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MIT's SAT Math Error
theodp writes "The Wall Street Journal reports that for years now, MIT wasn't properly calculating the average freshmen SAT scores (reg.) used to determine U.S. News & World Report's influential annual rankings. In response to an inquiry made by The Tech regarding the school's recent drop in the rankings, MIT revealed that in past years it had excluded the test scores of foreign students as well as those who fared better on the ACT than the SAT, both violations of the U.S. News rules. MIT's reported first-quartile SAT verbal and math scores for the 2006 incoming class totaled 1380, a drop of 50 points from 2005."
and a minor in dupe detection ;-)
Table-ized A.I.
You can't compare any scores because it's all been rebased to be meaningless.
Back then, a 1400 really meant something, and a "perfect" score was a one or two person thing.
I pitty the fool... stay in school
Make SELinux enforcing again!
Yet another hilarious prank, no doubt. I wonder how many kids scored 1337?
Just watch out when one of them attains the CEO position at your company.
"Hey, you know what would be a really hilarious number for our stock prices to hit?"
Uh oh.
When things get complex, multiply by the complex conjugate.
Your intelligence doesn't determine how ready you are for school. I have a high IQ but I score badly because other people put more work into school than I do.
I don't normally put a lot of stock in standardized test scores, but with a total score of 1380 for an entire class, I can see how that might be a problem.
US colleges use a whole lot more than the SATs to determined admission, essays and extra-curriculars and grades and so on. In some ways the fact that you can study for the SAT does make it a better measure, work ethics and the ability to study are important for life and college.
Actually the US college system relies amazingly little on standardized tests in comparison to many other nations. In many countries there is a set of tests which pretty much are the only measure and the only chance you get. If you do badly or the computer system fucks up you're screwed.
What is quartile?
Don't worry, you're not in it.
Table-ized A.I.
He wasn't bitching about it -- he was stating a fact: that he was doing worse than others, and did not blame it on anyone else. The only one here bitching is you.
Ahh, parent poster is a Troll, eh? Forbes publisher Rich Karlgaard would probably agree with AC. Is he a troll too? I saw far too many kids there for the party myself... the 'life experience' they called it. We even have online encyclopedias citing which schools paaar-tay the hardest. I'm sure that image doesn't hurt enrollment numbers and the government money flowing into universities. I wouldn't be surprised if universities quietly encourage that 'rep' via PR firms. College is big business. So big in fact that university finances have begun drawing the scrutiny of congress. We've even begun exporting American-style higher education. It may not be the best in the world, but it sure makes a shitload of money.
In the meantime, there's a lot of kids leaving college with a worthless degree and lots of debt. The university was enriched by the process, but you can't say that for all their graduates. I'll bet if the OP had mentioned something about outsourcing the post would be +5 Insightful.
" I saw far too many kids there for the party myself "
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4422/is_n6_v15/ai_20860361
"Her dad once chastised her for wasting his tuition money by not going to her classes. With typical Esther aplomb, she countered, "Daddy, you don't understand. You don't come to Harvard to study. You come to Harvard to get to know the right people."
Need Mercedes parts ?
Because the IQ score gives no useful information.
If the person has a high SAT score but a low IQ score then they are in the "work really hard" group, you want them.
If the person has a high SAT score and a high IQ score then they are in the "gifted" group, you want them.
If the person has a low SAT score and a low IQ score then they are in the "dumb" group, you don't want them.
If the person has a low SAT score and a high IQ score then they are in the "smart but lazy" group, you don't want them.
Since all you don't actually care about the groups, just the "want them"/"don't want them" decisions IQ provides nothing.
Well, English and philosophy are two of the recommended undergrad degrees taken in conjunction with pre-law to gain entry into law schools. So the Bachelor's degree by itself may not be spectacular, but it can set one apart from all those political science majors. History might also be a good choice. See University of Missouri St. Louis Political Science department's information on studying Law for just one program that mentions English and philosophy both as options.
Also, consider that many state government positions have a prerequisite of any Bachelor's degree from any accredited college. In Illinois, for example, many decent jobs with good benefits can plausibly be had with a degree in Liberal Arts or Medieval Literature, although you might be up against candidates who might have studied something more directly relevant. For some fields within the Illinois state government, the degree requirement can be waived for experience.
"I had been under the impression that engineering degrees were generally for people who wanted to make money (in a normal-ish job) after graduation, while sciences were for people who either wanted to be, or accepted the risk of being in academia for life. Is that not the case?"
I think that anyone who wants an engineering degree for the money will be disappointed. I have a degree in chemical engineering, and I make $55,000 (that is with 10 months of experience). That sounds like a lot for being just out of school, but given the extra effort of obtaining the degree, and the amount of work that is expected from me at my job, I don't think it's a better deal than a liberal arts degree would've been. I think that the value of any degree is what you do with it. If you work to gain valuable experience, advocate yourself, and work well with others, you can make a 6 figure income with any degree.
I am in the field because I am passionate about making peoples lives better, and I feel like engineering accomplishes that. I don't want to work forever in academia, because I feel like all the mindless bureaucracy and politics of the university makes enriching the lives of others nearly impossible. Of course, if I did want to work forever in academics, I could still do that with an engineering degree.
Let me fix that for you... 1) Work 2) Profit! There you go.
Most people aren't thought about after they're gone. "I wonder where Rob got the plutonium" is better than most get.
Yes but consider this. The average starting salary of a liberal arts degree holder is generally quoted as $30-35k. The average starting salary of an engineering degree holder is generally quoted in the $50-55k range. That's a pretty significant difference - the engineering degree yields a return of 40 to 80% straight off the bat. Granted the engineering degree is harder but I'd say it's well worth the effort.
Now that said, I do agree with you that a degree is only as valuable as you make it (to a certain point). But I think taking these numbers in the aggregate probably cuts a lot of the variance due to super high- and low- achievers.
Having a college degree confirms that the bearer can finish college. This isn't trivial: someone who claims to have equivalent knowledge without the degree may, in fact, lack discipline or the ability to embark on long-term projects. Just knowing that someone can do the things required to get a degree is an important piece of positive information above and beyond the demonstrated learning that the degree indicates.
The first thing I note is that, for an institution as brilliant as MIT to make an error that increases their ranking seems a bit suspicious. Despite the fact that many readers here see little or no purpose to these rankings, they are horribly influential, and the difference reported is substantial. MIT is good enough to be great without cheating.
The second point is that many schools are very careful when examining foriegn test scores because of cheating supported by the government. It is well-known that many countries actively encourage cheating (which helps the students get grants or acceptance). The school where I was had a watch list and would ignore scores outright from many countries. Makes me wonder whether they still reported these suspect high scores as part of their average (I expect they did).
Or just take a DeLorean back in time make sure that your father follows that truly wise advise:
Don't be a fool. Wrap your tool.
"what do you expect when you're 22?"
A six figure income, no dress code, full benefits, three assistants, and a 32 hour work week??
"But this one goes to 11!"