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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

I'm the 5:16 p.m. poster. OP, thanks for your later message clarifying your intent and your perspective.

Here's what bothers me the most. Why is it that colleges value extracurriculars over work experience? Hasn't anyone made a correlation between the "work ethic" problems of recent college grads and the fact that kids no longer grow up with paper routes, jobs at the local diner, or other typical summer jobs? I'm NOT impressed with the kids from Bethesda  who go on exotic "summer study" trips.  All that tells me is that Mumsy and Daddy could afford the fees.

When hiring for my small business, I took the kid who started his own business. I'd much rather find a kid who has put in a real work day and understands the value of a dollar. Working minimum wage jobs taught me to value my college education. Yes, of course there is a fine line, and some degree of extracurricular participation is valuable,  but it seems that today's kids no longer deign to do mundane work. Try to find a high school babysitter! They're all too busy with extracurriculars. My kids protest because we make them help us with yard work. Everyone else in our neighborhood has a yard service. But what does this teach our kids? So many of my friends - with yard services - lament the fact that THEY cut the grass when they were kids, yet their kids aren't asked to do the same.

Sorry for going a bit off tangent here, but my point is that colleges should also value the kids who work after school and can write meaningful essays about the value of that work. A work ethic is what made this country strong.  [/quote]

Different poster here, a second poster on this thread who was slammed for, I guess I'm still not sure why.  Anyway, I agree with you.

Colleges [i][b]say[/b][/i] they value work experience. Who knows if it's really true.  At least, I don't think it's true that colleges place absolutely no value on real work, or that they are impressed by expensive tours of 3rd world hellholes. For example, it's pretty widely understood that you'll tank your admissions prospects if you write your essay about how "Dad paid $5K so I could go bond with poor kids in Nicaragua," which might have worked in the 1970s but now just has them rolling their eyes. Second, doing [b][b]nothing [/b][/b]is clearly bad for admissions chances. Suzy Weiss, the kid with the editorial in the Wall Street Journal, found out that you can't just assume that a privileged upbringing means you can waltz into the school of your choice if you have no work, internship, volunteer, or other experience.

I do think privileged kids who can score an internship with a well-known NIH scientist still have an advantage over the kid who works at 7-11. And the 7-11 kid might improve his chances if he works his essay into a touching story about how the 7-11 job supports his impoverished mother and baby sister. I have no idea how colleges weigh the 7-11 job against playing varsity sports, probably depends on their athletic needs that year.[/quote]

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