>I didn't have an upper middle class background. Then you're an exception. If you came from a poor and uneducated background then congratulations on the climb

>I didn't have an upper middle class background. Then you're an exception. If you came from a poor and uneducated background then congratulations on the climb but pretending that your story is an example of the average experience of the doctorate just isn't true ("The other students I met had similar stories and backgrounds"), even if those going through phd programs don't all have wealthy families, they commonly have family members who have done same thing which is a privilege all in it's own, one you can't even buy. >I had none. I used none. >I built it. I poured blood, sweat, and tears into it. No one helped elevate me above others. You'll forgive me but everyone has had help. >Only people who don't really know, who haven't experienced this first hand, who haven't interacted with the people actually going through this, could call this "privilege". The rest of us call it hard work, nose to the grind stone, luck, and the intelligence to capitalize on this luck, by recognizing a path to take advantage of this. Oh boy here we go. Yeah like I said getting a medical degree is hard work, nose to the grindstone, luck and intelligence, all this stuff. Why is it that wealthy kids are vastly over-represented though? There's obviously additional components - the ability to get your kids into a good highschool, parents who have the time to devote a lot of attention to their kids, parents who have gotten a graduate degree themselves and so can better guide someone through it. There's all sorts of other privileges too, being interested in the right things, maybe even at the right time is a great example. Privileges are all around us. Maybe you really are a Horatio Alger story jumped off the page, if so recognize that you're the vast minority.