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At the undergrad level, the ivy leagues are a place where you go to meet people rich, driven, well-connected students and their successful parents. This is thei

At the undergrad level, the ivy leagues are a place where you go to meet people rich, driven, well-connected students and their successful parents. This is their value proposition - not a world class education. Larry Summers is going to give the same econ 101 lecture as every other college professor, but his name combined with the harvard brand is going to carry a lot more weight on a recommendation letter for that Fed summer internship. Everybody already knows this. 9th graders don't need harvard to tell them how good of a school it is through a new website. 9th graders need parents who are informed about the process, and who have enough money and time to bankroll extracurriculars and support the kid through whatever endeavor is going to make him/her special enough to deserve a spot. This is usually a lifelong process. So if the end goal is to raise student awareness/ability to get into an elite university, the problem needs to be addressed at a much more fundamental level than "web portal for 9th graders". Petition your network of business and political leaders to improve public education and welfare programs that educate and support low-income families and their children. Donate a portion of your multi-billion dollar endowment to this end. But one has to wonder...what incentive does an elite institution really have for increasing equality?

sotojuan 11y ago
> At the undergrad level, the ivy leagues are a place where you go to meet people rich, driven, well-connected students and their successful parents. I am not going to disagree with that, but it's not the only benefit. You should probably mention that if you want to go into research/grad school (especially for liberal arts), it pays to go to a school where the top professors and academics work. That said, there's also something I disagree with: > Larry Summers is going to give the same econ 101 lecture as every other college professor. As someone who goes to a subpar Computer Science school, I disagree. Tom Leighton explained Discrete Math better than any professors I've had. Sussman and Ableson, even in the 80s, were better than any lecturer I've had. Maybe it's because I go to subpar school, instead of a "good enough"/"good but not elite" school, but I can definitely see the benefits of an elite school in academics alone. Of course, this is all irrelevant to the rest of your comment, which I agree with. I also happen to be a first generation immigrant and almost everyone I met in the same position as me was clueless about the college process.
- roymurdock 11y ago
  I attended a decently selective private school for 3 years. I studied abroad at an elite university for a year. The quality of the lecturers was basically the same. At both institutions, some were fantastic and others were terrible. In fact, I had one professor at the elite school that was probably the biggest bullshitter of a teacher that I've ever had. I also enjoyed much greater access to professors at the regular school as they weren't always busy with research/speaking engagements/writing books. The quality of the average student was leagues ahead at the elite university. The exams at the elite university were much more rigorous. The end result was that I had to cram for a month for those elite exams, during which time I "learned" (read: memorized) a ton but also promptly forgot most of it after doing well on the exams. The lasting benefit of the elite university was meeting all of the really interesting and intelligent people who have become some of my closest friends.

sotojuan 11y ago

> At the undergrad level, the ivy leagues are a place where you go to meet people rich, driven, well-connected students and their successful parents. I am not going to disagree with that, but it's not the only benefit. You should probably mention that if you want to go into research/grad school (especially for liberal arts), it pays to go to a school where the top professors and academics work. That said, there's also something I disagree with: > Larry Summers is going to give the same econ 101 lecture as every other college professor. As someone who goes to a subpar Computer Science school, I disagree. Tom Leighton explained Discrete Math better than any professors I've had. Sussman and Ableson, even in the 80s, were better than any lecturer I've had. Maybe it's because I go to subpar school, instead of a "good enough"/"good but not elite" school, but I can definitely see the benefits of an elite school in academics alone. Of course, this is all irrelevant to the rest of your comment, which I agree with. I also happen to be a first generation immigrant and almost everyone I met in the same position as me was clueless about the college process.

roymurdock 11y ago
I attended a decently selective private school for 3 years. I studied abroad at an elite university for a year. The quality of the lecturers was basically the same. At both institutions, some were fantastic and others were terrible. In fact, I had one professor at the elite school that was probably the biggest bullshitter of a teacher that I've ever had. I also enjoyed much greater access to professors at the regular school as they weren't always busy with research/speaking engagements/writing books. The quality of the average student was leagues ahead at the elite university. The exams at the elite university were much more rigorous. The end result was that I had to cram for a month for those elite exams, during which time I "learned" (read: memorized) a ton but also promptly forgot most of it after doing well on the exams. The lasting benefit of the elite university was meeting all of the really interesting and intelligent people who have become some of my closest friends.