Standardized testing originated in the eugenics movement

[exboyfil]

15. What standard to use for ploughing through 20,000

applicants for 2,000 spots? I frankly would be happy if the ACT was eliminated so that my 4.0 daughter (who would stay 4.0 by selective picking of future courses) could get scholarships currently 33 ACT students get. She is projected to score in the 24-27 range.

Do you honestly think that someone that scores in the teens on the Math section of the ACT would succeed in Enginnering?

Be careful about that 1,000 figure. I investigated just a few schools on the Fair Test website, and I found them in error (UT Austin, University of Northern Iowa as two examples). Read the application literature on the schools' website. Privates are a whole different matter, and I have no comment on them because they have absolutely no meaning in my life (for example while Harvard would cost us less than the University of Iowa - if my daugther got into Harvard she would probably get a very generous scholarship to Iowa). My daughter is going to one of the three state universities.

The institutions that matter most in the argument about test scores are the large public universities that serve as the backbone of post secondary education in the U.S. The UC system is a special case, and I do like the suggestion of, if you are in the top 10% of your public High School graduating class, you are into the system irrespective of test scores, extracurriculars, etc. You still have the issue as to what to do with out of staters, private school, and homeschooled candidates. Private school admissions is a fool's game anyway. They can admit for whatever reason they want. A far more interesting perspective would be looking at the University of Virginia for example in which many 4.0 in state students get turned away - that should never happen at a state school.

I threw in Sanger because the SAT was bashed because of a link with eugenics. Same argument could be made for Sanger (and by implication Planned Parenthood). Whatever the origin of something its current merits should be considered (anyone ever here of Volkswagen?).