- Apr 2022
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www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
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Most low-income and even middle-income students cannot meet the academic and experiential benchmarks that elite schools set.
I read someone post that mentioned that the low-income students would less likely be able to do the extra-curricular activities that colleges look for. I never really thought of that, but after thinking about it, it is true. In high school, my parents couldn't afford the cost of all the uniforms, camps, and trips, so I wasn't able to join cheer leading. I remember being disappointed, but realizing that cheer leading was the last thing our money should go to.
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they were the best of the best, which pressures them to prove it by pursuing the sorts of activities and research that wins honors.
This is very true. Unfortunately we need people to pursue all sorts of activities and research. If no one does the 'less important' things, then we would not have the information that we have now. Everything is important to Someone.
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the best students know you cannot really afford to fail. You can’t even afford minor missteps. That is one of the lessons of 1 percent education: 1 percenters must always succeed.
I think that this information is completely from the mind set of the 1%. As an adult, I know that you grow from failure. It is ok to make mistakes, as long as you learn from them and not repeat them.
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the latter has the danger of rewarding students for collecting as many experiences as they can without stopping to explore
Many people try to squeeze as many volunteer opportunities, or leadership roles as they can, because it looks good on a resume. But doing too many things, especially in a short amount of time can show that you don't give these opportunities your all. You can possibly spread yourself so thin, yet still make an important impact.
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We want a university for the 99%, not a corporation for the 1%.”
Education, especially higher education is a corporation. We need higher education to be actually for the students. We need to revamp the admission process, to help the 99% succeed.
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But that’s still well below the nearly 27 percent of American households with poverty-level incomes of less than $25,500.
When reading this, I can't help but wonder if the percentage amounts are this low based on how many students actually receive the grants, or is it based on how many students take the time to actually apply for the grants. The money may be there for the poverty-level income students, but do they have the resources to apply for the grants.
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Harvard, for example, gives students with family income below $65,000 a free ride,
This is so refreshing to read. Harvard is actually basing their acceptance on grades and those that actually deserve to go there, instead of just those who can afford to go.
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it is turning the educational culture into one that stresses individual perfection instead of one that stresses social improvement
This is putting an unnecessary stress on students. There is enough pressure put on them to get good grades, but now that isn't even enough. They feel like they must get perfect grades, be in the 'right' organizations and do all the right things.
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