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University of California Admissions: A Cheater’s Paradise
Here is a list of the parts of the University of California’s application process that are resistant to AI cheating and other types of cheating: .
That’s right. There’s literally not one part of the process that isn’t highly vulnerable to AI cheating and other common types of cheating.
Unlike the Ivy League, the University of California system does not use SAT or ACT scores. Instead, it relies entirely on school grades, teacher recommendations, and application essays, creating a paradise for AI cheaters.
Extracurriculars are part of the application, which may seem to be a mitigating factor…until you realize just how involved competitive parents are in their kids’ extracurriculars. From Orange County to Silicon Valley, parents run nonprofits for their kids, use their connections to get internships, etc.
This UCal application system rewards cheaters. It rewards those who cheat with AI, and it rewards those who cheat by having their parents run their extracurriculars. But it doesn’t have to be that way. By following the example of the Ivy League and making standardized tests part of the application process again, the University of California can thwart cheaters and reward deserving students.
Admissions can once again be based on ability and work, rather than on willingness to cheat and parental connections. SAT and ACT scores, combined with AP and IB exam scores, can show the reality of the applicants ability, rather than rewarding cheating.
There will be pushback from cheaters (and their parents) who insist that they know the material but just don’t test well. And, in fairness, just as people have phobias of heights and spiders, there are absolutely students that have a phobia of tests. This number is much smaller than generally portrayed. The most common cause for low standardized test performance is lack of knowledge and problem-solving skill, not a phobia.
Among students who suffer from testing anxiety, lack of skill is the biggest cause of that anxiety. A student with true test anxiety would fear a test of single digit addition nearly as much as they fear the SAT. Just as arachnophobes fear all spiders, not just the poisonous ones, true test-phobes would fear all tests, not just the hard ones. I’m sure such students exist, although I have never met, seen, or heard of one. Basing an entire application process around such an infinitesimally small number of students is questionable, to say the least.
And among that tiny number of true test-phobes who fear easy tests the way arachnophobes fear small and harmless spiders, how many are incurably phobic? The number is most likely zero.
The solution to a test phobia is working to cure it, not deforming admissions policy to cater to a rare mental illness. However large the number of incurable test-phobes may be, it is certainly smaller than the number of AI cheaters. Admissions departments should carefully consider whether designing an application in a way that benefits few if any incurable test-phobes and rewards a gigantic number of AI cheaters is in the best interest of the university or of society in general.
The final thing to consider is this: are those with incurably crippling academic phobias suited for universities? Incurable arachnophobes don’t usually become spider researchers; those with an incurable fear of heights might not make the best mountain climbers. Shaping an entire university admissions policy around those least suited to academic work makes as much sense as shaping aviation policy around pilots who are terrified of heights.
The real reason for the persistence of the preposterous myth of the genius who falls apart in the face of any standardized tests has less to do with empathy than with self interest. The students who have failed to build real, permanent problem-solving skills don’t want to face the truth or be held accountable. They are only too happy to hide behind the myth of the downtrodden math genius who has panic attacks when facing a math test.
Standardized tests are the only AI proof part of current college admissions. Universities who want serious students instead of lazy cheaters should make standardized tests a major part of the application process.