MIT Reinstates the SAT After Its ‘Archrival’ Admits More Asians – Opinion

Tests aren’t all the rage these days. Meritocracy isn’t either. Neither, really, is school — at least, not the conventional kind. These educational institutions are seen as ideological training grounds against the background of old academics. MIT, however, has made a remarkable transition to the old school.

The famed Massachusetts Institute of Technology previously rejected any standardizing testing in admissions. On March 28, it announced a reintroduction of the ACT/SAT requirements.

The MIT News Office published an article that outlined the change.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which prevented many high school students from taking the exam in safety, the Institute has suspended the requirement for 2020 and 2021.

But now there’s “safe, effective pediatric vaccination” for the coronavirus as well as “free in-school SAT” and “digital SAT.”

The repeal is perhaps more relevant than the fact that testing actually works.

The admissions office has conducted research that shows that standardized tests can be used to assess the academic ability of all applicants, says Stuart Schmill (Dean of Admissions and Student Financial Services).

Some pepper is a wakefulness:

[Dean Stuart] says the standardized exams are most helpful for assisting the admissions office in identifying socioeconomically disadvantaged students who are well-prepared for MIT’s challenging education, but who don’t have the opportunity to take advanced coursework, participate in expensive enrichment programs, or otherwise enhance their college applications.

From the horse’s mouth:

“Our research has shown that, in most cases, we cannot reliably predict students will do well at MIT unless we consider standardized test results alongside grades, coursework, and other factors. The results are statistically reliable and consistent over time. They also hold after controlling for socioeconomic variables and looking across different demographic groups. And the math component of the testing turns out to be most important.”

They will be very offended by these ideas. After all, we’re increasingly informed that any sort of meritocracy is a racist myth — see “College Schools Students and Staff on Microaggressions’ ‘Death by a Thousand Cuts’ and the ‘Myth of Meritocracy’.”

In the fall, Google workers were trained on the “white supremacy” of the “meritocracy myth”:

A Google DEI Lead created an internal document called “Anti-racism resources,” containing readings and racial-consciousness exercises. One graphic claims that “colorblindness,” “Columbus Day,” “weaponized whiteness,” and “Make America Great Again” are “covert white supremacy.” pic.twitter.com/kLIc5JZu8U

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) September 8, 2021

More broadly, according to the Smithsonian, the notion that “hard work is the key to success” is an “aspect and [assumption]” of whiteness:

The National Museum of African American History & Culture wants to make you aware of certain signs of whiteness: Individualism, hard work, objectivity, the nuclear family, progress, respect for authority, delayed gratification, more. (via @RpwWilliams)https://t.co/k9X3u4Suas pic.twitter.com/gWYOeEh4vu

— Byron York (@ByronYork) July 15, 2020

Yet, MIT’s use of scoring will persist.

Stuart extolled the importance of mathematical merit

“An MIT education combines deeply analytic thinking with creative hands-on problem-solving to prepare students to solve the toughest problems in the world. All first-years are required to take two semesters in calculus, and two of calculus-based Physics. Students who don’t place out must also complete a math diagnostic. This means that there are no pathways to MIT without a strong foundation in mathematics. There will also be many quantitative tests along the way. So, in a way, it is not surprising that the SAT/ACT math exams are predictive of success at MIT; it would be more surprising if they weren’t.”

The College Fix has noted that Steven Hayward, UC Berkeley professor, is very proud of his accomplishments. NotThe reverse is explained in a woke way, but it also involves archenemies.

“I have a hunch that MIT’s decision was driven by competitive pressure, namely, that its arch-rival for science supremacy in academia — CalTech — might start to leave MIT conspicuously behind if MIT continued down the road to politically correct admissions practices. CalTech has never embraced affirmative action admission dogma, and hence has a larger Asian student body than peer universities.”

What percentage of wakefulness will the competition restore? This remains to remain to be confirmed. But don’t misunderstand — MIT’s still aboard a train headed for wokeville:

MIT Boots a Science Professor following His Exciting Take on Diversity Equity and Inclusion
https://t.co/z589oHbmRv

— RedState (@RedState) October 7, 2021

For now, however, the school’s choo-choosing merit.

We might be able to see the positive side of things if CalTech and MIT give up on their future success.

China is eating our STEM field lunch, but at least there’s “Ecofeminism”
https://t.co/ka2uHm3awp

— RedState (@RedState) August 12, 2021

-ALEX

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