<p>It is aburd to judge the best schools by SAT scores of admitted freshmen. </p>
<p>Schools can be “judged” based on a number of factors, but most college administrators, particularly the non elites will tell you that the strength of programs, the faculty, facilities and research or internship opportunities are better tools to judge a school. </p>
<p>There are 3,000 colleges in the United States. If you want to go to an Ivy and you get in, then congratulations. But if you want to go to Iowa State and major in something special, I also congratulate you.</p>
<p>Elitism is not a healthy thing. It is a myth based upon the knowledge that so long as people do not challenge the myth, it continues ad nauseum. While I would never denigrate the quality of education at Princeton, it is in the end a snob school with eating clubs who gain you entry into the power hallways of the government with the old boys network. But what those kids learn at Princeton is not necessarily any more than what you can learn at Berkeley or Davidson or Emory or Holy Cross or name your school. </p>
<p>Yes, going to school with kids who all scored 1500 or higher on their SAT can be enriching to some, but it can also be very narrow and nerdly. Some of those kids are simply good test takers and regurgitators. They are not original thinkers. A LOT of kidswho may have scored lower on the SAT may well be more intelligent and bring more to the table…original thinkers, creative thinkers, and kids with diverse backgrounds…not privileged backgrounds.</p>
<p>I read this morning in an insert in the Washington Post that some kid took a gap year, deferred his admission to UVa to attempt to get into West Point. In theory, I commend his patriotism and willingness to serve. But it had more to do with Ice Hockey than patriotism. Some girl turned down Tufts, took a gap year, so she could try and get into Yale. In my view,that is silly.</p>
<p>Some kids need a gap year to mature and get into a decent school…clean up their records. But to take a gap year to leverage your applications and try to make Ivy League is ridiculous. Nobody could convince me that an education at HYP is better than Tufts or UVa in the matter of what they learn…but only perhaps the private eating clubs with “connections” to get jobs. And that is what we need to STOP doing. Privilege and elitism is not what our Founding Fathers had in mind, it seems to me.</p>