Do other students benefit from the overrepresentation of the wealthiest 0.1% at T20s and top SLACs?

[Anonymous]

I was looking over the NYTIMES tool (it is a bit outdated now from 2017) which breaks down different college's enrollments by income level. It was shocking how much the students from the top 0.1% of families in terms of income were overrepresented. They often comprised 2-3% of the school's enrollment - meaning 20-30 times more likely to attend!

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Does this provide a benefit for other students not from this economic level in terms of friendships, future business connections, or even relationships? I know this POV sounds silly, but I wonder if the possibility of rubbing shoulders with students from this kind of economic background is part of the allure of attending these colleges and universities.

[Anonymous]

Yes, of course

[Anonymous]

All day long, yes

[Anonymous]

The most striking point is not just that rich students are overrepresented. It is how concentrated the overrepresentation is at the very top. The top 1 percent being overrepresented would already be notable. The top 0.1 percent being that visible suggests a system that is especially porous to extreme advantage.

[Anonymous]

Sorry to be blunt but do you hang out with people much lower income than you?

[Anonymous]

Such a sad question

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The most striking point is not just that rich students are overrepresented. It is how concentrated the overrepresentation is at the very top. The top 1 percent being overrepresented would already be notable. The top 0.1 percent being that visible suggests a system that is especially porous to extreme advantage.

OP here. I am relatively naive to how the campus environment is at these institutions, but I wonder is there even much mingling between economic groups. Take Brown, which apparently has 4.3% of students from the top 0.1%. To do the math, (0.043 * 1339) ~ 57 students per class. That does not seem like a large group overall, but I wonder if they mostly stick together and are able to identify one another by social media signals or overlapping social groups that pre-existed college.

[Anonymous]

Doesn’t hurt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry to be blunt but do you hang out with people much lower income than you?

OP here, fair question. My job is high income, but I often interact with lower income coworkers throughout the course of the day - spending hours with them at a time so I do meet many lower income folks. I do have friends and socialize with lower income and higher income groups, but there is not much overlap between the two.

[Anonymous]

Athlete moms will be quick saying yes they do. They think their athlete kids are just soooo attractive that all the nepo kids are dying to hang out with them.

[Anonymous]

My cousin and their friends were private jetted to Europe for their super wealthy classmate's wedding. DD was friends with son of a mega millionaire but he was too humble and simple, most people didn't even know he was wealthy and son of a celebrity.

[Anonymous]

Imagine your FGLI kid "robs shoulders" with a top 0.1% kid during the first year at Brown. Then your FGLI kid got invite to spend a few weeks in the summer in their vacation house in naples. But he is not going because he can't even afford the cross Atlantic travel expense. Social sorting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Athlete moms will be quick saying yes they do. They think their athlete kids are just soooo attractive that all the nepo kids are dying to hang out with them.

The jealousy and insecurity just oozes from you.

[Anonymous]

Or they are going Alps skiing during Spring break. Sadly your fin aid kid will be studying in the library cramming for a prelim after the break. No social media signals needed.

[Anonymous]

I think there were more opportunities to mix with the wealthy kids in the past (back when I went to college). However, things are different today. Today, there are more silos and separation based on wealth. Because of social media, kids arrive on campus already knowing which prep/boarding schools kids attended and many friend groups are initially formed based on these communities. Then, there are the expensive group dinners, parties, greek dues, and spring break trips which are a barrier for many kids. The separation is based on affluence vs other identifiers. My private school kid is at an ivy that boasts high diversity, socioeconomic stats, and I am disappointed that there is less integration than i naively expected and hoped for. There are always exceptions like athletes that have more social mobility. But overall, kids tend to hang with kids with whom they share similar socio economic backgrounds.