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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Yes I know those percentiles.  At a top school like Harvard, if you're in the 93rd percentile, it's pretty apparent.  Like you're taking different classes (which is what happens).  I mean do you really think 93rd percentile academic ability is reasonable at Harvard?[/quote]

Yes, I absolutely do.[/quote]

As an example- 99th % in the NYC marathon is 2:49. 93% is 3:20. 
These people are running different races. While the 93% finisher is a great runner, they cannot even see the 99% finisher. 
Same in academics.[/quote]

Do you have any data showing that some in the 93rd percentile either can't handle work at Harvard or will end up being less successful than someone in the 99th percentile? [/quote]

The 93 percenter finishes the marathon..heck do does the 99th percentile one that comes crawling in.  The 99 percentile is elite and is a better marathoner than the slower finishers.[/quote]

ok, that makes great sense in your analogy. Do you have an data showing that a 93rd percentile high school student performs measurably worse in college than a 99th percentile highschool student [/quote]

It is ok for there to be places for the top students to study.  Relax.[/quote]

Agree, and to the question, there's an abundance of data connecting SATs and various measures of outcomes.  As I'm sure you know, studies focus on differences across the entire spectrum, rather than within the top decile of scores.  That said, I'm pretty intimately aware of the massive delta in ability across Harvard students.  I'd certainly rather hire at one end of that than the other (and I do).

As far as success, that's an interesting question.  It's pretty uncontroversial that the Harvard brand is going to boost career prospects to the point where perhaps these differences become harder to measure.  That said, if Harvard takes the attitude that they can admit whoever because they're going to be successful anyway, well that's going to ultimately dilute the brand.[/quote]

Newsflash: Harvard has always taken the position that they can admit whomever they please because those people will be successful anyhow, and it doesn't seem to have diluted their brand yet. [/quote]

That's not even close to true.  I grant you that Harvard is arrogant, but they're quite careful about who they admit and the implications for their brand.[/quote]

You know nothing about the history of Harvard. Or do you actually believe Harvard has always been a meritocracy? [/quote]

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