<p>Oh, man. What a mess.</p>
<p>:rubs temples:</p>
<p>It’s like this, don’tno.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Standardized tests like SAT attempt to measure one’s chances of success and preparedness for college. They are imperfect measures, as certain things influence scores (test prep, test anxiety). They cannot measure one of the most important predictors of one’s success in college: How badly the student wants it.</p></li>
<li><p>A person of average intelligence can do well in many, many colleges, as the curriculum and demands vary from college to college. Why, even a drug-abusing spoiled rich kid who eventually becomes president of the U.S. can find a way to get through Yale, so how hard could it be? :)</p></li>
<li><p>Our college admissions process already takes ample stock of aptitude for college. College administrators look for those who display leadership, have good grades, did well on standardized tests. There is no need for government to do anything else to sort students into those who should go to college and those who should not. <em>We value self-determination in our society.</em> Each individual must make the decision of whether he or she will do better in life with or without a college degree and whether he or she has what it takes to earn that degree. It is none of anyone else’s business, frankly.</p></li>
<li><p>I think don’tno, for whatever reason, places an extremely high value on innate intelligence. That is fine (although some people of high intellect just happen to have an obnoxious tendency to view that trait as the Most Important Thing In Life). I think many of us have seen through life experience that high innate intelligence is just one factor in what it takes to succeed and is neither necessary nor sufficient to do well. The most successful and competent people in a profession or field are not necessarily the ones with the greatest innate intelligence, regardless of how you choose to measure intelligence.</p></li>
<li><p>Because we cannot sort people into “those who should attend college” and “those who should not attend college” with any reasonable reliability, <em>we should not try.</em></p></li>
</ol>
<p>There. I am not going to wade through all the posts above. Now you know what I think.</p>