Given the basic assumption that a college is an academic institution first and foremost - academics should carry more weight - for people 18/19 and younger.
To ask the most obvious question; why don't the elite colleges in the US offer their own entrance exams that have a much higher ceiling academically? Oxbridge colleges have alwas done this...
Oh, wait! That would mean more east Asians qualifying than the Ivies currently appear to find palatable.
I don't think of the busywork in today's AP classes as being particularly stringent academically - requiring deep analysis and novel insights, myself.
(Some from under privileged or abusive backgrounds that didn't have the chance to do particularly well when at high school age and may need some time to overcome the trauma of their childhoods so there should also be an alternative means for older students to apply using non-traditional metrics. They are not the majority of applicants and outside of the scope of what I am writing here)
Last edited by madeinuk; 01/27/16 10:13 AM.
