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Why would people want to necessarily go to a selective school? The evidence supplied that selective schools make a difference was Caroline Hoxby of Stanford-- t

by nerdy 12y ago

Why would people want to necessarily go to a selective school? The evidence supplied that selective schools make a difference was Caroline Hoxby of Stanford-- the most selective school in the country. She might have just a little bias. When you're ultra-selective you're not picking losers or incapable people; those people had a high chance of success before they even went to college. So saying people who graduated from selective colleges do better is really a hard thing to measure unless it's a formal study, which isn't mentioned. All of the evidence supporting any reason you'd want to go in the first place is either empirical and provided without data, and/or from someone with strong bias. Can you explain why smart people would want to pursue this kind of thing anyhow? Most people of limited means are reasonable and don't "need" things like a fancy name on their diploma. Maybe it's just me, but I think selective schools are overrated so the premise of the article is a little ridiculous.

morgante 12y ago
You want a study? Here's a study: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/revisiting-the-value-of-elite-colleges/ http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/revisiting-the-... For underprivileged students, it's pretty clear that attending an elite university materially increases economic outcomes—even after controlling for the students themselves (a poor student who gets into both Yale and their local state university will do better if they go to Yale). Not that I expect you to actually listen to reason, since you're basically insinuating that tenured professors are making up evidence to boost undergraduate applications (if you think that's something professors would actually do, you clearly haven't spoken to many). If you're going to discount any research with a connection to a major university, it will indeed be hard to find any research.
- deleted 12y ago
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- nerdy 12y ago
  That definitely makes it more meaningful since it provides a tangible benefit to low-income graduates (also latino, black, and those whose parents did not graduate college), which was not made clear by the original article. That's the distinction not made in common discussion.

by nerdy 12y ago

morgante 12y ago

You want a study? Here's a study: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/revisiting-the-value-of-elite-colleges/ http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/revisiting-the-... For underprivileged students, it's pretty clear that attending an elite university materially increases economic outcomes—even after controlling for the students themselves (a poor student who gets into both Yale and their local state university will do better if they go to Yale). Not that I expect you to actually listen to reason, since you're basically insinuating that tenured professors are making up evidence to boost undergraduate applications (if you think that's something professors would actually do, you clearly haven't spoken to many). If you're going to discount any research with a connection to a major university, it will indeed be hard to find any research.

deleted 12y ago
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nerdy 12y ago
That definitely makes it more meaningful since it provides a tangible benefit to low-income graduates (also latino, black, and those whose parents did not graduate college), which was not made clear by the original article. That's the distinction not made in common discussion.