Should Harvard offer a “good enough, but no room” certificate?

There are people who think that the information conveyed by a Harvard diploma is almost entirely made up of the fact of admission to Harvard; that is, that Harvard graduates on average have no more skills than students who got into Harvard but chose to go somewhere else.

I’m not one of those people.  But it got me thinking — the fact of admission certainly conveys some information.  And there are unquestionably lots of students who the admission office feels are academically strong enough to attend Harvard, but who don’t make it into the entering class.

What would happen if the admissions office offered exactly this certification?  A signed piece of paper saying, “At age 17, student X had credentials which would have made academic success at Harvard very likely, had there been room.”  Would that be a valuable piece of paper for a 22-year-old to have?  Would it be in Harvard’s interest to offer a certain number of certificates of that kind?

Related question:  can a student who gets into Harvard, but goes to a lower-ranked school (say, for financial or family reasons) put on their CV that they were admitted to Harvard, but declined?  Something about that strikes me as strange.  But why?  Isn’t it useful information for a potential employer?

(Note:  obviously the above applies with any elite university in place of “Harvard.”)

My name is Cesar Izturis and I’m slugging .244

How amazing would Izturis’s defense have to be to make up for his hitting this season?  Like, let’s say he was so good that he could play both shortstop and third base and the Orioles could stick four guys in the outfield.  Would that make him an average player overall?

In other weak hitting news, CJ and I went to the Mallards today to see the home team beaten 2-1 by the Waterloo Bucks.  Bad:  intermittent rain.  Good:  surprisingly tasty grilled cheese sandwich from Maynard’s Slide-In Grill.

Orioles 35th round draft pick Jeremy Lucas went 0 for 3 and is now batting .182 on the year.  Watching amateur baseball makes you feel like hitting is a lot harder than defense, actually.  The Bucks, after 12 games, have yet to hit a home run.  The Mallards now have 4.  These guys can make a diving catch, they can stop a line drive, they can turn the double play.  But they can’t seem to make solid contact with a pitched ball, except by chance.    If you want a vision of the Northwoods League, imagine a foul ball smacking into the backstop — forever.

CJ pitched against the radar gun in the kids’ zone and was clocked at 10mph.  I ballooned with pride.  Double digits, kid.