Harvard and others nixing standardized tests reinforce privilege and harm minorities

One of the major characteristics of 21st-century America is its transformation into a hierarchical society in which privileged families occupy the upper strata, and there s comparatively little room for those at the hierarchy s bottom to move up.

It s always been that way to a degree, of course, and it used to be much worse. But starting with the rise of objective college entrance exams, the gates of opportunity opened much wider.

Someone who scored well on the SAT, the GRE or the LSAT could enjoy opportunities previously reserved to those favored by college gatekeepers for other reasons, such as wealth or bloodlines.

For three generations, it was realistic for smart kids to think that regardless of their background or resources, if they could do well enough on those tests they could enjoy admission to the highest levels of education and society.

Now, in an America of shrinking horizons, many schools are moving to undo those changes and push the gates shut. It s being done in the name of progressive ideology, but like so many things done in that name, it s actually regressive.

Harvard, for example, is de-emphasizing test scores. Now the SAT won t matter as much for admissions in fact, it ll be optional for applicants and Harvard will choose its students in a more holistic fashion. It will look more at essays, at grades, at how many buildings parents might endow and whether there might be favorable press or gossip associated with a particular admissions decision.

What it won t be doing is admitting a bunch of poor black kids. Oh, there will be a few even a hundred years ago and more, the Ivy League had its tokens, there to show its broadmindedness without giving up many slots. But the purpose and effect of getting rid of objective tests is to give more room to subjective judgments.

via nypost.com

Glenn Reynolds could not be more correct. Objective tests may not be 100 percent accurate, but they are a lot better than a bunch of admissions types measuring candidates by the cuts of their jibs, or rather by their contemporary equivalent. The people who suffer the most from this obvious discrimination are Asians, not to mention talented youngsters of all backgrounds who did not have the good sense to be born into rich families. Word on the street is that only one third of the entering classes of Ivy League schools are admitted on the basis of merit alone, as measured by grades and test scores. One third!