To the Editor:
Daniel Nieh's column ("Building a real meritocracy," DP, 3/24/06) about Penn's admissions policies is extremely misguided.
Nieh complains that Penn admissions are not meritocratic because of the use of SAT scores, but this claim could not be farther from the truth. Nieh insults legacy applicants, the wealthy and, implicitly, white applicants. Nieh slams legacy admissions but approves of racist affirmative-action policies that have absolutely nothing to do with merit.
In truth, SAT scores are the best, in fact only, objective indicators of students' academic ability. Without the SAT, the admissions process would have no objectivity whatsoever. Instead of focusing on irrelevant factors students have no control over, like their races and socioeconomic backgrounds, the admissions office should focus on students' academic achievement and potential contributions to Penn.
Sam Pierce Wharton freshman
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