Reply to America's Top Colleges Have a Rich-Kid Problem

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]AN A- average in a school in a low-SES area often doesn't mean the same as an A- somewhere in Westchester.  The best predictor of college success is rigor of high school courseload.

Also, the most selective colleges look for serious extracurriculars, with leadership and initiative. Poor kids are disadvantaged in some subtle ways here.  Colleges usually don't hold it against kids who have to work.  However, if kids are stuck in cul-de-sacs because they don't have a car of their own, and their parent have to work, they can't go to all of the rehearsals, practices and meetings that a serious extracurricular commitment requires.

They also aren't necessarily raised to take initiative; they are raised to toe the line.  Thus, they don't start clubs at school, or do independent research projects.   I've been an Ivy interviewer for a while.  The upper middle class kids chatter confidently with me about their lives.  Some of the middle middle class kids have trouble looking me in the eye.[/quote]

Ill assume for a minute that this poster is real (and i sufferable) and not a troll. This is part of the problem. Alums doing the interviewing are probably biased to recommend people that look like them.

I think the interesting research would be how the income balance has changed over time. The top schools certainly try to attract a broader SES group now. Maybe it used to look worse. [/quote]

I wrote this post.  I don't mean to suggest that this is acceptable. I'm telling you that this is why you get this income skew.  I spent a ton of time advocating for kids from poorer backgrounds or even middle middle class backgrounds.  It didn't work.

If my generalizations about how people of different backgrounds raise their kids offends you, there is a ton of anthrpological research to back it up.  Why do you think rich kids get away with so much?  They are raised to be "risk-takers", so they do things that middle class kids could never get away with (see all of the Kennedys), and schools turn a blind eye.[/quote]

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