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Peter Gerdes's avatar

I think it's worth considering the possibility that the universities are actually optimizing for what the people hiring their graduates want.

Firms that hire from the most elite schools face substantial PR (including from current and potential employees) pressure to have a more diverse workforce but also are legally and PR blocked from just lowering the bar for minority applicants. The universities are doing exactly what optimizes graduate desierability in such a world because the employer wants the best performers from both minority and non-minority groups but would prefer not to set a lower bar for test scores for minority hires for PR reasons. The universities just do the dirty work of washing away any overt signals of that difference.

And look, it makes sense since many jobs aren't that sensative to raw ability only the perception that you are hireing the best people. Truth is that lawyers at a white shoe firm don't need to be the very top level in ability but the clients need to believe they are choosing the most elite lawyers.

So it's not really a cost if some of your employees don't actually have the best test scores as long as that fact is effectively hidden and no one else can signal they do better (which would be hard given they have to say they avoid hiring those worse performing minorities like that other firm)

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Peter Gerdes's avatar

My primary issue with these changes isn't that I think they will cause a drop in standards (most admits don't get DEI bonuses) but that the schools have given up the one tool which lets them distinguish concienciousness and brilliance.

HS grades mostly measure conscientiousness above some low threshold of intelligence. And conscientiousness is important but the SAT used to provide a way for the brilliant but less conscientious kid to get into a great school. Since the SAT also is partially reflective of conscientiousness if you do really well despite only ok HS grades it probably suggests a fair bit of smarts.

This may not matter for corporations looking for generic hires but I fear it may reduce the number of truly brilliant scientists and innovators we produce. After all, its the brilliant but less conscientious kid who benefits most from a school where everyone else is taking hard classes because they (unlike their conscientious peers) would be most likely to not challenge themselves at state school.

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