Reply to Idea - Lottery Preference for #1 Ranked School

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Reply to "Idea - Lottery Preference for #1 Ranked School"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Do people realize that most matching algorithms actually take into account the participants' preferences?  Even the most basic form (the stable marriage problem) is based on creating a solution that most accurately reflects each person's preferences.

A more modern take is the algorithm that matches medical students to residency programs.  The Nobel prize winners (who are condescendingly mentioned by every poster who thinks that preferences have no place in the DC charter school system) actually won their prize for the medical student-residency research.  Yes, that's right.  The research leading up to the creation of an algorithm that includes applicants' preferences is actually what won the Nobel.

The DC charter school allocation algorithm (which marginalizes preferences)?  Hasn't even won a participation prize.  And while we know who designed the DC charter system, we don't know what the specific directions or the limiting factors were.  This wasn't an academic exercise.  They were working for the DC government.  Did DC express an opinion as to how the system should run?  Was there be  a difference in cost and/or time to the DC government if families' preferences were factored in--as opposed to basing the whole thing on a random lottery number?

Again, referring back to the actual Nobel-prize winning  residency algorithm, the directions simply give student-applicants a disclaimer that in order to make the system function best for them, any rankings should reflect their true preference.  Those who nevertheless choose to rank strategically, so so at their own peril.  The result is a much fairer system than the one we have.[/quote]
Can you explain how the residency matching is different from the DC algorithm? How would you factor in student preferences in lieu of a lottery number?[/quote]

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