Reply to Harvard Instituting Remedial Math Class

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I know plenty of MIT grads who are not writers. I'm not shocked that there are Harvard kids who are top 1% in something who are not great at calc. Not everyone can be everything.[/quote]

pre-calc is not top 1% for a college student and certainly not for a student at Harvard [/quote]

Says who? This is who Harvard wants. What you want for Harvard is something else. It is your expectations that need adjustment.[/quote]

I agree.  This point seems lost based on many comments.  What a person thinks or feels a college/university should value or prioritize does not always align to the school's values and mission.  Harvard puts in place a program to educate students and people are mad it's not [b]the right[/b] students.

It is interesting that with almost 3,000 4-year colleges, folks get worked up over this one.  I mean, how many students out of their undergraduate enrollment are even taking this class?  Not sure why folks care so much.  Alum maybe?[/quote]

I agree that Harvard can prioritize equity and diversity over academic excellence if it so chooses. The reason it’s news is because Harvard has spent most of its 388 year history emphasizing scholarship and building a reputation for choosing the “best and brightest” (even when it was a gentleman’s club). Just scan through any discussion on this board re: the value of paying Ivy League tuition vs. in state public and parents will confidently assert that it’s worth it to ensure that your bright kid will be surrounded by other stellar students. That hasn’t been their goal for some time now, but the results of test optional policies has revealed to what extent that’s true, and it’s an adjustment for some people who haven’t been paying attention.

(Also, it’s a bit of told you so after everyone was haughtily assured that these Admissions officers “know what they’re doing” and didn’t need to see test scores to select highly qualified students. Instituting an entire new program means that this wasn’t just one or two kids that needed extra support. If Harvard screwed it up, even with the quality of their applicant pool, how bad is it at every other test optional college in America?)[/quote]

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