[qwerpy]

I understand that point and I still disagree with it. There are objective, direct measurements of strength (standardized tests, performance at state/nation-wide academic competitions, admissions essays), and we don't need to resort to this more flimsy chain of subjective comparisons that use "relative strength of student within school" and "relative strength of school across all schools".

[technothrasher]

> There are objective, direct measurements of strength (standardized tests, performance at state/nation-wide academic competitions, admissions essays)

You are begging the question, especially with standardized testing, by presuming these things are measuring what you think they are measuring.

[cweld510]

You said above that our country “needs the best engineers and doctors.” Are the tests you mention really objective, direct measures of which student is likely to be the best engineer or doctor in the future? What does it even mean to be the best engineer, and how do you test that?