@BiffBrown Let me get this straight, you are losing the argument so you then post that you are just posting informational topics to get people talking. What?
I also had to laugh at your clarification of what people who attend certain Ivies want. I attended one of the Ivies you mentioned (undergrad and grad) and in fact you are wrong on the point you made relative to that school. And I do not believe this has changed either. Like many people, perhaps, you are painting a one dimensional picture of the opinion you are married to and cannot absorb other things which people are trying to illustrate. A common flaw.
My points about our family and legacy were made to show the what is one day a scholarship student from a poor family may in 20-30 years be a wealthy donor who funds the next generation. We are that family. In a single generation, our family has jumped from lower class to top 5% all siblings with just a college education for each of us. This has worked for several hundred years and while not perfect has shaped the education in this country. I agree with @ljberkow your arguments are cheap. But more importantly not clear and concise. Nor well articulated. I have lost what you are now focused on. Are you attacking legacies? The system? How many people are “qualified”?
And stew about this BiffBrown, did you also know that friends call each other regarding getting their kids into that school and vice versa? Yep, happens all the time. I went to (X) and your kid wants to go there so you call me. My kid wants to go to Y so I call you. How are you going to deal with that?