difficult to manipulate directly with wealth (other than bribes). We have to decide what our priorities are there as a society.

rayiner 5y ago

There is no such thing as “personal merit” independent of parenting. Kids are a product of their genetics and upbringing. And you’re missing the point re: income, which is that all poor kids aren’t similarly situated. Asian kids raised in the bottom 20% of the income scale have a 25% chance of ending up in the top 20% as adults. For white kids it’s only 11%. Socioeconomic status is a factor but it’s not dispositive or insurmountable. As to grades—you think it’s easier for a bright but poor kid to do their homework in time for 12 years than to study for one test? As to “personal stories”—that’s just a vector for manipulation by the whites people who run the admissions system. It’s remarkable to me to read anecdotes from admissions counselors, who say stuff like that they are looking for weird and non-conforming kids: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/22/former-stanford-admissions-officer-well-rounded-is-not-enough.html https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/22/former-stanford-admissions-o.... Talk about cultural loading!

hooande 5y ago
Even if you remove personal merit from the idea of college admissions, which most people do not, then you've still got a system that's selecting for the cultural knowledge and position of parents instead of the benefit received from educating a particular person. This seems to be working well enough so far, but it isn't optimal. I never said that someone's income quantile was dispositive. If my parents never took the SAT and have no idea what it is, I'm at a huge disadvantage to do well on the test by any measure. Regardless of their income. Again, the SAT isn't testing for academic aptitude but for the cultural knowledge of parents and peers. As a wealthy parent I know exactly how to throw money at prepping for one test: hire expensive tutors and purchase practice tests. Gaming years of GPA or coming up with a compelling story is more complicated and difficult to solve with the application of financial resources. A system with vague and subjective criteria is subject to bias, for sure. They are also more difficult to manipulate directly with wealth (other than bribes). We have to decide what our priorities are there as a society.