The University of California system has taken a step that should surprise nobody — declaring that its admissions will henceforth be “test-free.” Use of the SAT was suspended a couple of years ago and now we get the announcement that there is no satisfactory alternative.
Supposedly, high-school grades are the superior predictor of academic achievement, but that strains credulity. Some high schools have high standards and lots of motivated students; others have low standards and a barely literate student can look like a superstar. Mixing them at a UC campus is very problematic.
What UC is aiming at is a poorly disguised racial-quota system so the top schools won’t have too many Asians.