College admissions cannot be based on merit, because then some children of the Important People would not be admitted. And of course, Important People would fight to prevent this change, and almost by definition they would win.
...was my first thought, but the problem is, this proves too much. How is it possible for the admissions to be more (not necessarily perfectly) meritocratic in other countries? Those countries have their Important People, too.
Also, in democratic countries, the opinion of the Average People matters, too. (The middle of the bell curve is where most of the voters are.) And if colleges admit less than 50% of the population, then average children of the Average People don’t have much of a chance. But if the admissions resemble lottery… then there is a chance.
College admissions cannot be based on merit, because then some children of the Important People would not be admitted. And of course, Important People would fight to prevent this change, and almost by definition they would win.
...was my first thought, but the problem is, this proves too much. How is it possible for the admissions to be more (not necessarily perfectly) meritocratic in other countries? Those countries have their Important People, too.
Also, in democratic countries, the opinion of the Average People matters, too. (The middle of the bell curve is where most of the voters are.) And if colleges admit less than 50% of the population, then average children of the Average People don’t have much of a chance. But if the admissions resemble lottery… then there is a chance.