Amherst College's Policy of Discriminating Against Wealthy Applicants

Amherst website ^ | 10/16/2006 | brookwood

[art_rocks]

Does this include a few slots for those who are or whose family are part of a military background.

[MEGoody]

Talk about stupid. Which of your alumni are going to be able to donate tidy sums to the college? The wealthy, of course.

Any college who hasn't figured this out and actually discriminates against the wealthy isn't a place I'd want to send my kids anyway. They obviously don't have the common sense that God gave a goose.

[Calvin Locke]

There's a WSJ reporter, Dan Golden, out with a book on admissions to elite colleges. "The Price of Admission..."

Heard him on the radio. Being a legacy, even from a generous family ain't enough any more. You have to come
from a super wealthy, super generous family, unless you're the next Einstein (in that case, Cal Tech would
want you to interview with the physics department faculty), got political connections that did something
for the school, or you're good at some non-mainstream sport.

My guess is that the reason Ted "The Swimmer" Kennedy tries to pass legislation that blocks/limits legacies
is that his family has pruned itself of so much of IQ, that elite institutions can't justify admitting
them, when other legacies have just as much money, heck of a lot smarter, less behavioral problems, less
bad press, etc.

[brookwood]

I wasn't aware Ted Kennedy was backing any legislation to block legacy preferences, if you have any more information on this I'd like to learn more.

[razorback-bert]

Bourgeoisie is certainly being misused lately.

Main Entry: bour·geoi·sie
Pronunciation: "bu(r)zh-"wä-'zE
Function: noun
Etymology: French, from bourgeois
1 : MIDDLE CLASS; also plural in construction : members of the middle class

[Calvin Locke]

Ted Kennedy brings it up every couple of years. It's no secret. It makes the news, which is why I know
about it, and just shake my head at his blatant hypocrisy.

Here's one article on it: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/JonahGoldberg/2004/02/13/racial_preferences_more_harmful_than_legacy_policies_in_college_admissions

Ted's just mad that he won't get credit for favoring blacks and hispanics over rich white guys.

More like he's afraid of the competition.

[Alter Kaker]

Talk about stupid. Which of your alumni are going to be able to donate tidy sums to the college? The wealthy, of course. Any college who hasn't figured this out and actually discriminates against the wealthy isn't a place I'd want to send my kids anyway. They obviously don't have the common sense that God gave a goose.

Except Amherst College's endowment is very large for a school its size -- $1.7 billion -- after just generating an astonishing year-to-year 27.8% return, giving it more than $1 million per student. It certainly doesn't seem to be wanting for financial sense.