4 ms·
It's worth pointing out the silliness of the title ("well, if an MIT grad student claims things are so, who am I to suggest otherwise?"). But it isn't so diffic
by rtl49 11y ago
It's worth pointing out the silliness of the title ("well, if an MIT grad student claims things are so, who am I to suggest otherwise?"). But it isn't so difficult as you seem to think for a somewhat talented and hard-working student of the middle class to be accepted to an elite school. I think there are many here who can attest to this. The wealthy will always have an advantage, but it isn't as though it's easy to literally buy admission. The sheer number of do-nothing rich kids who never make the cut is evidence of this.
- learc83 11y agoConsidering that almost half of Harvard students come from families in the top 4% by income, I'd say the rich have a pretty big advantage. Harvard is basically free for low income students, yet they make up a very small percentage of total students. One thing they could do is to increase their outreach to lower income students. When I was in high school, I had no idea that Harvard was affordable for me. Looking back, I probably had the SAT scores and grades to get in, but I never even considered it as a possibility. http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2012/1/26/diversity-lack-figures-evidence-harvard/ http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2012/1/26/diversity-lack-f...
- rtl49 11y agoI think I understated the advantage the wealthy have while making the point that the parent comment had overstated it. That said, I'm embarrassed to admit my opinion was mostly informed by anecdotal evidence, and your example with Harvard is certainly better than that. The "fact sheet" in the article is dead, but the conclusion seems reasonable. I'd hoped my comment might serve as some encouragement of the sort outreach might, not as a justification for the current state of economic diversity at elite schools.