uc admissions info vs 2000 census

[FrontlineWarrior]

<< let me say something about the AAP crap (For uCLA)
this is pure discrimination.
just because they are poor or are on sports why are they allowed to have extra FREE tutors, while any typical student have to work their ass off.
most ppl in the AAP program get higher grades than students who didn't get the free tutoring.
i would join the AAP if it wasn't for their minority or poor income restrictions.
they are using either taxpayer money or student gov't money.
i didn't agree to this, this is NOT FAIR.
i'm an azn and i'm not getting the As.and i do not come from 100K figure family background >>



I don't know about you but I had no problems getting AAP tutoring. They aren't allowed to discriminate against you by race, so even if you were a white or asian dude/dudette, you can sign up and they can't do shiznit! I took AAP tutoring for physics and it REALLY helped out a lot. I'm surprised to hear of a guy who actually got a 0.0 GPA with all that tutoring. I mean, you have to be some kind of major league numbnuts to fail so badly with all that help they give you.

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

Why should one student be punished just because he isn't poor or his parent went to college?

Why should one student be punished b/c he is poor or his parents did not go to college? What do you think legacy policies do? They create an arbitrary advantage that cannot be overcome. Universities in the Northeast are a little more fair to minorities b/c they allowed them to matriculate well before most colleges in the South but it is still an issue . . . not counting the former Native American school Dartmouth.

For those in this cohort that can read:

How We Know What Isn't So: The Fallibility of Human Reason in Everyday Life Thomas Gilovich

There's so much garbage floating arounding this thread I don't know where to start.

Merit is a relative term. 1600 on the SAT is not a measure of merit. Neither are 4+ GPAs. In a heterogeneous environment high SAT and GPA students typically perform significantly better than low SAT and GPA students. The catch is the particular performance of a given student is NOT predicted by SAT or GPA. An elite SAT and GPA is certainly supporting evidence that a person can be successful but it is not sufficient nor necessary.

I was on the admissions committee of the University's MD/PhD program. We turn away 45 MCATs and 4.0 GPAs every year. The most promising candidate in the class ahead of me had the lowest MCAT score and one of the lowest GREs. . . shockingly low in fact. The rest of his application was exceptional but I used to be a numbers guy and I would have voted against him. But he demonstrates my point above. If scores are your primary criteria you may miss the best talent. It is more likely that the cream will come from the elites. And we elites like to think that portends merit. The truth is that talent can be measured in multiple ways and if you rely too heavily on standardized tests and grades you may overlook it.

Stanford, UCSF, and Harvard turned me down although I clearly have superior scores to their average program applicant. Yale, UCSD, Duke, and UNC accepted. This will happen to every qualified applicant. Some places will say yes others will say no but you are not denied opportunity in a meaningful way if a school accepts someone that scored lower than you on a test. Belief that you deserve a spot more than someone else is a fantasy.

Failures amongst elites are rarely considered but it often happens. Success amongst the lower numbers often happens as well. Your group theory has little value in an admissions process where you are evaluating individuals and their particular characteristics. 25% spread in GPA or standardized tests is a reason to favor equal candidates. But in fact it is extremely rare that the other criteria are equal. And since the majority of applicants are clustered in GPA and test scores it is those other criteria that will ultimately decide admissions . . . and as long as it isn't race per se; the protocol is quite sound for evaluating talent.