<p>“Student B comes out of a much less privileged background and self-studied calculus and got a 5 on the AP exam. Could be very talented.”</p>
<p>Sounds like he is very talented. No could-be about it. It’s not easy to self study calculus expecially when you don’t have highly educated parents to help you.</p>
<p>In fact, such a young person is likely to be far more motivated and intelligent than is the kid from an educated home and excellent school system who gets a 5 in AP calculus after tutoring and being helped by bright parents and an excellent high school class.</p>
<p>My experience has been that inteviews are far more likely to uncover the fact that the kid with high grades, etc. from a privileged background has accomplished those things due to having professor/engineer/scientist parents who’ve been helping the kid and pushing the kid with academics for years. In addition, the student is likely to have had tutors, gone to special summer camps, prep courses, and done lots of other things that have helped enhance his or her natural aptitude.</p>
<p>“But just because Student B overcame financial difficulties doesn’t mean he’s really going to get more out of MIT than if he hadn’t.”</p>
<p>That’s not what’s being considered. What’s being considered is that student B probably has a lot more aptitude tha the student has thus far had opportunities to develop. In addition. adding low income students to the class adds to the overall education – which includes the education that one gets from interacting with classmates from various backgrounds - - that students get in college.</p>