From the classism chapter I choose to read “At the elite colleges” by peter Schmidt. This article focuses on the application process within Ivy League universities. Institutions such as Harvard, Yale, and Wellesley pride themselves on being the best of the best. As Schmidt suggests their websites are listed with press releases that brag about their increased black and Hispanic enrollments and how they are the top choice for high school valedictorians.
As I started to read this article I was thinking “okay, so what’s the issue?” and then I came across this sentence “What they almost never say is that many of the applicants who were rejected were far more qualified than those accepted.” Although these institutions claim their black and Hispanic enrollments have increased, the majority of students accepted are rich white kids with connections. According to research, 15% of freshmen enrolled in these highly selective schools are white teens who failed to meet the minimum admission requirements. I find this extremely unfair. There are many students in high school who work extraordinarily hard to have the chance to apply to schools like these. Not only are these colleges collecting money, they are giving very little back in financial aid according to Schmidt.
Universities such as these are becoming too corporate. The job of a university is to provide the opportunity to a better life. How is society expected to improve if the entities providing such opportunities are greedy and not choosing the smartest and brightest students for their schools.
I happened to skim this particular article while reading the assignment but I wanted to thank you for bringing insight on it because I also find it very interesting. I don't think the situation is fair and feel the same as you do. I don't think it is right that those accepted didn't make the requirements but were accepted mostly because they were white. This is where white privilege seems to be apparent and how are we supposed to take care of this problem in society if large educational institutions are not helping the cause.
ReplyDeleteI do hate how the US school systems work. In most other countries, college is government funded therefore there is not that pressure of competion many colleges have. It is interesting for when you look on websites for foreign universities they are very plain and to-the-point, while the US's pages tend to be played up with marketing.
ReplyDeleteDid you know in Germany the father of the student pays for university expenses?
ReplyDeleteAll in all I think this post was brilliant. Well articulated but I'm not sure that it is simply a being white issue to get in and more to do with alumni connections. Not that being a classist issue vs racist issue makes it any less offensive I'm just trying to point out that the University systems are the gateway to middle-class and the toll that is paid to pass through is definitely higher for some than others.
I feel like we all see this in so many universities. It seems like a lot of the time now if you have connections then you can get in that school with basically no questions asked and sometimes even if you just have legacy at a school like Harvard then they will let you in if your grades are "acceptable".
ReplyDeleteEveryone should be put on an equal playing field when applying to schools I think and I think that the application process shouldn't include things such as legacy, and parents income because a lot of schools are more likely to accept a student if his/her parent/s can pay for tuition.