There is cryptic crosswords complex. There is quantum mechanics complex. And then, there is US College Admission complex, which leaves the other two in the dust in terms of its byzantine requirements.
Growing up in Australia, university admissions were straightforward. You did 6 subjects in your last two years, completed your exams, were given a score for each subject, they were added together for your total score, and then you were given a percentile. A score of 80 meant you were in the top 20%, a score of 99.95 (the highest score, and one achieved by a reader!) means you were in the top 0.05% of the country.
From there, you could pick which courses at which universities you wanted to apply to, and the universities would fill those seats in order of score. Some courses, like medicine, had additional requirements, but 90%+ of the entire exercise, nationwide, could essentially be done with excel and the sort function.
In the US, it’s a completely different ball game, sometimes literally. There are preferences given to donors, to legacies, to athletes, to minorities, to both children of faculty and friends of faculty. Applications included test scores, GPAs, essays (now almost all written by AI or tutors), letters of recommendation, and a childhood committed to grooming a perfect resume. They whole thing is dizzying, which is what makes the approach taken by UATX so refreshing.
UATX, or University of Austin, Texas, is a new university that is trying to be a world class institution focussed on truth seeking, something that the founders believe is missing at many of their peer organisations. As some of you may know, I was involved with a pilot program at UATX, and while I do joke about it as the Incel Academy, I do think it’s a marvellous endeavour.
UATX admissions are seeking only one thing, intelligence. To that end, if you score over 1460 (out of 1600) on your SAT, you are guaranteed entry. For those who score under 1460, you just need to provide your IB or ACT scores, as well as three achievements, and they will review your application. Oh, and those three achievements can only be shared in a single sentence.
The whole exercise takes under seven minutes.
I never went through the US College Admissions process, and I don’t think, or my parents, could have survived it. There is probably no perfect way without omicience to pick the best applicants to a prestigious university, but it feels like this method is significantly better.
As always, we shall see…
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