<p>SAT Prep Courses
Private College Counselors
Elite Private High Schools
Boarding Schools
Essay Consultants
Spending the summer doing something that will look good on your college
application instead of working at the local hamburger joint</p>
<p>Do any of these things impact one’s chances of gaining admission into an elite college? If so, how? Also, if they do enhance one’s chances, does this mean that the wealthy have an advantage over the “average guy?”</p>
<p>What do you think?</p>
<p>The fact that they’re more likely to have a more educationally inclined family, parents that went to college, a better education, many highly enriching and already established opportunities, and more resources all point to a “Yes”.</p>
<p>The wealthy are more likely to care about education, and a host of other factors. So it shouldn’t be a surprise as they are overrepresented.</p>
<p>Wealthy and or connected to the wealthy. Why do you think everyone works so hard in our current world? Because the more money you have, the more opportunity you have…of course you do have to take advantage of them. I know plenty of wealthy people who squander many of their opportunities. The good news is- in the US, you can work hard and look for opportunity so that you can become one of the wealthy!!!</p>
<p>Do the wealthy have an advantage? Yes
Is that advantage because they are wealthy? Yes, but less so.
In most cases, wealth is an indicator of the child being born of (in most cases) reasonably smart parents, and through genes and environment, also be somewhat predisposed to succeed in the realm of education. This force more than anything is the advantage of affluence, why rich people do better on the SATs (slightly because of being able to afford test prep, but moreso about the 16-17 years of environment prepping them), and why the wealthy are found in abundance at the nations elite universities.</p>
<p>I know that, my school being only a tiny slice of the entire applicant pool, this data isn’t overly significant, but I noticed that in my school the kids who applied for financial aid were the ones who had those random rejections that no one expected, and the ones that didn’t had some surprise acceptances to top colleges.</p>
<p>DSC: Let’s say that a student does come from a wealthy family that does highly value education. Do the things I listed in the opening post enhance, in any way, one’s chances of gaining admission to an elite college. Or, would that student stand just as good of a chance if he/she used none of those things?</p>
<p>“The good news is- in the US, you can work hard and look for opportunity so that you can become one of the wealthy!!!”</p>
<p>That’s a lie the wealthy perpetrate to keep the working-class in eternal toil. There’s no light at the end of that tunnel.</p>
<p>ambry: Why do you think such was the case?</p>
<p>Many of you are saying that the wealthy have an advantage for a variety of reasons. Do you think that the elite colleges are happy with keeping things “status quo,” or do they have a sincere interest in opening their doors to the “less than wealthy” socioeconomic layers of our society?</p>
<p>They don’t care about anything other than keeping their elite positions.</p>
<p>I really have no idea why that was… I mean, #3 in the class, 4-year class president, nationally ranked in forensics, lots of community service, leadership, great writing, 2300-ish SATs, got rejected from all the ivies she applied to. #12 in the class, 1-year PR for student council, 2150-ish SATs, okay ECs (nothing huge) got into Harvard and Princeton. #3 needed a lot of financial aid, #12 needed none. Neither was a legacy or anything… it just struck me as very strange. It could have nothing to do with money and all to do with luck.</p>
<p>old but wise - It depends. Relative to the average, yes. Relative to the top group, not so much. Prep courses aren’t much more than designated time where you have to study. Summer programs are better than nothing, but unless they are selective it doesn’t say more than if you are doing something near home.</p>
<p>The high schools would have the biggest affect IMO, and it would certainly help relative to the median. You will likely learn more, and then get better test scores, and you will also be more challendged by your peers.</p>
<p>obw, let’s tap into your 30 plus years of experience. What say ye?</p>
<p>Breaking News: It’s been reported that the wealthy have some advantages that the rest of us can’t afford. Wow, what a shocker! Never would have thought that such a thing was possible.</p>
<p>How about donating a 6-digit sum to the university of your choice instead of bothering with SAT prep?</p>
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<p>Well, I’ll put it to you this way. My parent’s neighbor came here about 35 years ago as refugees from the Vietnam War with literally nothing more than the shirts on their backs and speaking no English, and to this day speak only limited English. They had to live in the worst neighborhoods when they started off, and endure numerous taunts from rednecks who blamed them for the Vietnam War. Now, they own a successful local chain of restaurants, and all 3 of the children went to Ivy League schools. </p>
<p>Another local family of Vietnamese refugees who also started with nothing and couldn’t speak English also became started a highly successful local shop. One of their sons went to Harvard for both undergrad and then business school and is now almost certainly making 7 figures as a venture capitalist. Another went to MIT for undergrad, master’s and PhD and then became a successful technology entrepreneur. Another son went to MIT and then Stanford for grad school. The sister, I believe, went to Wharton.</p>
<p>So it just begs the question - if these people can start off with literally nothing and achieve success in this country, why can’t others?</p>
<p>i’m a sophomore not very many “wealthy” ppl at my school but ones who have ALOT of money. The thing is they are all in the magnet program(so am I). All i see them do is cheat, cheat, and MORE CHEAT. Some of them have natural smarts (that can also be said for the middle class and the poor). These twins take every prep class in the world for CB tests but when it comes down to class exams they cheat and still get C’s and F’s</p>
<p>I’m not going to generalize all wealthy people because they’re not all as “evil” as they are sometimes thought out to be. However, as we know, there are those who have taken advantage of their status to enter a school. Here’s an excerpt from the August 21, 2006 Times article:</p>
<p>“Lots of people. Take the example of Harrison Frist, the oldest son of [Senate majority leader] Bill Frist. His father is a Princeton alumnus and a very powerful politician. The family has given $25 million for Princeton’s Frist Campus Center. Harrison wasn’t in the Cum Laude Society, which is the top 20% of students at his prep school, St. Albans, but my research indicated that Princeton considered Harrison a very high priority for admission [A Princeton spokesman says Frist was accepted on his own merit.].”</p>
<p>At Princeton: “He joined an eating club that is kind of notorious for rambunctiousness and was eventually arrested for drunk driving. He graduated this year but without academic honors. Now Harrison’s youngest brother was just admitted to Princeton. He’s entering in the fall. And he wasn’t in the Cum Laude Society at St. Albans either [The Frist family declined to comment.].”</p>
<p>The saddest thing is that we all know the rich get richer and the poor poorer, but we all just sit here biachting but do nothing about it. </p>
<p>A side note - There is a study done by the Green Party few years back [1]. According to the study, if we can decrease the national defense budget by a few percents and increase the tax rate for the super rich by some percents, we could make all colleges tuition free for all!!!</p>