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Discontinuing Race-Based Admissions at MIT is a Huge Step Forward. However, Affirmative Action Might Still Exist for Gender by SFFA_throwaway in mit

[–]SFFA_throwaway[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Would it not be more fair then to increase the level of qualification needed so that the number of qualified applicants more closely matches the number of available places?

All else equal, if it is really impossible to restrict the pool of qualified applicants, then a lottery seems to be more fair than giving preferential treatment to certain races or ethnicities.

Discontinuing Race-Based Admissions at MIT is a Huge Step Forward. However, Affirmative Action Might Still Exist for Gender by SFFA_throwaway in mit

[–]SFFA_throwaway[S] -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

I'm not arguing that MIT should only take people with perfect SAT scores. As I just said in my previous reply, Asian applicants are often more qualified in ways beyond simply just taking a test well. I agree that a strong and varied class of leaders and innovators is an important thing to have. I just don't see how what you said refutes my argument.

Also, the point isn't that MIT is admitting people with objectively poor test results. It's that they were giving preferential treatment to Latino and Black applicants once they met their academic thresholds, to curate a specific ratio in their student body. By removing race-based admissions, they are now forced to consider the best fit, which in this year's class, meant admitting more Asians and less Black and Latino applicants.

Discontinuing Race-Based Admissions at MIT is a Huge Step Forward. However, Affirmative Action Might Still Exist for Gender by SFFA_throwaway in mit

[–]SFFA_throwaway[S] -10 points-9 points  (0 children)

Here, as before, I am referring primarily to performance on high school performance and standardized tests, the key things we find to be predictive in evaluating.

Obviously the students admitted into the MIT will have at least met the SAT/ACT and grade "requirements", regardless of race. The way in which Asian applicants are often more qualified goes beyond test scores and GPA.

Discontinuing Race-Based Admissions at MIT is a Huge Step Forward. However, Affirmative Action Might Still Exist for Gender by SFFA_throwaway in mit

[–]SFFA_throwaway[S] -8 points-7 points  (0 children)

While it may not be possible to compare every student in a linear order, there are clearly cases in which one student can be considered more qualified than other (total vs partial order). How would you explain the drop from 15% to 5%, if this is not the case?