Reply to I feel bad for low-income/first-gen students at elite schools

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP is an idiot. I clicked on the post expecting to see some huge difference and it’s tiny. 3.5 versus 3.7 GPA, who cares? They are all doing great. OP’s stated facts have actually disproved their conclusion.

The lower salaries are explainable by a lot of things that are beyond the control of the students: like not having parents/relatives/family friends who can mentor you, lacking the polish and experiences that go with UMC+ wealth and make for good networking chit-chat (ski trips, hobbies, sleepaway camp, international travel, etc.), not being able to do internships unless they are well paid. So if anything, OP’s conclusion should be that university career offices should try to help poorer students overcome these challenges. They can’t (and shouldn’t try) to make everything equal, but at least they can give them a boost by sponsoring students for internships and similar [/quote]

Great reply, and I agree that Career Services should be lending a helping hand to kids whose families can't help them navigate the internship and first-job processes. I'd also add, though, that OP's focus on absolute earnings is myopic. I'm one of the FGLI folks from earlier in the thread, and I absolutely earn less now than some of my peers who were able to pursue a different path coming out of undergraduate. Either they took low-paid but prestigious jobs, or had family connections, or were just better than I was in some way.

But I'm not jealous. In one generation, I moved from working class to solidly middle class. My kids are growing up never worrying about food, never feeling like they need to get a job in their teens to help support the family, and able to focus on their own educations. I can help my own parents, siblings, and nieces/nephews, if they need it.

Yes, you can look at my income and say "Wow, she makes less as a FGLI graduate than someone who came in already wealthy" or you can look at my income and say "Wow, she changed the entire trajectory of her life and the lives of her extended family in four years."

I know which one I'm focused on. [/quote]

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