Since UC dumbed down its admission standards by no longer requiring SAT scores, STEM professors have started complaining that a huge number of their students don’t understand middle school math.

Twitter ^ | May 27, 2026 | Daniel Alman from Squirrel Hill @DanielAlmanPGH

[grundle]

Daniel Alman from Squirrel Hill @DanielAlmanPGH

Since #UC dumbed down its admission standards by no longer requiring SAT scores, #STEM professors have started complaining that a huge number of their students don’t understand middle school #math.

https://archive.ph/dXGp0

#California #Education #Teachers #College #Woke

May 27, 2026

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TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS:

[Deaf Smith]

Then they fail the class.

And then wash out their first freshman semester.

[Paladin2]

Flunk them OUT!

If they still have the motivation, they can go to a CC to get up to speed and then come back.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

...then they go flip burgers which is where they should have been all along.

Our insane public education system is built around the precept that EVERY KID MUST GO TO COLLEGE. So you have watered down academics in K-12, social promotion, little knowledge gained. They go to college when they should not be there at all. They have been brainwashed to believe that the MUST go to college.

My sister taught middle school math in Maryland for 45 years (15 years in Baltimore) and lived with this crap. She knew it would lead to exactly what this article says we are. She fought the system, but could not win.

[Red Badger]

Then they owe the government money.......

[CTyank]

They just need to load up on Brawndo. They’ll be fine.

[ladyjane]

They do not wash out their first semester!

Students come to college having not mastered percentages, fractions and decimals. If you think that is an exaggeration, it’s not. I’ve dealt with a student at a well known medical school who somehow missed those topics.

[Paladin2]

For the rest of my Life I’ll not be seen by Medicos under 50 y.o.

[Paladin2]

“...percentages, fractions and decimals...” are not late Elementary School Topics?

[CatOwner]

That didn't take long. I knew someone who graduated from one of the "lower" UCs a dozen years ago. They majored in psychology, and they finished the Bachelor's in 3 years and a summer.

Took the math placement test upon entrance, only to find out they didn't need to take any further math. Scored just within the highest bracket, higher than the students in the dorm who were majoring in engineering and the sciences. Those guys were pissed off because they had to take an extra quarter of Calculus.

[TexasGator]

Good article found in 20 seconds:

https://dailybruin.com/2026/05/27/hundreds-of-uc-faculty-call-to-reinstate-sat-act-requirements-for-stem-applicants

[Regulator]

It’s really about admitting large numbers of Mexicans and Central Americans from LA area schools.

Actually getting into a UC (that isn’t Merced or Riverside) is nearly impossible now for any “STEM” major. A 4.4 GPA is typically the average at Cal, UCLA, Irvine and SD; a bit worse at SB, SC and Davis.

And that’s the problem. Class standing is the most important parameter: you can have a high GPA at your south LA high school and be in the top 9% of the class (what it takes to even be considered now) but the reality is that your standing probably just means you’re average or worse in a real high school not loaded up with Nahuatl speaking Indios.

So it’s the admissions process itself which puts these people there. And it was set up that way under pressure of the Mexican dominated legislature.

In a totally merit based world, it would end up being a bunch of schools with majority Han Chinese and a sizable Anglo-White group, with a mild number of likely Iberian Spanish Mexicans (”gueros”) and a vanishingly small number of Africans.

[sten]

If your entrance requirements don’t require and aptitude for reading, writing, or arithmetic...

then don’t complain when the students can’t do the basics.

congrats, you got your group of diversity enrollments and continue to screw over white men.

personally, i think starting a company that ONLY hires straight white Christian men might be the solution.

no sexual harassment charges.
no racial discrimination charges.
no pronoun issues
no workplace attendance issues.
no theft.
high work ethic and motivated.
and the average IQ of the company would be higher than most.

toss in a strong encouragement towards family life and marital fidelity, and you’ve got a recipe for a happy workplace.

[Biblebelter]

It was probably forty years ago that I occasion to run across a textbook for a high school class called Basic Math.

It was for high school students to get math credits who didn’t have the skills to take algebra.

There were some questions on figuring out how much carpeting was required and the cost and this was when flooring was sold primarily by square yards.

There were also some questions on how much wallpaper was required given the dimensions of a room.

Those questions required some skill with the four basic operations as well as common fractions were thrown in the questions as well.

I remember at the time I thought if kids could do those problems then they were probably proficient at “basic math”.

I think a lot of “A” math students from our rotten public schools would be challenged by that “basic” math book today.

[Biblebelter]

My doctors are an Indian and a Paki educated in their homeland.

They are good at math.

Math is like a language to them.

English not so much.

[Deaf Smith]

>>They do not wash out

——————

That is pretty bad if such students pass their classes.

As for your med student, he would probably kill people with lethal dosages of drugs ordered.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Will the profs be allowed to fail them?

[Paladin2]

Thanks...

Well this is fun;

“Güeros is the plural form of the Mexican Spanish term güero, which literally means a person with fair skin and/or blond hair.

While originally derived from the word huero (meaning “empty” or referring to an unhatched egg), the term has evolved into a common, often affectionate descriptor in Mexico. Key nuances include:

Not Just for Blondes: It is frequently used for anyone with a lighter complexion, regardless of hair color, and can even be applied playfully to darker-skinned individuals as a term of endearment or familiarity.

Social Function: Vendors and locals often use güero (or the diminutive güerito/güerita) as a friendly greeting or sales tactic to create warmth, rather than a strict racial or physical classification.

Distinction from Gringo: Unlike gringo, which specifically refers to Americans or foreigners, güero is primarily a physical description that can apply to Mexican nationals with light features.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Math was always tough for me. Topped out in Algebra 2 when Nixon was president. Majored in philosophy so no math required (symbolic logic sucked though).

Ironically, I ended up managing a lab at a defense contractor (mostly due to mechanical aptitude) and made a career of doing radiation effects tests. I could do the math by taking extra steps and memorizing hacks, but it worked.

You can figure out things,or fix stuff if you need to or want to badly enough.

[proxy_user]

It gets tough for everyone eventually. I flew through Calculus in high school, got a 4 on the AP test, and then was totally flummoxed by Linear Algebra in college.