Stacy, Brooks made the exact same point at the ISI’s Civic Literacy event at the National Press Club yesterday.
After his talk, someone asked him if he thought that the SAT should be rejected as an indicator of college and intellectual performance, as it merely rewards test-taking ability and not knowledge or education. He answered that the high school GPA standard bothered him more, as applicants to Harvard and other Ivies need such high GPAs that only “professional students” can gain admission. Kids who have a passion for one subject and pursue it at the expense of A grades in other classes won’t get into the top schools. The overall effect is that students at Harvard et al. aren’t very interested or interesting to others.
He added that, for that reason, he’s glad his own son is interested in Rhodes College, not some Ivy school.
