Suit Accuses Georgetown, Penn and M.I.T. of Admissions Based on Wealth

[Anonymous]

Nothing new here but still worth a read

“ The schools were accused of giving special treatment to wealthy students who might not otherwise have been admitted.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/17/us/lawsuit-georgetown-wealthy-students-admissions.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

[Anonymous]

Duke is also mentioned in another report

[Anonymous]

So much for MIT being the only school that admits solely on merit

[Anonymous]

I'm shocked. Shocked!

[Anonymous]

This is not a surprise or unexpected. People try to buy their way in to these places.. and will keep doing so.. rich and influential people usually get what they want..

[Anonymous]

Not surprising at all - there is a lowered requirement for those kids that does not apply to the rest of the world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm shocked. Shocked!

Shocking part is that people still believe that kids get in based on merit in these schools. And we keep seeing how that is not true.. again and again.

[Anonymous]

My guess is that every student you've ever known who has gotten off a T20 waitlist has been full pay. Money matters. Not surprised

[Anonymous]

What a surprise. It is always all about the Benjamins.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand what the cause of action is. Is it illegal to preference wealthy people? Poor people are not a protected class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand what the cause of action is. Is it illegal to preference wealthy people? Poor people are not a protected class.

Antitrust. They schools openly colluded on financial aid, because there was an antitrust exemption for fully need blind admissions. The plaintiffs are arguing that the development admits mean the exemption doesn't apply

[Anonymous]

Maybe now Georgetown and MIT can get off their "moral high ground" they've always claimed. Merit indeed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So much for MIT being the only school that admits solely on merit

They never were nor claimed this. It’s a common lie by stem bros that don’t understand what meritocracy even means.

[Anonymous]

Behind the paywall, what does the article say exactly? Simply demonstrating the admission rate difference among income tiers isn't a good enough argument without controlling for merit factors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Behind the paywall, what does the article say exactly? Simply demonstrating the admission rate difference among income tiers isn't a good enough argument without controlling for merit factors.

They're in discovery now:

"At M.I.T., two children recommended by a wealthy banker with ties to a university board member got special treatment, according to the documents. In a deposition, the school’s director of admissions said the two children, who appeared on a “cases of interest” list, were among those who “we would really have not otherwise admitted.”
...
"Penn’s former associate dean of admissions, Sara Harberson, testified last year in a deposition in the case that a B.S.I. tag meant the student’s family was a big donor or had connections to the board. Those students “were untouchable,” Ms. Harberson said, and “would get in almost 100 percent of the time.”

Ms. Harberson said the admissions office was powerless to deny the student “even if the student was incredibly weak, even if the student had a major issue in the application.”"

Seems like they have more than different rates of admission