Reply to "Not a Meritocracy"

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[quote=Anonymous]The athletic hook is just an arbitrary preference. We live in a culture that values athletics, so we've decided an applicant with athletic ability who could compete on a college team is worth more than one with any other skill. If we lived in a country that really valued music or other performing arts, non-profit or advocacy work, then we'd see students with exceptional ability and records in these areas having an edge in college admissions and beyond. But we don't.

To be perfectly honest, beyond truly virtuosic athletic ability that would be thrilling to watch (which like 2% of college athletes have in a handful of sports that actually command a lot of interest), I don't view college athletes as contributing anything "extra" to society in a way that feels worth rewarding. Why would I care if people who are really good soccer players or fencers go to better colleges or get scholarships? I mean, good for them, but I view that as a purely personal pursuit that has next to no social value. I'd be more inclined to give admissions edges to very talented musicians or visual artists because I think the odds that they will contribute something to society that I might actual consume or benefit from are much higher. Same with someone with a demonstrated interest or ability in helping people in poverty or solving some of the social ills we are all impacted by. It just feels truly random that we've elevated student athletes in this way when there are many, many other things I value a lot more than skill and experience in athletics. And I'm a sports fan! But almost none of these kids aren't Serena Williams or Peyton Manning. In fact, Serena's a great example because outside of football, most high level professional sports to not draw on college athletes at all -- most people playing tennis on college teams were not good enough to compete professionally. And lacrosse or badminton or whatever (pretty much no one does except the kids who play these sports and their parents) and it's a mystery to me why skill in those sports would help you gain admittance to college.[/quote]

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