[bilbo0s]

Actually, the original point of standardized testing was not to "level the playing field", but rather to identify the academically talented. The job of Ivy Admissions Officers is to identify students that will enrich the environment of the universities by which they are employed. These are two separate problems.

Just as an illustration, consider one of the "goals" of Admissions Officers at one of the Ivies. This particular Ivy, some time ago, set itself a goal of admitting one male, and one female, from every state in the union. Simply selecting the top candidates via "demonstrated ability" will not allow them to meet this goal. It would be difficult to find elite students in Arkansas, Alabama and Montana who would compare favorably to elite students from Massachusetts, New Jersey or Minnesota. So it's plain that this goal had to be satisfied via other means. Programs like those the article talks about are a part of achieving these lesser known admissions goals.

[JoeAltmaier]

Not fair! They can simply look harder. How can it be said with a straight face that there are zero qualified candidates in those example states? Preposterous. It just takes time to find them.

[CapitalistCartr]

Wyoming has about 580 thousand total population, and no prep schools comparable to the East Coast ones. Its not simply raw intellectual ability. The most qulualified student in each year from that state will most likely find an Ivy League overwhelming. If each such school wants at least one man, one woman from there, it's not going to work.