9 ms·

I don't get why students need to be apply to be accepted. Why can't everyone go to MIT? Is there a scarcity on chalk boards, shitty chairs and cinder blocks?

trentnix 5y ago
Because the big money isn't in selling an education. The big money is in selling the credential.
sitkack 5y ago
How about kids test in? They can take classes online, if they perform well enough, they get to attend in person, everyone else can bang on the gates via a MOOC. Why not take 1 or 2 university classes your junior and senior year of HS?
- 908B64B197 5y ago
  > Why not take 1 or 2 university classes your junior and senior year of HS? Wasn't this the point of AP classes?
  - sitkack 5y ago
    I think so, but in the method I am outlining, the student would be doing an audition with a university they would like to attend, it isn't just for college credit.
    - 908B64B197 5y ago
      That would be neat. I think there are some Community Colleges/Universities that will allow it, or used to.
bryanlarsen 5y ago
Given the massive endowments that MIT & the Ivy's are sitting on, it's borderline criminal that they're so selective IMO.
- Kranar 5y ago
  Their massive endowment comes from being selective. Seeing where someone graduated from is an excellent tool that companies use to filter out candidates and that filter is of genuine value to the economy. Hiring people is very very risky, especially new grads. Imagine having to sift through 1000s of potential candidates and not having indicators such as whether they graduated, where they graduated from, how well they did compared to their peers, etc... It would result in massive inefficiencies and major risks. With few exception (medical school, some very specialized research), you do not go to MIT if what you genuinely and strictly want is a good education. There is nothing that an undergrad is going to learn at MIT that can't be learned online. There's nothing secretive that MIT teaches that only MIT grads could possibly know about. There is no proprietary research or knowledge that MIT teaches to its students that isn't well established and that other colleges don't have access to. And finally, MIT and most other Ivy league schools and schools in general don't have any kind of specialty when it comes to lecturing or any kind of area of expertise on delivering educational material in any kind of special way; on the contrary most professors are pretty bad at teaching and teaching is not their area of expertise. The textbooks, the lectures, heck even the tests and assignments, are all available for anyone to learn from if they so choose. You go to MIT because it puts you ahead of well over 95% of the population in virtually every future aspect of your career.
fuzzer37 5y ago
With online schooling this is true now more than ever. Why _cant_ i just follow along online, have a bot grade the assignments, and get a degree? Makes you start to question what going to prestigious schools is really about.
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  >Makes you start to question what going to prestigious schools is really about. Parents should teach their kids about the importance of networking and signaling while growing up. Obviously, it's secondary to actually being proficient and productive, but still just as necessary.
pdonis 5y ago
> Why can't everyone go to MIT? Everyone can, online. All of MIT's course content is available for free online: https://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm https://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm
- threatofrain 5y ago
  It's not really, it's a dumping ground of university assets.
  - pdonis 5y ago
    Um, video lectures, lecture notes, problem sets, solutions, and references to textbooks is more than just "a dumping ground". When I look at what's available on OCW for the classes I took when I was at MIT, everything that I got any learning value from is there.
    - scarmig 5y ago
      The biggest part of any "elite" university is being surrounded by similarly high achieving people, to learn from and be motivated by. Attending any random state college gives you theoretical access to all the non-human resources (except labs) that the typical MIT undergraduate will access.
      - erosenbe0 5y ago
        It's not theoretical, you simply need to search a bit more for same resources at a random state school. There are plenty of top quality professors at such schools. Not every professor can make things work for their family at Stanford or MIT. Maybe their partner has a modest income so to afford a house so they go work at Penn State or whatever.
        RhysU 5y ago
        (I don't understand the parent post other than it saying that top notch people can end up at state schools. ) We are...
plank_time 5y ago
Because you want to have a minimum level of ability so that you can maintain a certain pace of instruction. If you have students of various levels of ability and you teach high tier material, most of those kids will fail and drop out. Why set them up for failure?
- tarboreus 5y ago
  That's a nice thought, but it's about status. If they let everyone in, they'd lose status, and having an MIT degree wouldn't have signaling value. If what you said was accurate, they'd just set minimum qualifications and accept way more people.
ALittleLight 5y ago
The admissions criteria is probably most of the value of MIT. If you have a degree from MIT you're probably smart, and we know that because you were able to get in to MIT (and graduate).
philipkglass 5y ago
Lab based courses are crucial to the natural sciences. Even an institution as well off as MIT can't afford to buy enough NMR spectrometers for everyone to take their chemistry classes. Simulations and videos are not adequate substitutes for real lab work.
- rudderz 5y ago
  > Simulations and videos are not adequate substitutes for real lab work. citations needed
Ekaros 5y ago
If we could find proper way to do testing and administer unlimited class sizes, one option could be just allow everyone in first year remote with some lower tuition rate. And then just drop all of the students who do not do good enough to get inside quota of spots for further years.

trentnix 5y ago

Because the big money isn't in selling an education. The big money is in selling the credential.

sitkack 5y ago

How about kids test in? They can take classes online, if they perform well enough, they get to attend in person, everyone else can bang on the gates via a MOOC. Why not take 1 or 2 university classes your junior and senior year of HS?

908B64B197 5y ago
> Why not take 1 or 2 university classes your junior and senior year of HS? Wasn't this the point of AP classes?
- sitkack 5y ago
  I think so, but in the method I am outlining, the student would be doing an audition with a university they would like to attend, it isn't just for college credit.
  - 908B64B197 5y ago
    That would be neat. I think there are some Community Colleges/Universities that will allow it, or used to.

bryanlarsen 5y ago

Given the massive endowments that MIT & the Ivy's are sitting on, it's borderline criminal that they're so selective IMO.

Kranar 5y ago
Their massive endowment comes from being selective. Seeing where someone graduated from is an excellent tool that companies use to filter out candidates and that filter is of genuine value to the economy. Hiring people is very very risky, especially new grads. Imagine having to sift through 1000s of potential candidates and not having indicators such as whether they graduated, where they graduated from, how well they did compared to their peers, etc... It would result in massive inefficiencies and major risks. With few exception (medical school, some very specialized research), you do not go to MIT if what you genuinely and strictly want is a good education. There is nothing that an undergrad is going to learn at MIT that can't be learned online. There's nothing secretive that MIT teaches that only MIT grads could possibly know about. There is no proprietary research or knowledge that MIT teaches to its students that isn't well established and that other colleges don't have access to. And finally, MIT and most other Ivy league schools and schools in general don't have any kind of specialty when it comes to lecturing or any kind of area of expertise on delivering educational material in any kind of special way; on the contrary most professors are pretty bad at teaching and teaching is not their area of expertise. The textbooks, the lectures, heck even the tests and assignments, are all available for anyone to learn from if they so choose. You go to MIT because it puts you ahead of well over 95% of the population in virtually every future aspect of your career.

fuzzer37 5y ago

With online schooling this is true now more than ever. Why _cant_ i just follow along online, have a bot grade the assignments, and get a degree? Makes you start to question what going to prestigious schools is really about.

lotsofpulp 5y ago
>Makes you start to question what going to prestigious schools is really about. Parents should teach their kids about the importance of networking and signaling while growing up. Obviously, it's secondary to actually being proficient and productive, but still just as necessary.

pdonis 5y ago

> Why can't everyone go to MIT? Everyone can, online. All of MIT's course content is available for free online: https://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm https://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm

threatofrain 5y ago
It's not really, it's a dumping ground of university assets.
- pdonis 5y ago
  Um, video lectures, lecture notes, problem sets, solutions, and references to textbooks is more than just "a dumping ground". When I look at what's available on OCW for the classes I took when I was at MIT, everything that I got any learning value from is there.
  - scarmig 5y ago
    The biggest part of any "elite" university is being surrounded by similarly high achieving people, to learn from and be motivated by. Attending any random state college gives you theoretical access to all the non-human resources (except labs) that the typical MIT undergraduate will access.
    - erosenbe0 5y ago
      It's not theoretical, you simply need to search a bit more for same resources at a random state school. There are plenty of top quality professors at such schools. Not every professor can make things work for their family at Stanford or MIT. Maybe their partner has a modest income so to afford a house so they go work at Penn State or whatever.
      - RhysU 5y ago
        (I don't understand the parent post other than it saying that top notch people can end up at state schools. ) We are...

plank_time 5y ago

Because you want to have a minimum level of ability so that you can maintain a certain pace of instruction. If you have students of various levels of ability and you teach high tier material, most of those kids will fail and drop out. Why set them up for failure?

tarboreus 5y ago
That's a nice thought, but it's about status. If they let everyone in, they'd lose status, and having an MIT degree wouldn't have signaling value. If what you said was accurate, they'd just set minimum qualifications and accept way more people.

ALittleLight 5y ago

The admissions criteria is probably most of the value of MIT. If you have a degree from MIT you're probably smart, and we know that because you were able to get in to MIT (and graduate).

philipkglass 5y ago

Lab based courses are crucial to the natural sciences. Even an institution as well off as MIT can't afford to buy enough NMR spectrometers for everyone to take their chemistry classes. Simulations and videos are not adequate substitutes for real lab work.

rudderz 5y ago
> Simulations and videos are not adequate substitutes for real lab work. citations needed

Ekaros 5y ago

If we could find proper way to do testing and administer unlimited class sizes, one option could be just allow everyone in first year remote with some lower tuition rate. And then just drop all of the students who do not do good enough to get inside quota of spots for further years.