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These schools are actually some of the most affordable in the country due to their extremely generous financial aid. Poor families pay nothing and even middle c

These schools are actually some of the most affordable in the country due to their extremely generous financial aid. Poor families pay nothing and even middle class families have minimal contributions. (For example, all of the elite universities I was accepted to cost less than my state school would have.)

plandis 10y ago
Now if only poor people could get educational equality in the 13 years prior to college :-/
- morgante 10y ago
  Eh, it's hardly impossible. My parents have qualified for food stamps at times yet I still had a pretty decent education.
  - paulsmith34 10y ago
    Being the exception doesn't exclude the fact that poor kids are at disadvantage of gaining admissions to Ivies. A student from Phillips Exeter Academy has a much higher chance of being accepted vs a very smart but poor kid from a rural America high school.
    - nitrogen 10y ago
      As an example of this comment's point, one of the problems where I grew up is that when you told the guidance counselor you wanted to go to MIT she said, basically, don't bother.
      - morgante 10y ago
        She probably said that because of all the people pushing the narrative that elite schools are only for rich kids. Spreading this myth dissuades thousands of qualified students from applying to top schools where they would get a great education for free.
paulsmith34 10y ago
>These schools are actually some of the most affordable in the country due to their extremely generous financial aid. Poor families pay nothing and even middle class families have minimal contributions. Except they do not lower the admissions requirements for poor kid that attended sub-par secondary schools. These are the exact kids that would be excluded admissions (in most cases) because third rate secondary school prep does not compare to the prep a student obtains at Phillips Exeter Academy.
- John23832 10y ago
  I don't know if we should advocate lowering standards of admissions.
  - paulsmith34 10y ago
    Which supports my point poor kids getting into Harvard are at a disavagantage. These poor rural secondary schools don't give excellent college prep for their students, even bright ones. So these bright students risk having lower SAT scores (not matching their potential) & thus would not be admitted. Offering free tuition sound great until you realize these poor kids would have to have access to the same resources as kids in better positions to be on an even playing field. Except they aren't, but they are still judged the same. Due to that many poor kids are rejected.
    - muninn_ 10y ago
      Yes. Neither of my parents went to college, and my mother dropped out of high school. I didn't know what the SAT or ACT really was, and never studied in high school because I didn't know how. My family did ok, but I had 0 chance of ever going to a great school. I ended up going to a mid-tier university and have a good job (I got in because I transferred) but getting into a great school would have changed my life so much more. It makes me sad to think about it. Had I had parents who knew what was going on, they could have pushed me toward after school activities, or knew that I actually needed to buy an instrument to be part of the school band, or that I should take the ACT/SAT prep courses. But of course I didn't. Being a white male doesn't help either.
anotherarray 10y ago
You're also forgetting there are also talented students outside of the United States.

plandis 10y ago

Now if only poor people could get educational equality in the 13 years prior to college :-/

morgante 10y ago
Eh, it's hardly impossible. My parents have qualified for food stamps at times yet I still had a pretty decent education.
- paulsmith34 10y ago
  Being the exception doesn't exclude the fact that poor kids are at disadvantage of gaining admissions to Ivies. A student from Phillips Exeter Academy has a much higher chance of being accepted vs a very smart but poor kid from a rural America high school.
  - nitrogen 10y ago
    As an example of this comment's point, one of the problems where I grew up is that when you told the guidance counselor you wanted to go to MIT she said, basically, don't bother.
    - morgante 10y ago
      She probably said that because of all the people pushing the narrative that elite schools are only for rich kids. Spreading this myth dissuades thousands of qualified students from applying to top schools where they would get a great education for free.

paulsmith34 10y ago

>These schools are actually some of the most affordable in the country due to their extremely generous financial aid. Poor families pay nothing and even middle class families have minimal contributions. Except they do not lower the admissions requirements for poor kid that attended sub-par secondary schools. These are the exact kids that would be excluded admissions (in most cases) because third rate secondary school prep does not compare to the prep a student obtains at Phillips Exeter Academy.

John23832 10y ago
I don't know if we should advocate lowering standards of admissions.
- paulsmith34 10y ago
  Which supports my point poor kids getting into Harvard are at a disavagantage. These poor rural secondary schools don't give excellent college prep for their students, even bright ones. So these bright students risk having lower SAT scores (not matching their potential) & thus would not be admitted. Offering free tuition sound great until you realize these poor kids would have to have access to the same resources as kids in better positions to be on an even playing field. Except they aren't, but they are still judged the same. Due to that many poor kids are rejected.
  - muninn_ 10y ago
    Yes. Neither of my parents went to college, and my mother dropped out of high school. I didn't know what the SAT or ACT really was, and never studied in high school because I didn't know how. My family did ok, but I had 0 chance of ever going to a great school. I ended up going to a mid-tier university and have a good job (I got in because I transferred) but getting into a great school would have changed my life so much more. It makes me sad to think about it. Had I had parents who knew what was going on, they could have pushed me toward after school activities, or knew that I actually needed to buy an instrument to be part of the school band, or that I should take the ACT/SAT prep courses. But of course I didn't. Being a white male doesn't help either.

anotherarray 10y ago

You're also forgetting there are also talented students outside of the United States.