Brian

Contributing editor @arenamag

[Brian @bbalkus]

@Hellzbellzmcn5 @devahaz @Noahpinion Harvard has a $70B dollar endowment and 100 empty acres right by its campus and no one ever suggests adding more undergraduate students. It is insane.

[Brian @bbalkus]

@BSF42069 This is going to fail badly. SpaceX is so far ahead any European competitors can’t even see them. They can’t see Blue Origin either. It is astonishing that anyone thinks a tie up of 4 legacy cell phone companies are going to keep with Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.

[Brian @bbalkus]

Not really. Legacies have an average SAT of 1,521 and students of all races from ordinary backgrounds benefit from networking with the smartest and most ambitious children of America’s existing elite. Harvard isn’t a trade school. It is about elite formation.

I think Harvard should add dorms on the 100 undeveloped acres it owns 0.5 miles from campus and increase its class size. It should admit more non-legacy students from all races who have the highest merit based on the three scored factors. If there is any AA, it should be based on class.

A student that is a 1 for personality and a 2 for academics is likely to accomplish more in the real world.

[Brian @bbalkus]

I want a student body that is comprised of applicants that have the most merit as exhibited by having the highest scores in the 3 rated areas. An applicant that scores a 1 for academics and a 5 for personality doesn’t have more “merit” than someone with a 1 for personality and extracurriculars and a 2 for academics. The first student may be better off at MIT.

[Brian @bbalkus]

@super509219312 @ramprasad_c It isn't DEI. We know what the % of admits would likely look like if it was based purely on academic merit. And Harvard isn't a trade school devoted to producing middle managers at Meta. That is what MIT is for.

[Brian @bbalkus]

Harvard will still admit a lot of students from places like Dalton. The idea that the university doesn't know what it is selling and will accidently turn itself into MIT is obviously incorrect.

Since the affirmative-action ruling, Black and Hispanic enrollment shares have fallen by a combined 11 percentage points. Meanwhile, my estimates suggest that the admission rate for White domestic applicants without legacy, athletic, or other institutional preferences could be roughly 70% below its lawsuit-era level.

[Brian @bbalkus]

@dompe330958 @crusade_all_day @devahaz @Noahpinion We have a good idea of what class demographics would look like based on data that came out of the lawsuit.

[Brian @bbalkus]

@MattZeitlin @mattyglesias The number of students at Harvard who went to places like Dalton will remain high. The number of white kids at Harvard who can’t throw a football or don’t have parents who can donate a building will go down.

[Brian @bbalkus]

@EmperorPolitics @Noahpinion If you are a non-Asian minority and don’t come from money you are far more likely to be admitted to Harvard or other elite universities than a white student from an affluent but not super wealthy family.

[Brian @bbalkus]

@aceoaces @devahaz @Noahpinion Didn’t you get banned? What does this correct statement have to do with anything relevant?

[Brian @bbalkus]

The problem isn’t Asian admit rates. The problem is racial discrimination against white kids who can’t throw a football or have parents who can donate millions of dollars.

Whites are roughly 60% of the country, about nine times the Asian American population, so even at lower per-capita rates of top scores they produce an enormous absolute number of high-achieving students.

Yet by my math, whites without a legacy, athletic, or donor connection make up less than 20% of Harvard’s freshman class, despite being about 40% of the non-hooked applicant pool.

The hooked seats keep the overall white number looking defensible and hide how badly the ordinary white kid is being screwed.

Strip out the hooked minority admits and Black, Hispanic, and Native students hold roughly 19–20% of seats, about the same as unhooked whites, drawn from a population base about 40% smaller and with a much lower average academic index in Harvard’s own data.

[Brian @bbalkus]

@BootyBandit1527 @Noahpinion https://t.co/dMYc6IpU2O

[Brian @bbalkus]

Did I mention Asian students anywhere? Who are you arguing with? Is it your contention that unhooked White students aren’t being discriminated against and the class composition is what one would expect under a purely merit-driven process?

Asian American enrollment is exactly where Harvard's own 2013 internal model said an academics-only process would put it at 43%.

Whites benefit from every non-racial factor Harvard uses and make up roughly 40% of the non-hooked applicant pool, yet their share of the class has declined since race was removed, while Black and Hispanic shares remain FAR above what academics alone predict.

Unhooked whites have the same or lower admit rates as unhooked Black, Hispanic, and Native students combined, even though whites come from a population base roughly 70% larger and have much stronger academic ratings on average in Harvard's own data.

[Brian @bbalkus]

Did I mention Asian students anywhere? Who are you arguing with? Is it your contention that unhooked White students aren’t being discriminated against and the class composition is what one would expect under a purely merit-driven process?

Asian American enrollment is exactly where Harvard's own 2013 internal model said an academics-only process would put it at 43%.

Whites benefit from every non-racial factor Harvard uses and make up roughly 40% of the non-hooked applicant pool, yet their share of the class has declined since race was removed, while Black and Hispanic shares remain FAR above what academics alone predict.

Unhooked whites have the same or lower admit rates as unhooked Black, Hispanic, and Native students combined, even though whites come from a population base roughly 70% larger and have much stronger academic ratings on average in Harvard's own data.

[Brian @bbalkus]

I used to live in Austin and can think about 20 different BBQ places there that are as good or better than this BBQ restaurant near where I live now. It is overpraised because of its location and doesn't mean California has good BBQ. Because it does not.

This is the same phenomenon as London's top restaurants.

https://t.co/9Y7xsLyjvl

[Brian @bbalkus]

My point is about the unhooked white applicant. Whites without a legacy, athletic, or donor connection make up less than 20% of Harvard’s freshman class, despite being about 40% of the non-hooked applicant pool in the lawsuit era. The hooked seats keep the overall white number looking defensible and hide how badly the ordinary white kid fares.

Strip out the hooked minority admits and Black, Hispanic, and Native students hold roughly 19–20% of seats, about the same as unhooked whites, drawn from a population base about 40% smaller and with a MUCH lower average academic index in Harvard’s own data.

[Brian @bbalkus]

My point is about the unhooked white applicant. Whites are roughly 60% of the country, about nine times the Asian American population, so even at lower per-capita rates of top scores they produce an enormous absolute number of high-achieving students.

Yet by my math, whites without a legacy, athletic, or donor connection make up less than 20% of Harvard’s freshman class, despite being about 40% of the non-hooked applicant pool in the lawsuit era.
The hooked seats keep the overall white number looking defensible and hide how badly the ordinary white kid fares. Strip out the hooked minority admits and Black, Hispanic, and Native students hold roughly 19–20% of seats, about the same as unhooked whites, drawn from a population base about 40% smaller and with a much lower average academic index in Harvard’s own data.

Why do you think Harvard won’t release how many whites it admits or admit rates by academic level?

[Brian @bbalkus]

They substituted discriminating against Asian students with discriminating against white students.

We know from the Harvard lawsuit that 43% of the white admits in each class are athletes or the children of donors/faculty.

The chances of an unhooked white kid in a 60% white nation of getting into Harvard are very low.

[Brian @bbalkus]

@RichardHanania What do you think the racial composition of Harvard’s class should roughly be based on this data?

[Brian @bbalkus]

@AnaArsonist @Londonmaxxing These lists are all fake and meaningless. There are some select restaurants largely run by foreigners that are good in London. These are not the norm.

Bleeker burger is run by a New Yorker. Napoli on the Road is run by an Italian.