Reply to Is Merit Real?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The rebuttal is that prestigious colleges want successful alumni, not a bunch of scholars, per se.  Prestigious schools want leaders across the spectrum of society, not just the arcane arts of English literature and philosophy.

So, not all students at prestigious colleges are the smartest of the application pool, but they are smart enough, and when coupled with their family wealth and connections, will be successful in life. While some may not like that, that very alumni may be the one that hires or mentors your super-intelligent, middle-class kid.

This is nothing new, and it’s fine. The only people that find this shocking are those who come from environments where the schools they attend are based strictly on a test score. But, that too seems like a very narrow definition of merit, as we can talk all day about who has the wealth to prepare a kid for a specific exam. [/quote]

So you admit wealth is the driver, not natural ability. [/quote]

Wealth drives merit.  Face it, most kids born to parents who make $300K+/year grow up in a great environment.  Someone reads to them and nurtures them and encourages them to grow their mind from day 1.  They attend good preschools, and great ES/MS/HS.  They grow up just expecting that when you finish HS you go to college.  They have to study hard and do well in school, parents expect that and get them the help they need if they struggle (and sometimes before they struggle with a bit too much pushing).  
Take that versus a kid with a single parent, who barely has time to put dinner on the table, let alone help kid with HW.  The kid isn't pushed as much to do well academically, they don't have all the perks of growing up in a college educated family, without major struggles.

as a percentage, yes the kids who grow up in the first situation are more likely to do well academically and go onto good colleges and score well on tests.....they've been prepped for it all their lives

[/quote]

+1 Merit is laundered wealth. [/quote]

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