  A recent paper evaluating a new rubric-based graduate admissions approach
using generic methods tentatively suggested that its decisions differed
noticeably from the previous approach in an unspecified way. Using prior
knowledge that the often-stated specific goal was to open a path to increased
diversity by reducing barriers to admission of applicants with low
undergraduate grade point averages and GRE scores allows simple statistical
tests of changes in the distributions of the metrics. The simple tests confirm
with good statistical confidence that the barrier-reduction changes were
achieved. Nevertheless, the paper's argument that the de-emphasized test and
grades are not predictive of graduate outcomes is not supported by the prior
literature. On technique, although a method used in some of the analysis for
dropping data points before running the machine algorithm is likely to bias
those results, it helps to clarify why models of the rubric-based system were
only weakly predictive.
