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GEP would be less of a scam if 1) entrance was not merely based on an tutorable exam 2) it identified kids with actual aptitude (and who, having their gifts bloom late, might become victim of a 'vicious cycle') as opposed to kids who are merely doing well in their previous non-GEP environment 3) relied (like the college application system) on teacher recommendations that actually looked at real intellectual passion and a drive for learning.
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in the first place, is GEP even a system that we should keep and perpetuate?
and how do you suppose we identify those kids? uniformly excellent teacher recommendations cannot weed out the good and bad. i hope you don't believe that teachers would actually write
bad recommendations. behavior in classroom is also tutorable. wow, wouldn't it be great if parents begin sending their kids for acting classes?
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Maybe the secondary school entrance process should also make kids write "why school X" essays, just to give them a small taste of college applications. That would help weed out the kids who go to elite secondary school X simply because their parents have been pushing them to do so. PSLE Common App, anyone?
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do you suppose that if essays became a requirement for getting into top schools, parents would keep themselves away from the essays? essays are equally tutorable, and in the end, you perpetuate the educated upper class because educated parents tend to write better essays. please stop treating the flawed American college application process like some kind of godsend. every single thing is coachable and can be faked.
also, who cares if kids aim for top schools of their own volition or their parents'? to anyone who believes in true meritocracy, these kids have every right to enter the top schools if they're qualified, regardless of how.