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Agreed - it just stands to reason. Say a college accepts the top 20% of applicants. Wouldn't these people always perform in the top 20% of the young people pool

by cm2012 12y ago

Agreed - it just stands to reason. Say a college accepts the top 20% of applicants. Wouldn't these people always perform in the top 20% of the young people pool, just by definition? It seems almost stupidly negligent to not count this factor heavily in discussions of college effectiveness. I've read at least 1 study that shows that the biggest determinant of student success in the workplace was what colleges the student applied to (not even accepted by, let alone attended).

thaumasiotes 12y ago
> Say a college accepts the top 20% of applicants. Wouldn't these people always perform in the top 20% of the young people pool, just by definition? You've got hold of a good idea here, but as you've phrased it the answer is "no, that would only hold if everyone in the country applied to the school". If the bottom half of everyone applies to your school, and you take the top 20%, expect performance in the 40th to 50th percentile for the country.