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by cousin_it 2199 days ago
Not sure that's the right approach. Admitting people who are most likely to succeed is credit-taking in the guise of teaching. To maximize college's benefit to society, I think you should admit people whose success would be most improved by college. It would be a bit counterintuitive though, you would mostly admit average applicants (because top ones will succeed anyway).
1 comments

> To maximize college's benefit to society, I think you should admit people whose success would be most improved by college.

1. I'm have yet to be convinced that Harvard is trying to maximize its benefit to society.

2. Even if we stipulate that Harvard's sole goal is to maximize its benefit to society, it may be that increasing the number of Jeff Deans or Jim Kellers, even by a small amount, is more beneficial to society than better educating a lot of average people.

... or it may not be. My point is that the approach you suggest is not obviously correct.