News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Carnegie Mellon, University of Pittsburgh end use of legacy status in admissions. Parent comment

Re:Carnegie Mellon, University of Pittsburgh end use of lega... by Scarblac on Wednesday July 19, 2023 @05:07PM (#36793408)
But also, why is meritocracy so above any criticism? Why is it considered so great?

It would be fairer to just pick at random. Or even better, make sure everyone who wants a good education can get one.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Carnegie Mellon, University of Pittsburgh end use of lega... by koolba on Wednesday July 19, 2023 @05:12PM (#36793468)
The rationale for meritocracy is that a limited resource should be allocated to the individual that will make most use of it. Demonstrating that you understand the prerequisites and are studious is a pretty good indicator that you’ll attend class and strive to learn more.

Randomly picking students with zero minimum qualification would be a massive waste of resources.

Randomly picking students above a given objective standard would be okay. Though arguably not as good as given the best of the best first dibs (depends on who you ask!).

[ Parent | on HN ]