College, Calculus, and the Problem With the SAT

Does higher education offers students true social mobility?

https://www.wired.com/story/college-calculus-problem-with-the-sat/

 

I don't have time for details right now, but I disagree with just about everything in this article. To make things short, I don't think the school you choose is as important as this article makes it seem. What does everyone here think?

 

I don't think it's very important either.

 

I'm still hanging with the same old gang from the neighborhood

 

Yes, to some extent. But not as much as people think.

Sure, on average graduates of undergraduate programs at 'elite' universities get better jobs, make more money etc. But many of these kids come from 'elite' homes, where their parents are high level government officials, business executives or celebrities. Even if these kids hadn't attended university at all, their parents, or their parents' friends, would probably have set them up with a good job opportunity regardless.

Unlike the author, I like the SAT. It's about the only thing left in education these days that's even halfway objective. Of course when I took it (we pressed our answers into cuneiform tablets) we didn't retake the test over and over and SAT coaching was unknown.

My biggest disagreement with the article is that it seems focused on the idea that college should be perceived primarily as an engine of social mobility. That's part of what it is, surely, but only secondarily. Primarily college is about education.

The "best" colleges in my opinion are the colleges that educate their students the best. Not necessarily the ones that produce the biggest generational leaps in average household income.

That latter might be the community college or even the (horrors!) for-profit that teaches a kid from a less tony background an in-demand skill, without necessarily awarding a university degree at all.

 

This is it. The people who go to those "elilte" schools come from "elite" families. If they went to any old college their families would still have the same connections to get them those high paying jobs the article talks about. Also, do you know which school has graduated the most Fortune 500 CEOs? It's a bit of a surprising answer. Penn State. Not exactly what people would think of as "elite".

 

Two-year for-profits have the worst outcomes for poor students.

 

Well, there's this

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/07/opinion/sunday/end-legacy-college-admissions.html