<p>“Tell me how [and when] you’ll measure me, and I’ll tell you how I’ll behave”</p>
<p>I believe it is in the book “The Goal” by Goldratt</p>
<p>Many schools manipulate results, some by kosher means, others by falsifying data. When Harvard encourages students with no chance of getting in to apply, it is not because they want more work, they want to reduce the acceptance rate (numerator stays the same, denominator goes up) as acceptance rate impacts ranking. Unethical possible, but definitely legal. Is it up to the student to decide to apply or not. The acceptance rate is a factor in the rankings and might mean the difference between number 1 and number 2.</p>
<p>Again, in this case the numbers (difference in SAT scores) may not be big, it could make a difference to ranking. The median SAT scores is a factor in the overall score and the overall score determines ranking. This could make a difference between 9th and 10th position. It is not that students were directly impacted (they may have been misled but it did not change acceptance criteria), it changes the rankings, the stupid rankings. That is all there is to it. IMHO.</p>