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>" I don't know anyone who went to an elite university without significant baseline intelligence" Oh, I sure do. The strongest positive correlations I've notic

by xiaoma 9y ago

>" I don't know anyone who went to an elite university without significant baseline intelligence" Oh, I sure do. The strongest positive correlations I've noticed with elite schooling are conscientiousness, acquiescence to authority and then wealth, in that order. Intelligence is a relatively distant 4th place, thought it still correlates positively, IMO. PG actually wrote a whole essay on this topic: http://www.paulgraham.com/colleges.html http://www.paulgraham.com/colleges.html "...what we've found is that the variation between schools is so much smaller than the variation between individuals that it's negligible by comparison. We can learn more about someone in the first minute of talking to them than by knowing where they went to school."

morgante 9y ago
For what it's worth, I agree with pg and don't think your college is the best predictor of anything (after all, I actually decided not to go to an Ivy myself). That being said, I reject the notion that it's trivial to buy your way into an elite university. There's a whole class of second-tier private colleges that exist primarily because it's not that easy for rich kids to buy their way into the truly top schools.
- bovitclan 9y ago
  I really hope that you see this, because this seems like a teachable moment. We aren't talking about making a million dollar donation to get your son into school. That happens, sure, but it's an extreme example. Here are things that richer people can do easily & poorer people struggle with. * Not working or working part time for four or more years * Moving across the country * Living in places with high cost of living (think Stanford, Berkely, NYU) * Getting tutoring for the SAT, taking the SAT multiple times * Going to a high school where the teachers give a shit * Having people in your life who went to college & can help you apply * Having extracurricular activities that show you'd contribute to campus life * Already being comfortable with being interviewed at age 18 These are just what I could think of in a few minutes. Scholarships _do not_ level the playing field (though they certainly help).
  - morgante 9y ago
    That's an extremely patronizing way of approaching this debate. I'm well aware of the different kinds of privilege which money affords students. I grew up lower middle class but went to boarding school and university with some incredibly privileged people. Money helps, but it's still not the dominant factor. If it were, I never would have gotten the education I received. Insinuating that those who went to elite universities just had enough money to get in and go is insulting to those of us who worked very hard to get there. I'm not going to engage further with you, since you seem more interested in "teaching" me than engaging in a discussion of equals.
    - bovitclan 9y ago
      You're free to ignore me, but I'll engage just once more. I read your comments and perceived that you were misunderstanding, and that I could present it in a way that would clarify things. I'm sorry that you felt patronized, but there is no shame in ignorance. I think you should be more open to people telling you that they have something to teach you; maybe I was wrong, and maybe this isn't the case for everyone, but when I try to teach someone something it's because I respect them enough to think it's worth the effort. You see all of our points, but you keep coming back to this idea of buying your way into school, which is not a point anyone is arguing. Why is that? Happy trails. Edit: And yes, I do believe that, regardless of how difficult it was to get into school, people work very hard in school. I never said they didn't, though I can see how it would be easy to come away with that impression. What I am saying is that it doesn't show them to be harder working than someone who did not attend school.
      - bovitclan 9y ago
        This was bothering me, so I consulted with a friend, and tl;dr, I didn't pay your arguments the attention they deserved (as you are aware), and I shouldn't have mentioned a "teachable moment" because, while the phrase didn't have this connotation for me, I could have easily foreseen that you would've interpreted that as me putting you a rung below where I am. I stand by views and the substance of what I've said, but I can see that the way I interacted with you was counterproductive to the conversation. I apologize.
- _r_o_y_ 9y ago
  I don't think they're saying that money buys your way in a Ivy school, but in that it gives you a legs up with stuff like better and earlier education for example

by xiaoma 9y ago

morgante 9y ago

For what it's worth, I agree with pg and don't think your college is the best predictor of anything (after all, I actually decided not to go to an Ivy myself). That being said, I reject the notion that it's trivial to buy your way into an elite university. There's a whole class of second-tier private colleges that exist primarily because it's not that easy for rich kids to buy their way into the truly top schools.

bovitclan 9y ago
I really hope that you see this, because this seems like a teachable moment. We aren't talking about making a million dollar donation to get your son into school. That happens, sure, but it's an extreme example. Here are things that richer people can do easily & poorer people struggle with. * Not working or working part time for four or more years * Moving across the country * Living in places with high cost of living (think Stanford, Berkely, NYU) * Getting tutoring for the SAT, taking the SAT multiple times * Going to a high school where the teachers give a shit * Having people in your life who went to college & can help you apply * Having extracurricular activities that show you'd contribute to campus life * Already being comfortable with being interviewed at age 18 These are just what I could think of in a few minutes. Scholarships _do not_ level the playing field (though they certainly help).
- morgante 9y ago
  That's an extremely patronizing way of approaching this debate. I'm well aware of the different kinds of privilege which money affords students. I grew up lower middle class but went to boarding school and university with some incredibly privileged people. Money helps, but it's still not the dominant factor. If it were, I never would have gotten the education I received. Insinuating that those who went to elite universities just had enough money to get in and go is insulting to those of us who worked very hard to get there. I'm not going to engage further with you, since you seem more interested in "teaching" me than engaging in a discussion of equals.
  - bovitclan 9y ago
    You're free to ignore me, but I'll engage just once more. I read your comments and perceived that you were misunderstanding, and that I could present it in a way that would clarify things. I'm sorry that you felt patronized, but there is no shame in ignorance. I think you should be more open to people telling you that they have something to teach you; maybe I was wrong, and maybe this isn't the case for everyone, but when I try to teach someone something it's because I respect them enough to think it's worth the effort. You see all of our points, but you keep coming back to this idea of buying your way into school, which is not a point anyone is arguing. Why is that? Happy trails. Edit: And yes, I do believe that, regardless of how difficult it was to get into school, people work very hard in school. I never said they didn't, though I can see how it would be easy to come away with that impression. What I am saying is that it doesn't show them to be harder working than someone who did not attend school.
    - bovitclan 9y ago
      This was bothering me, so I consulted with a friend, and tl;dr, I didn't pay your arguments the attention they deserved (as you are aware), and I shouldn't have mentioned a "teachable moment" because, while the phrase didn't have this connotation for me, I could have easily foreseen that you would've interpreted that as me putting you a rung below where I am. I stand by views and the substance of what I've said, but I can see that the way I interacted with you was counterproductive to the conversation. I apologize.
_r_o_y_ 9y ago
I don't think they're saying that money buys your way in a Ivy school, but in that it gives you a legs up with stuff like better and earlier education for example