4 ms·

> Attending an elite university just means you were in the top x% of your age cohort. By definition, the top x% is not a group who's membership you can expand.

> Attending an elite university just means you were in the top x% of your age cohort. By definition, the top x% is not a group who's membership you can expand. This would all be very well if you decided the top x% via an objective and reasonable standardized test. However, the mention of standardized tests to determine top x% objectively usually sends people running for the hills [1], and they quickly start talking about "holistic criteria" for admission and how they benefit the students. If the criteria are holistic, i.e. subjective anyway, I don't see why we can't have more elite universities. They will just be holistic along different dimensions. To some degree you already see this in the Ivy League – Cornell is considered, broadly speaking, nerdier than Harvard. So just create 10 nerdier Cornells and 10 preppier Harvards, problem solved. It will just be harder to automatically rank people based on what school they went to. Good! ---------------------------------------- [1] As someone who has seen and felt the downsides of a standardized testing regimen which objectively decides whether you go to a certain college or not, I sympathize with them.

BurningFrog 4y ago
> This would all be very well if you decided the top x% via an objective and reasonable standardized test. I interpret OP's point to be more cynical: The arbitrary selection is the point. Harvard, somehow, through a secret process, selects those who are likely to form a good portion of "the ruling class" for the next 3-4 decades. Past performance so far indicates that they do a good job of it, so Harvard remains very prestigious.
geodel 4y ago
> I don't see why we can't have more elite universities. Pretty simple really. Why wouldn't existing non-elite universities become elite university. I don't think there is some federal ban on creating elite universities. Come to think of it University of Phoenix can be elite university as it offers world class online education to students who couldn't get admission elsewhere.

BurningFrog 4y ago

> This would all be very well if you decided the top x% via an objective and reasonable standardized test. I interpret OP's point to be more cynical: The arbitrary selection is the point. Harvard, somehow, through a secret process, selects those who are likely to form a good portion of "the ruling class" for the next 3-4 decades. Past performance so far indicates that they do a good job of it, so Harvard remains very prestigious.

geodel 4y ago

> I don't see why we can't have more elite universities. Pretty simple really. Why wouldn't existing non-elite universities become elite university. I don't think there is some federal ban on creating elite universities. Come to think of it University of Phoenix can be elite university as it offers world class online education to students who couldn't get admission elsewhere.