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Comment by hughprime | Hacker News Reader

The more I hear about the US university admissions process, the more I'm grateful for the Australian system, where students are admitted, or not, purely on the basis of their marks from their final year at school (half by a final set of exams and half based on school marks correctly normalized by those exams).

No BS essays, no BS extracurricular activities (unless, of course, you want to do them) and no potential for racial or other bias.

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There's not a standard admissions process in the U.S. At my alma mater we just filled out some forms and directed the school to any prior educational transcripts we had. No essay, no interview.

It's actually considered bad form to inject any subjectivity into the process. Students are de-identified for most of the admissions process.

Admissions are based on a combination of grades/marks and standardized testing (SATs, GREs, GMATs, etc. and depending on what is being applied for).

The result? Strangely enough, one of the most diverse schools in the U.S.

http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/departments/college/?article=m...

I'm not familiar with the Australian school system, but I bet there is a lot more national control over curriculum and teaching standards. The convoluted admissions process is the price Americans pay for having a decentralized educational system. If universities went on the basis of marks alone, I can't imagine how many schools would spring up where every senior mysteriously graduates with a perfect 4.0.

You're right -- actually the curricula and the final exams are all done on a statewide rather than national level, but it is certainly more centralized than it is in the US.

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