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The SAT and ACT are a fantastic detector to identify rich and motivated parents who are willing to drop off their kid for 2 years at cramming centers for weekly

by TomVDB 7y ago

The SAT and ACT are a fantastic detector to identify rich and motivated parents who are willing to drop off their kid for 2 years at cramming centers for weekly tutoring sessions and trial tests... and who are willing to pay thousands for it. I’ve been there, his scores went up significantly. I don’t think it made him smarter in any way. Combine that with our ability to buy a house in a very good school district and send him to expensive summer camps in Tahoe where he can “develop leadership skills” and “contribute to the community” and you have the perfect applicant. I’m proud parent, and I want my child to get all the opportunities, but the cards were very heavily stacked in favor of him. It’s all bullshit.

thatfrenchguy 7y ago
> It’s all bullshit. And it's terrible for most upper (middle) kids because they end up thinking they're better than everyone else and that they deserve what they have.
- sct202 7y ago
  It's easier for the upper class kids to pad their applications (and self-esteems) out with arts, sports, volunteering, and fundraising that a normal family couldn't afford.
goatinaboat 7y ago
I’m proud parent, and I want my child to get all the opportunities Every parent believes this, and so here we are. It was in your power to opt out but you chose not to.
- TomVDB 7y ago
  I can’t stand the policies of Ayn Rand, but don’t hold it against her that she relied on social security at the end of her life. I ask my accountant to make me pay what I own the government in taxes and not a cent more, yet I would have no issue whatsoever if the government raised them by 10% if that meant universal healthcare. I don’t see a contradiction in seeing issues in the world and wanting the rules to change for everybody yet at the same time playing by those rules. And in this case in particular, it’d be impacting his future, not even mine.
ThrowawayR2 7y ago
> "The SAT and ACT are a fantastic detector to identify rich and motivated parents who are willing to drop off their kid for 2 years at cramming centers for weekly tutoring sessions and trial tests... and who are willing to pay thousands for it." It was great for me, as a poor minority who was highly dedicated to education and self-learning. Felt pretty good to do as well or better than the wealthier kids despite not having access to a tenth of resources they did. > "It’s all bullshit." Sure, if you're wealthy, you can find a bullshit way to get your kids into a better school that they deserve. But this changes nothing; the wealthy will find some new way to leverage their wealth to do the same and it will be back to business as usual. Meanwhile, it shafts the poor but hard-working students (including minorities!) who had a (semi-)objective way to show that they had talent and dedication, all in the name of pretend "diversity". That's the real bullshit here.
- TomVDB 7y ago
  Congratulations on making it in. The problem with these kind of discussions is that you can always find examples where the system worked in ways that favored those who would in general not benefit from it. I think there is no question that rich people on average have a huge leg up compared those who are not. That’s fundamentally broken. The fact that you, as member of the non-rich, were able to use that to your advantage doesn’t change that overall conclusion.
  - ThrowawayR2 7y ago
    > "I think there is no question that rich people on average have a huge leg up compared those who are not. That’s fundamentally broken." We already know that it's fundamentally broken but we also know that this action isn't going to change that. So what exactly are you trying to say here?
    - TomVDB 7y ago
      The way I read it, your initial comment seemed to defend the current system for non-rich people since it allows a few non-rich to take advantage of it (at the expense of other non-rich.)

by TomVDB 7y ago

thatfrenchguy 7y ago

> It’s all bullshit. And it's terrible for most upper (middle) kids because they end up thinking they're better than everyone else and that they deserve what they have.

sct202 7y ago
It's easier for the upper class kids to pad their applications (and self-esteems) out with arts, sports, volunteering, and fundraising that a normal family couldn't afford.

goatinaboat 7y ago

I’m proud parent, and I want my child to get all the opportunities Every parent believes this, and so here we are. It was in your power to opt out but you chose not to.

TomVDB 7y ago
I can’t stand the policies of Ayn Rand, but don’t hold it against her that she relied on social security at the end of her life. I ask my accountant to make me pay what I own the government in taxes and not a cent more, yet I would have no issue whatsoever if the government raised them by 10% if that meant universal healthcare. I don’t see a contradiction in seeing issues in the world and wanting the rules to change for everybody yet at the same time playing by those rules. And in this case in particular, it’d be impacting his future, not even mine.

ThrowawayR2 7y ago

> "The SAT and ACT are a fantastic detector to identify rich and motivated parents who are willing to drop off their kid for 2 years at cramming centers for weekly tutoring sessions and trial tests... and who are willing to pay thousands for it." It was great for me, as a poor minority who was highly dedicated to education and self-learning. Felt pretty good to do as well or better than the wealthier kids despite not having access to a tenth of resources they did. > "It’s all bullshit." Sure, if you're wealthy, you can find a bullshit way to get your kids into a better school that they deserve. But this changes nothing; the wealthy will find some new way to leverage their wealth to do the same and it will be back to business as usual. Meanwhile, it shafts the poor but hard-working students (including minorities!) who had a (semi-)objective way to show that they had talent and dedication, all in the name of pretend "diversity". That's the real bullshit here.

TomVDB 7y ago
Congratulations on making it in. The problem with these kind of discussions is that you can always find examples where the system worked in ways that favored those who would in general not benefit from it. I think there is no question that rich people on average have a huge leg up compared those who are not. That’s fundamentally broken. The fact that you, as member of the non-rich, were able to use that to your advantage doesn’t change that overall conclusion.
- ThrowawayR2 7y ago
  > "I think there is no question that rich people on average have a huge leg up compared those who are not. That’s fundamentally broken." We already know that it's fundamentally broken but we also know that this action isn't going to change that. So what exactly are you trying to say here?
  - TomVDB 7y ago
    The way I read it, your initial comment seemed to defend the current system for non-rich people since it allows a few non-rich to take advantage of it (at the expense of other non-rich.)