Here is a fun WSO thread on stupid athletes. It is the same stuff that we have discussed before, but I love this handy summary from Julianne Shelby.

To recap:

Relatively low test scores/poor academic performance AND Got into Williams –> Legacy, Tipped Althete, Member of Socioeconomic/Ethnic/Geographic Minority

Legacy, Tipped Athlete, Member of Socioeconomic/Ethnic/Geographic Minority -/-> relatively low test scores/poor academic performance.

Well put! Of course, she forgot to include fat-cat donor status in her listing. See here for a (possible!) example of her first case and here for an example of her second. It’s also worth remembering that the size of the advantage is significantly different for different groups. Tipped athletes, especially football players, got much more of a preference than legacies. Certain racial minorities get more of a preference than geographic minorities.

These may be good policies. They may be bad ones. But it is always surprising to see how many Ephs are misinformed about the actual facts of the matter.