I’ve read about the historically black college leaders who decry affirmative action, that they’d have graduated a science major whereas the black students come out with useless black history degrees from big name colleges instead.
I saw the consequence of the affirmative action programs from the inside as an undergrad at UCSD. It was a cut-throat environment. On exams in my senior sequence biochemistry classes, it was common to have a spread of 92 to 96 percent scores on an exams....and s few people who scored high 60 percents. The spreads were broader in freshman and sophomore lower division courses. The non-competitive students were usually toast by the 2nd quarter. That included my neighbor who had been regarded as a prodigy through elementary school. He had a great GPA when we were elementary school kids and enjoyed access to "gifted" programs.
I finished my degree in Molecular Biology from UCSD at age 19. The next time I saw my neighbor I was 23. I was on campus at Southwestern College to teach the Electronics 51/91 course. My neighbor was taking advanced basket weaving. He has been driving a school bus for years in San Marcos, CA. I have no clue how a very sharp kid went so far off the tracks.