I'm in a weird position.

newmassdad
Sat, 31 Jan 2009 12:05:56 +0000

3. People win things based on what they DO, not where they GO. One thing that people don’t talk about much is how a lot of the headliner scholarships-- Trumans, Marshalls, Rhodes-- go to kids who attend schools you haven’t heard of.

At least for the Rhodes, this is not quite true.

Take the group selected in November 07, Here are the non-ivy institutions from which winners came:


Stanford
U Chicago (3!)
U. Georgia
Florida State
St. Olaf (2)
Georgetown
West Point
Swarthmore
MIT
U Texas Austin
Ohio State
Air Force Academy
U. Oklahoma
USC
Naval Academy
Cal Tech


This is hardly a group of 2nd or 3rd tier institutions. Keep in mind, too, that 9 winners DID come from Ivies (and it was a down year for them). If you add in MIT, Stanford, Cal Tech and Chicago, half the winners came from elite institutions.

It is true that some national scholarships, such as the Goldwater, are spread about a bit more, but that’s because (1) there are far more (about 10x) and the Goldwater folks are required to disperse by geography by where one is attending. The Rhodes is awarded by district (16 in total), but one can apply either in your home state district or your college district.

Do these numbers mean the selection committees are biased toward elites? Can’t say from the data, but it is something to think about for national scholarships and honors.