I imagine hat there would be no interview with the company and the applicant would look for a job elsewhere.
@mstee You may find this interesting:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303636404579395220334268350
Why are standardized scores important? This Harvard Business Review article tells it as it is:
http://hbr.org/2014/05/in-hiring-algorithms-beat-instinct
If you don’t like it, don’t apply there. Is this not what we say about elite colleges?
@Canuckguy That is a really interesting article. Even into middle age? How about old age? I had a somewhat decent SAT score back in the day, if memory serves. As did DH. He is still in the workforce and has the occasional interview. So far, though it hasn’t come up. 
Are there are records of these ancient scores being kept somewhere?
I am also finding the philosophy rankings interesting. Had no idea. FWIW, I mentioned the Rutgers ranking to DH, and he said, oh, yeah, Peter Kivy is there. So, made sense to him, I guess.
Re #41
Looks like the HBR article refers to algorithmic hiring, not SAT or ACT scores.
@OHmomof2 My recent Brandeis grad (theatre major) will probably be making some of those pumpkin spice macchiatos soon. She has a barista job, which she is happy to have. For now. Hate to confirm the stereotype, but there you have it. The manager of the shop is also a theatre person. Someone has got to make those awesome coffee drinks . . . Oh, and she is babysitting. Babysitting is more lucrative than the coffee shop job. Pays way better than min. wage around here. And she does have a directing gig. An actual paying gig. But it isn’t very much $$. I don’t think it is a matter of not being able to do something else. These babysitting/barista type jobs have the quality of being flexible, allowing one to keep pursuing the dream. For now.
Every Hedge Fund I interviewed with asked for the SAT score. I never took SAT/ACT so I left this question blank. It did not prevent the interviewing process from continuing. The assumption that everyone has an SAT/ACT score is wrong. However I was not looking for an entry-level position and I am quite old.
Hopefully she did not have to take out any student loans, the grace period for which is 6 months. Students with even modest loans do not have the luxury of cobbling together odd jobs until their big break comes.
No loans for her, as we were fortunate enough to be able to pay for her education. She is a lucky girl, as I like to remind her from time to time. She hit the sweet spot in our financial arc. Her older two brothers have loans. Neither of the boys likes babysitting, anyway. Not sure what little sisters fate will be, yet, loan wise. I hate student loans. I think it is kind of scammy the way they are given out now. It really was better back in the olden days (70’s) as far as student loans go. And of course, they were much smaller and more manageable. And it is the worst kind of debt. And in our low interest rate environment the rates seem out of line. Rant over.
But honestly, she could work full time as a nanny or baby sitter here if she wanted to and make a decent living, even enough to make loan payments. The demand is high for well educated sitters who can drive. And when people are in a bind, they pay up for a quality babysitter. She made $25/hour one gig. And on another she made $15/hour to take a little girl to the movies. And she got free movie ticket and popcorn. Between the theatre gig, babysitting, and the barista gig, she is hustling. I expect her to add driving for Uber anytime . . . j/k . . . sort of . . .
I think income in these fields has a lot more to do with choices made after graduation. A theatre grad who is looking to perform is in a very competitive often low paying environment. A theatre grad who climbs the management ladder or gets into tv/stage/movie tech is likely to make a good income faster, while still working in the industry.
And a theater grad with strong math skills who “sells out” to work in consumer marketing or strategic planning at Disney, or to sell P&C insurance to movie productions, or to develop pricing algorithms at Ticketmaster, is going to be out-earning the more “practical” majors within a decade…
I’m constantly amazed by the # of people on CC who seem not to understand that entire industries exist around the arts and humanities. Nope, if it ain’t engineering a widget, it doesn’t count.
@blossom and @pizzagirl people focus too much on STEM and not enough on STEAM (the “A” being the Arts).
STEAM >>> STEM
All my kids majored in the humanities-- one is currently majoring in the arts. One went to grad school and the other didn’t; both had professional jobs within a year of their last graduation. My last kid had great interest in engineering and music. I had relatives who were shocked that I didn’t ‘make him’ choose engineering-- but I thought his heart was in music and, really, if he ever wanted to go back to school and become an engineer, he could. I suppose he could also train at a specific job or pick up specific coursework or skills at a local college if he decides to change his career path later on. Why shut a door based on statistics? Of course it’s hard to become a fine artist-- but it’s hard to do lots of things in this world that are worth it, especially if it’s not something you want to do.
I’m not a big believer in payscale.com due to its dubious methodology, nor do I believe the primary purpose of college is to maximize one’s earning potential. But FWIW, according to payscale.com. here are some humanities and social science majors in which mid-career earnings for those holding only a bachelor’s degree exceed those of biology majors:
Government $102,000
Economics $98,500
Government & politics $88,200
International & comparative politics $85,600
Philosophy $85,000
Politics $83,100
Political Science $78.800
American Studies $78,300
English Literature $75,300
Theater & Drama Studies $75,000
Linguistics $74,600
History $74,200
German $72,500
BIOLOGY $72,000
And some others relatively close to Biology:
Public policy analysis $70,100
Film studies $69,800
Criminology $69,200
Geography $69,200
Cultural Anthropology $68,100
French $67,800
International Studies $67,200
Art History $64,200
Visual Arts $63,300
Creative Writing $63,200
Psychology $61,800
Sociology $61,700
"Looks like the HBR article refers to algorithmic hiring, not SAT or ACT scores".
You are technically correct, of course. I find it hard to fathom any institution wise enough to use algorithm for the hiring process would leave out the SAT or its equivalent as one of the steps though, since we have known for a long time what the important variables for a good worker are:
http://www.apa.org/research/action/who.aspx
@mstee There is actually method in their madness. Here is a real honest assessment of the subject matter:
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2014/04/what_do_sat_and_iq_tests_measure_general_intelligence_predicts_school_and.html
Reality is not always pleasant, but it is what it is.
@bclintonk - The biology major is very popular due to it being a common undergraduate major for med-preds. Given the high wash-out rate of premeds, there is a large surplus of biology majors to the point it is difficult to find a job in the field without a masters degree. Among STEM fields, biology has always ranked among the lowest in terms of income potential.
What is most disturbing about that list you posted is that Government majors made the most money. If there ever was a class of people who are overpaid, it is government workers.
Government majors don’t work for government (necessarily). They work for banks, think tanks, lobbying firms, or become lawyers.
I hate to thread hijack here, but the troublemaker in me can’t help but ask:
For these “elite” post college jobs that ask for your college entrance scores, is there a bias against the ACT versus the SAT that is always rumored, but denied by all admission counselors? If Alice/Bob is trying to get the IB job, will the offer go to the 2400 ( 1600 M/V ) over the 36 ACT?
From flyover country where the ACT is popular…
@blossom - Thanks. It makes sense that people who have to deal with the government on a daily basis will have to be well compensated.
People who hire new grads know what a 36 ACT is.