| While I managed to get into a good university, it irked me quite a bit during all that application anxiety during my senior year, knowing that so many people around me simply had better opportunities than I. I never took an SAT prep course and probably never would have even if I had the $$$ to shell out for it. But I still wonder whether I would have been able to break the 2200 if I had taken a prep course.
A valid point, however, is the type of extra curricular activities you might be involved in. The year I turned 16, junior year, my only real extra curricular activity was work. Others around me were active members of many clubs and societies, played sports, competed in national/international competitions, took part in research, some of them even went abroad for cool/interesting things, and of course they had someone to drive them everywhere for all of this too.
But I have no regrets. I did better than many of them, and got into better colleges than them too (even though I didn't have the money to visit nearly as many colleges as they did).
I agree that in general being wealthier makes things a lot easier. All of the above is possible even if you're poor but in the end its just much harder to get into a position where you can prove yourself and make a difference. |