Tests

To the Editors of The Crimson:

I read in your paper that Achievement Tests are new considered the best single criterion for deciding who goes to Harvard. The Achievement Tests are designed to find out who has learned specific information in high school. But the problem with using such a test is that not all high schools even reach this information. So bright students who go to such high schools (most public high schools in the South, for example) are at a disadvantage.

Why has Harvard put such students at a disadvantage? They say because poor performance on Achievement Tests predicts poor freshman year grades? Do Achievement Test scores correlate to senior year grades? Even if they do, it should be obvious that to use Achievement Test scores is wrong because it is not only unfair, but it is also not the way to get the best possible class.

Not only will this make the class incoming students less bright, it is also a reactionary step. Is Harvard, like the rest of the country, no longer willing to let the disadvantaged gain advantage?

The new policy on Achievement Tests is unfortunate both because of those whom it will admit and, especially, because of those whom it will exclude. Frederick Hirsch '82