Johns Hopkins’ reported freshman class (45.1% Asian American) after reinstating standardized‑test requirements illustrates a rapid demographic shift that followed the Supreme Court’s 2023 SFFA decision. The case suggests that the reintroduction of tests and color‑blind admissions policies can materially change elite college composition within a short window.
— If other top universities follow Hopkins’ approach, the national debate over diversity, affirmative action, and the role of standardized testing will materially shift enrollment patterns, legal fights, and campus politics.
Alan Schmidt
2026.09.24
80% relevant
The article argues that standardized testing and grind culture are producing the very meritocratic admissions outcomes critics decried, explicitly citing Asian/Indian students' test performance and admissions results (example: the Texas Longhorns student‑section photo) — a restatement and extension of the existing idea that meritocratic measures are reclaiming elite selection.
Rob Henderson
2026.09.10
72% relevant
The newsletter cites Richard Reeves' claim (Dream Hoarders) that the United States uniquely retains legacy preferences in college admissions — a concrete piece of evidence that ties directly into debates about merit, elite capture, and reforms to admissions systems captured by the existing idea about restoring meritocratic admissions.
2026.03.05
78% relevant
This article advances a broader critique of the decline of meritocratic selection across institutions (beyond university admissions) by blaming legal and cultural shifts since the 1960s for prioritizing group‑based diversity over individual competence; that claim maps onto the existing idea about contesting diversity‑first admissions norms and extends it into infrastructure, regulation, and safety failures (e.g., Naval collisions, PG&E wildfire, train derailment).
Wai Wah Chin
2026.01.07
100% relevant
Johns Hopkins’ public disclosure of class composition (45.1% Asian American, SAT middle 50: 1530–1570) and the context of the SFFA v. Harvard decision are the concrete events that exemplify this trend.