What is the value of a college degree?

Recently, Wake Forest became the first of the US News and World Report Top 30 Schools to drop the requirement of submitting ACT and SAT scores as a part of the admission process. Other smaller, less well-known schools have led the way in dropping the requirement for standardized admissions testing. But this is the first time that such a prestigious institution has adopted such a policy. Wake Forest is a private university and as such probably gets a significant amount of its funding from alumni. It will be interesting to see the reaction of those contributors as they evaluate whether or not the value of their hard-earned degree is increased as a result of this change to the admissions process.

It may actually be a wonderful idea to remove certain obstacles to academic pursuits. The MCAT is probably overrated in determining the success of medical students. It is certainly biased toward those who would be inclined to spend ridiculous amounts of time preparing and studying for such a grueling experience. But that does limit the available talent pool. Anyone who really wants to practice medicine should be given a chance to try. Medical schools could easily accommodate many times the current number of students. Once more students can graduate from medical schools, health care will become more affordable as the supply of doctors is increased. Likewise, the LSAT probably keeps many from pursuing their dreams of studying law. Speaking of law; they should probably do away with the bar exam since it too fails to predict success or failure of those who practice law.

Actually, grades don't always tell the whole story either. Grading should be dropped and everyone who "does their best" should get diplomas. Grades and honors only serve to make students feel different. Everyone should be equally recognized without distinction for accomplishment. All of those medical school students who were allowed to pursue the dream without taking the MCAT would have a much easier time graduating if they were not constrained by a biased grading system. I know that I would feel safer flying in an airplane knowing that the engineers were not forced to make a certain level of grade in calculus or structural analysis.

Imagine the wonderful world we would live in when anyone can be whatever they want to be without having to worry about how good they might be. Mediocrity is bliss.