Meet Your Next. U.S. President

[Ben Kenobi]

Why would a university want to admit a bunch of unqualified applicants and then fail them all. That would be stupid.

So the purpose of a university isn't to weed people out? Interesting. That would back up my argument.

[DaShi]

Harvard's admissions, although not perfect, generally looks for students who will not only excel at Harvard's curriculum but at their careers as well. These school cultivate the best of the best. Trucking...certification programs, just look for people who desperate for a paycheck. It attracts people looking to make money sitting on their ass rather than using their slowly rotting brains.

[DaShi]

Canadian history instructors might be dumber than truckers.

[giblets]

So the purpose of a university isn't to weed people out? Interesting. That would back up my argument.

The purpose of the admissions process is to weed people out. That's pretty obvious.

[DaShi]

It's like what people would say to kids to motivate to do better in school. "It's fine if you don't improve your grades, the world needs truckers and janitors." At least until those guys at MIT develop robotic truckers and janitors. Or we get that orangutan from the Clint Eastwood movie.

[Ben Kenobi]

Harvard's admissions, although not perfect, generally looks for students who will not only excel at Harvard's curriculum but at their careers as well.

How does this address my argument about the rigors of a Harvard education, after which one has already qualified? Yes, culling people is one thing, but that says nothing about the difficulty of the actual university, nor does it address my argument that it is possible to retain rigor without employing such restrictions.

In fact, I would go so far to say that if admissions standards were done away altogether, and people were permitted to attend without cost to them, that we would see the highest standards in the university, if and only if, the failure rate were not changed. Yes, you said that it makes no sense, it makes quite a bit of sense to cull students. They can redirect their energies elsewhere.

These school cultivate the best of the best. Trucking...certification programs, just look for people who desperate for a paycheck. It attracts people looking to make money sitting on their ass rather than using their slowly rotting brains.

If that were so, why is the trucking system comprised of the creme de la creme? It's open competition. If you aren't good, you won't make money and you won't survive. Any fool can compete with you and kick your butt if they are willing to work hard. Why would desperation for a paycheck lower competitive forces?

[Ben Kenobi]

The purpose of the admissions process is to weed people out. That's pretty obvious.

Ah. So why not just have the admission's process then? You pass the process, they give you a degree, and you go on and make money. Would the Harvard graduates do poorly out in the world with a bonafide harvard degree, with no actual classes taken?

[giblets]

Ah. So why not just have the admission's process then? You pass the process, they give you a degree, and you go on and make money. Would the Harvard graduates do poorly out in the world with a bonafide harvard degree, with no actual classes taken?

That would make sense for history majors, but some people actually learn useful things when they get their degree that employers want them to know.

[Aeson]

It's like what people would say to kids to motivate to do better in school. "It's fine if you don't improve your grades, the world needs truckers and janitors." At least until those guys at MIT develop robotic truckers and janitors.

I hear you on the truckers, but after watching "Good Will Hunting" I'm not sure about the janitors. Having seen iRobot I'm not so sure that we should be pursuing robotic ones either. In fact, maybe MIT should relax their admission standards to ensure we never make it that far...

[Ben Kenobi]

That would make sense for history majors, but some people actually learn useful things when they get their degree that employers want them to know

Isn't that what Bill Gates' did? Good to know that Gates was a history major.

I remain unconvinced that dollar for dollar, that the education at harvard is worth what you pay for it. I am convinced that if you were to hand Harvard degrees out to random numbers of the phonebook, that those people would do just as well as the actual Harvard graduates.

[DaShi]

I hear you on the truckers, but after watching "Good Will Hunting" I'm not sure about the janitors. Having seen iRobot I'm not so sure that we should be pursuing robotic ones either. In fact, maybe MIT should relax their admission standards to ensure we never make it that far...

Nonsense, the purpose of mankind is to make the robots who will make the robots who will replace us.

[Ben Kenobi]

but after watching "Good Will Hunting" I'm not sure

Autodidacts kinda break the whole curve on this. I found the movie revolutionary. Education used to be like what Will did at MIT than the system at present. Emphasis on used. I am not convinced that administrators aren't actually weeding out some very, very talented folks, especially when they get so narrow.

[giblets]

Isn't that what Bill Gates' did? Good to know that Gates was a history major.

I remain unconvinced that dollar for dollar, that the education at harvard is worth what you pay for it. I am convinced that if you were to hand Harvard degrees out to random numbers of the phonebook, that those people would do just as well as the actual Harvard graduates.

Yes, I'm sure SAT scores and high school GPA's are just as good at predicting professional capability as picking people at random. Employers are all stupid and value Harvard degrees for no reason at all and somehow those who overpay people with Harvard degrees aren't at a competitive disadvantage. Wait, no, you're retarded.

[Aeson]

Nonsense, the purpose of mankind is to make the robots who will make the robots who will replace us.

No wonder you support Obama, who, given his lack of published grades is probably a robot himself. (The "honors" he received, were for being teh first black robot. He's the Jackie Robinson of robots.) The begs the question, did we buy GM to "restructure" it financially... or was the "restructuring" actually more about the design and fabrication process. Is Obama now building an army of robots (who will be ugly and have poor gas mileage)? How will this affect the coming election?

[Ben Kenobi]

Yes, I'm sure SAT scores and high school GPA's

If you're going by SAT and GPAs I was the top student in my high school (of 400), with an average of 92 percent in my IB courseload. I was a 1560 on my SAT, despite not being American.

are just as good at predicting professional capability as picking people at random.

It would be a study on the 'Harvard effect', to what proportion of the success of Harvard students is due to the mystique surrounding the degree?

Employers are all stupid and value Harvard degrees for no reason at all and somehow those who overpay people with Harvard degrees aren't at a competitive disadvantage.

As an employer I'd never hire a harvard grad for particularly this reason. Price. I'd hire someone from a college know for technical proficiency in the field that I am looking for, not from they Ivys.

Wait, no, you're retarded.

You're expecting me to be unfamiliar with how the process works?