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There are more than 15,000 high schools in America and just 8 Ivy League schools and maybe 5-10 other universities in the absolute elite (Stanford etc.). How wo

by flexie 14y ago

There are more than 15,000 high schools in America and just 8 Ivy League schools and maybe 5-10 other universities in the absolute elite (Stanford etc.). How would these maybe 15 schools go about sending recruiters out to all 15,000 high schools, and then test the interested students? What good would it do? Why is it so important that talented rural kids go to Harvard?

pcl 14y ago
Why is it so important that talented rural kids go to Harvard? In the grand scheme of things, I think it's probably not. However, I do think it's important that those kids have an opportunity to try, and that starts with awareness and an understanding of the steps required to attempt.
- flexie 14y ago
  Equal opportunity is nice :-) Here is the study, that the op-ed refers to: http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/projects/bpea/spring%202013/2013a_hoxby.pdf http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/projects/bpea/spring%202013... The study suggests that around 4 percent of all US high school graduates are high-achievers so we are talking about somewhere between 100,000 and 150,000 high school graduates yearly who fall in this category. It's clear that not all high-achievers can go to Harvard. Right now the qualified applicants are sorted based on extra curricular activities etc. If more of the 25-35,000 low income high-achievers, which the study suggests there are, applied to Harvard, most would probably by filtered out based on the lack of extra curricular activities.
  - pcl 14y ago
    most would probably by filtered out based on the lack of extra curricular activities That's possible, but that certainly doesn't seem like a good reason to disenfranchise 25% of our brightest students. Furthermore, I'd expect that if those students had help during their applications to the top-tier schools, they'd probably also apply to some other great schools along the way. More exposure to the system can only help. The interesting thing about this is that a huge chunk of the operating expenses for top universities are paid for by us taxpayers. It'd be interesting to replace military recruiters with "government recruiters", charged with representing all the post-high-school government-funded programs available.
rayiner 14y ago
When I worked at the FCC, the Chairman at the time appointed two new senior advisors. One went to Stanford, the other to Yale. The Chairman himself had gone to Harvard, with President Obama. If you look at the top management consulting companies, investment banks, etc, (which supply a disproportionate fraction of corporate America's executives), you'll find they are dominated by people who went to an Ivy-league school. Now part of the reason is that smart people go to those schools and they would've done well no matter where they went. But you can't discount the value of being able to call up a college buddy who is a VP at a F500 or is in an important political position, etc.
- flexie 14y ago
  I totally agree. But those CEOs, politicians and investment bankers would like their sons and daughters to attend the same Ivy-league schools and not risk them being outcompeted by some geeky kids from Missouri or Kansas. If that happened too often, the Ivy-league schools wouldn't get those new libraries and lecture halls, and one day the future president wouldn't be from there.
- walshemj 14y ago
  Your so right one of Barack Obamas roommates at uni went to a minor public school in my town - what a lot don't realise is the network this gives you in later life. I do wonder what my life would have been like if my family had stayed in Birmingham and had managed to pull strings (grandad was headmaster) to get me into King Edward VII (Tolkiens alma mata and one of the top 2 schools in the UK)
- antiterra 14y ago
  When it comes to tech, investment banks have learned to look at a broader range than just Ivies+Stanford, since there's so much hiring competition.

by flexie 14y ago

pcl 14y ago

Why is it so important that talented rural kids go to Harvard? In the grand scheme of things, I think it's probably not. However, I do think it's important that those kids have an opportunity to try, and that starts with awareness and an understanding of the steps required to attempt.

flexie 14y ago
Equal opportunity is nice :-) Here is the study, that the op-ed refers to: http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/projects/bpea/spring%202013/2013a_hoxby.pdf http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/projects/bpea/spring%202013... The study suggests that around 4 percent of all US high school graduates are high-achievers so we are talking about somewhere between 100,000 and 150,000 high school graduates yearly who fall in this category. It's clear that not all high-achievers can go to Harvard. Right now the qualified applicants are sorted based on extra curricular activities etc. If more of the 25-35,000 low income high-achievers, which the study suggests there are, applied to Harvard, most would probably by filtered out based on the lack of extra curricular activities.
- pcl 14y ago
  most would probably by filtered out based on the lack of extra curricular activities That's possible, but that certainly doesn't seem like a good reason to disenfranchise 25% of our brightest students. Furthermore, I'd expect that if those students had help during their applications to the top-tier schools, they'd probably also apply to some other great schools along the way. More exposure to the system can only help. The interesting thing about this is that a huge chunk of the operating expenses for top universities are paid for by us taxpayers. It'd be interesting to replace military recruiters with "government recruiters", charged with representing all the post-high-school government-funded programs available.

rayiner 14y ago

When I worked at the FCC, the Chairman at the time appointed two new senior advisors. One went to Stanford, the other to Yale. The Chairman himself had gone to Harvard, with President Obama. If you look at the top management consulting companies, investment banks, etc, (which supply a disproportionate fraction of corporate America's executives), you'll find they are dominated by people who went to an Ivy-league school. Now part of the reason is that smart people go to those schools and they would've done well no matter where they went. But you can't discount the value of being able to call up a college buddy who is a VP at a F500 or is in an important political position, etc.

flexie 14y ago
I totally agree. But those CEOs, politicians and investment bankers would like their sons and daughters to attend the same Ivy-league schools and not risk them being outcompeted by some geeky kids from Missouri or Kansas. If that happened too often, the Ivy-league schools wouldn't get those new libraries and lecture halls, and one day the future president wouldn't be from there.
walshemj 14y ago
Your so right one of Barack Obamas roommates at uni went to a minor public school in my town - what a lot don't realise is the network this gives you in later life. I do wonder what my life would have been like if my family had stayed in Birmingham and had managed to pull strings (grandad was headmaster) to get me into King Edward VII (Tolkiens alma mata and one of the top 2 schools in the UK)
antiterra 14y ago
When it comes to tech, investment banks have learned to look at a broader range than just Ivies+Stanford, since there's so much hiring competition.