4 ms·

As a former undergrad, the points about grade inflation are 100% correct, and everything else is garbage. > Many of the better-off young people at Harvard appe

As a former undergrad, the points about grade inflation are 100% correct, and everything else is garbage. > Many of the better-off young people at Harvard appeared to require intense favoritism to reassure them, perhaps because of the less-moneyed achievement and potential that loomed all around. Though some of the anointed developed their capabilities to the full, the institutional imperative to establish a hierarchy between them and us took precedence. This is just utter nonsense. There are a lot of very legitimate ways that the school favors its privileged students (self selecting social clubs with dues, the disaster that is on campus dining, not subsidizing a whole lot of expenses that they ought to, forcing students on financial aid to work for the school, etc.) but the insinuation that the professors and other teachers at the school systematically favor privileged students in some sort of effort to reaffirm social hierarchy is totally unsubstantiated, and, quite frankly, a disgusting and slanderous accusation. I didn't like all (or even necessarily most) my professors/advisers/TAs that much, but I am honestly outraged on their behalf after reading this.

Allower 9y ago
I'm sorry, but YOUR criticism is unsubstantiated. You sound like a self-righteous prick that probably had many of his own privileged perspectives 'ratified' by the disgraceful institution known as 'Harvard'.
seattleeng 9y ago
I've heard first hand stories from friends who did their undergrad at Harvard that spoke to favoritism. One is: while playing rugby, a friend tackles another student. The coach pulls my friend aside and tells him to stop "hitting so hard" (my friend is an average to below average sized guy). Puzzled, my friend asks why, to which the coach replies, "think about the kid's name." He was a Kennedy.
- kbenson 9y ago
  Interestingly, I think that story can be interpreted different ways. One interpretation is that the coach knew that if he actually caused an injury, it might come back at him in interesting ways. You can either interpret it as the coach protecting the elite, or the coach protecting the non-elite, depending on your view.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- apetresc 9y ago
  There's favoritism, and then there's pragmatism. This seems like very sound advice.
  - plussed_reader 9y ago
    You say pragmatism, but I read cronyism. In this case the Rugby coach would be a crony for moneyed interests.
    - tetromino_ 9y ago
      Alternative interpretation - the rugby coach was helping seattleeng's friend by alerting him in advance to the fact that moneyed interests would make the friend's life hell if he were to seriously injure one of their own.
      - plussed_reader 9y ago
        Social order's gotta be maintained, right?
taysic 9y ago
> the insinuation that the professors and other teachers at the school systematically favor privileged students in some sort of effort to reaffirm social hierarchy is totally unsubstantiated How do you know for sure though? Naturally such conversations would occur away from the public eye. Oddly enough, I'm not sure I would support subsidizing more expenses. That seems like a separate issue.
mturmon 9y ago
I believe you should re-examine your indignation. One window into the favoritism of these schools is legacy admissions. For instance, about 10-30% of Ivy admissions are to legacies, and on average these legacies have lower scores than ordinary admissions. Another window is the favors offered to large donors. My wife worked in fundraising for an Ivy. There was no end to the coddling of doddering old donors, by the university president all the way down through deans and managers of large facilities. There was a dossier on each and every significant donor, maintained by a dedicated research staff, and specific people who were tasked with maintaining and improving relationships with large donors through favors. ("Large" wasn't that large, a $1M gift would be very, very large.) One reference point here is the admission of Jared Kushner to Harvard. To return to the matter at hand, is it not at least possible that the relevant Dean made an offhand comment to the professor that it was certainly a pleasure to see that the son of $BIG_DONOR was taking Latin this term? A professor who wanted to please the Dean (don't underestimate the appeal!) would get the hint. A professor who didn't get hints like this might not find legacies enrolled in their class. A Dean who didn't know how to finesse these opportunities might get rotated out to another position. Yes, I knew a student like this, whose father would fly in and have a conversation with the Dean (not Harvard, but close enough).

Allower 9y ago

I'm sorry, but YOUR criticism is unsubstantiated. You sound like a self-righteous prick that probably had many of his own privileged perspectives 'ratified' by the disgraceful institution known as 'Harvard'.

seattleeng 9y ago

I've heard first hand stories from friends who did their undergrad at Harvard that spoke to favoritism. One is: while playing rugby, a friend tackles another student. The coach pulls my friend aside and tells him to stop "hitting so hard" (my friend is an average to below average sized guy). Puzzled, my friend asks why, to which the coach replies, "think about the kid's name." He was a Kennedy.

kbenson 9y ago
Interestingly, I think that story can be interpreted different ways. One interpretation is that the coach knew that if he actually caused an injury, it might come back at him in interesting ways. You can either interpret it as the coach protecting the elite, or the coach protecting the non-elite, depending on your view.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
apetresc 9y ago
There's favoritism, and then there's pragmatism. This seems like very sound advice.
- plussed_reader 9y ago
  You say pragmatism, but I read cronyism. In this case the Rugby coach would be a crony for moneyed interests.
  - tetromino_ 9y ago
    Alternative interpretation - the rugby coach was helping seattleeng's friend by alerting him in advance to the fact that moneyed interests would make the friend's life hell if he were to seriously injure one of their own.
    - plussed_reader 9y ago
      Social order's gotta be maintained, right?

taysic 9y ago

> the insinuation that the professors and other teachers at the school systematically favor privileged students in some sort of effort to reaffirm social hierarchy is totally unsubstantiated How do you know for sure though? Naturally such conversations would occur away from the public eye. Oddly enough, I'm not sure I would support subsidizing more expenses. That seems like a separate issue.

mturmon 9y ago

I believe you should re-examine your indignation. One window into the favoritism of these schools is legacy admissions. For instance, about 10-30% of Ivy admissions are to legacies, and on average these legacies have lower scores than ordinary admissions. Another window is the favors offered to large donors. My wife worked in fundraising for an Ivy. There was no end to the coddling of doddering old donors, by the university president all the way down through deans and managers of large facilities. There was a dossier on each and every significant donor, maintained by a dedicated research staff, and specific people who were tasked with maintaining and improving relationships with large donors through favors. ("Large" wasn't that large, a $1M gift would be very, very large.) One reference point here is the admission of Jared Kushner to Harvard. To return to the matter at hand, is it not at least possible that the relevant Dean made an offhand comment to the professor that it was certainly a pleasure to see that the son of $BIG_DONOR was taking Latin this term? A professor who wanted to please the Dean (don't underestimate the appeal!) would get the hint. A professor who didn't get hints like this might not find legacies enrolled in their class. A Dean who didn't know how to finesse these opportunities might get rotated out to another position. Yes, I knew a student like this, whose father would fly in and have a conversation with the Dean (not Harvard, but close enough).