- I cannot help but feel this is, and will lead to, a softening of quality of undergraduates.
And there are already parallel tracks for advanced and lesser ability undergrads, so it is recognized that there is inherently difference in ability. Removing SATs harms selection, not improves it.
- The new admissions director, Ms Pallie, comes from a highly liberal and left oriented school (Pomona). She has announced her dedication to equality. Oh oh. By the way, she's black, of course.
- On an issue about equality and diversity and racism that can affect education quality:
a) Recently Caltech decided to rename the long-standing Millikan library because of complaints by leftists that 75 years ago Millikan may have been slightly racist. I've read the accusing quotes about him, and they are bullshit.
Also, they are renaming the Chandler dining hall and the Ruddock student house due to similar leftwing complaints about these people in the distant past. No one but no one remembers any problems with them in the past. The renaming is also related to pressure from Pomona-related influencers and leftwing UCLA polysci professor Michael Chwe. He needs to butt out of Caltech interference. His papers are the polysci equivalent of gender studies papers.
Less than half of Caltech students are in favor of the renamings, so what we see here is undue outside influence. There is also a liberal Socialist grad student, Sarah Sam, who ran the 'Black Scientists and Engineers' political action group at Caltech. She is quoted in articles as follows: "On September 28, 2020, Sarah Sam, President of the Black Scientists and Engineers at Caltech, resigned from this task force, stating that several task force members "have failed to demonstrate a basic understanding of race, class, disability, and oppression. Because of the unwillingness to condemn irrefutable evidence of overt racism, I have lost faith that this committee will be able to complete its charges in a responsible way." She ended up accusing faculty members of being "cogs in the machine of white supremacy."
However, Caltech students are notoriously non-political, and absolutely not racist. Caltech is all about community, and you simply cannot survive there without close cooperation with fellow students. And the faculty are not racists; they are basically grownup nerds.
I note that that the majority of students are either asian, Indian, or white, and there are few (less than 1%) black students. (Apparently few blacks have good enough math and science to qualify for admission.) So actually, there is almost no one to join BS&E, which leads me to believe it is a construct and not organic, and Sam is artificially attacking this community. The racist here is Sam.
b) I note now that professors at Tech now listed their pronouns next to the their name, and declare in their faculty webpages that they are sworn to "Diversity, Equity, Inclusion". It's pretty clear they are pressured to be politically correct. Example: http://www.yisongyue.com/
If the top selective science school has allowed liberals to weaken its standards, we are in big trouble. Also, these actions dilute the value of a Caltech degree from previous years.
- By the way, the Caltech bookstore does not stock textbooks, only such educational supplies as clothing. WTF. Years ago it was rich with science and technology books and very cross-field inspiring to visit. Now, it's shit, oriented to profit and not academia.
Some parts of Caltech have gone so downhill. Kids, don't get dazzled by reputation - go to a better school like MIT or Stanford. And not leftwing Berkeley.
Added: 5. OMG. I just discovered that the Caltech library (Millikan) has been thoroughly leftwing liberalized. Here: https://caltech.overdrive.com/
The titles blatantly over emphasized on the library front page include
-- Disability in Higher Education: a Social Justice Approach
-- Multiculturalism on Campus: Understanding Diversity and Creating Inclusion
-- Faculty of Color: Navigating Higher Education
-- The Autobiography of a Transgender Scientist
-- Campus Uprisings: How Student Activists and Collegiate Leaders Resist Racism and Create Hope
Caltech has been thoroughly cucked. It was a fine science school when I went there, but now they are brainwashing future scientists with Commie ideals.
Sorry for the rant; I care a lot about Tech, and seeing what it's being turned into is emotionally crippling.
I worked at a college since 2007 and the enormous decrease in quality already happened in 2010-2011. There's no reason to go to a public university in the US anymore except for nepotism, they mostly only teach woke garbage.
Yes, very apparent. What bothers me is that Caltech is a private school and it costs $450,000 on average to get a BS there now (5 years to graduate on average now - very tough school). (By the way, student parking is $120 a month, with no Pasadena overnight parking on streets off campus.) Imagine 5 years of being indoctrinated at a science school in leftwing values about how bad white people are. (At a school that charges you through the nose.) What effect is this going to have on US science in the future.