Developing a Better Academic Admissions Test: Game Theory

Hey Friends! There is a lot of IQ and SAT/GRE discussion on this site and we always talk about why those tests work or don't work. Let's design our own tests that are better! We don't have to create them, only outline what they should look like. We all want tests that actually work (place students at schools they should go to). This means we have to eliminate cheating and make the tests more predictive.

Here are my ideas so far:

1. We need a normie test and a brainlet test. The SAT was first designed when college was really for the top 10% of the population. Today, wrongly, more the half of people go to college. While the SAT has changed a lot, it has basically become a timed test with extremely straight forward questions. This is because administrative assistants go to college. Having the same test for everyone is basically stupid.

2. Neither test should be timed. The invogue thing to say is that admission tests are no longer aptitude tests. We should just accept this is the case (and hit it at a different angle for the brainlet test later). If this is true, timing an admission test is counter to its mission. It also gives a huge advantage to students with rich and shady parents. The number of students who get extra time on the SAT has exploded, mainly with the rich, many who end up at top schools. By not giving timed tests, we eliminate much of this cheating by the rich.

3. The test should never be identical and should be able to be given at anytime. This is to eliminate cheating in China and other asian countries, which is very common. You get one problem at a time. Problems need to be generated from a very large databank. This can be done randomly or by some algorithm that has a random component. The GMAT works this way, and is a place to start.

4. The brainlet test should be open to anyone who wants to take it. It works this same way, but the problems it asks are very complex. This isn't like the SAT where problems take a minute or less to solve. Complex, abstract problems are given. This simulates what students in upper division classes and graduate school actually have to do.

I should add, that many students legitimately have learning differences and deserve extended time on tests. We take care of them by making the tests untimed. These types of tests can be taken anytime and potentially anywhere. They are fair to students with learning differences.

You fuckers will read wikipedia and shitpost in IQ threads all day but refuse to think about a real problem that needs to be solved?

Colleges and universities should have their own entrance exams. Those exams should be the only thing that matters for admissions.

Scrap the sat and act.

Why types of exams should they be?

What ever each school thinks is appropriate for them.

How do they determine that?

through IQ of course, the only thing that ever matters

is that what you want to hear

Calm down.

How do we eliminate kids from spending two hours on a two minute algebra problem? Seems like child abuse.

I have an idea.

>Create a procedurally generated test. No test is alike because they are each generated based on a random seed.

>Run these tests through an AI that has been trained on similar tests.

>Assess the AI's performance and grade each procedural question with a difficulty value.

>Charge $100 for the test to be sent to you. You recieve a certificate with your score after returning the test.

> Cheating is impossible as the questions are completely unique to this paper.

>Become a billionaire after inventing this new paradigm in examination.

This is basically how the GMAT has worked for quite sometime. See the OP. It is a good idea though, and exactly what we should be thinking about.

OP here. For either test this shouldn't matter.

For the standard admissions/achievement test, if you can do the problem you should get credit. People think differently and work at different paces.

For the brainlet test, as long as the questions are complex/hard enough, this should not matter. Yes, intelligence matter, but after a point creativity and hard work matters more. The cliche low mark for potential genius is 140 IQ, but I am sure there are exceptions. It does not matter if it takes someone two hours instead of thirty minutes to solve a hard problem. We don't have to rank very smart people. We just have to have a good idea of who has the potential to do great things at great schools.

OP again, looks like I am just thinking outloud. We don't have to be Game Theoretically perfect. So we don't have to have unlimited time. All we have to do is drastically reduce the payout for cheating by lying about learning disabilities. We can do this by increasing the time aloud past the point most people give up. This means that normal kids who cheat and get extended time won't benefit much from cheating.

>Today, wrongly, more the half of people go to college
There goes the thread. You can barely speak English and you think your opinion matters.

>Cheating is impossible.
If the answers exist, which they must for you to grade the test, then cheating isn't impossible. Literally type the equations into wolfram alpha and receive answers.

If college was worth it, we wouldn't be talking about loan forgiveness. The fact that millions are having trouble paying back their student loans economically debunks the idea that college is worth it for most people.

Notice I am only looking at the payouts to the people deciding to go to college. This isn't a Libertarian argument. There could be externalities for society as a whole to look at. But if you are not going to be able to pay back your student loans, or it will be a huge burden, then college isn't worth going to.

>implying universities are for smart people nowadays
Just make it pay the entrance fee or fuck off like the old days.

This is a major issue that we have to face. It is a much bigger issue than what types of tests we should be encouraging to be built now. Yes, I have grave doubts about positive social externalities to having everyone go to college. I think it is most likely a waste of money and time for society as well.