| Because a school is in a low income area does not mean all the students that go there are poor. It's not uncommon enough to find middle class students in a poorer area that you can call it an 'exception'. The criteria is just too rough to make a judgment based on API.
How does low API mean that students are NOT less studious? Studious students get higher scores.
The thing is that it doesn't take much for a poor kid from a low performing school to succeed in terms of academic achievement. Admissions cannot infer hardship from the API of their school, only the essay so low API shouldn't even be considered. If a student wants to claim hardships then they can do so on their essay, but getting an extra benefit from going to a crappy school is ridiculous.
The circumstances of students are SO DIFFERENT that you cannot judge them all the same from API. You make a very gross and rough connection between low API and financial situation; there is a correlation, but it would be untrue for many students. |