College bound? Now hand over $30/k please!
The dumbing down of America continues.
It appears obvious that greedy politicians and the corporate elite want to drag America down to third world status.
Liberal lies they tell themselves so that they can remain masters of their universe.
“had he been raised in Greenwich, he would have been a 1500 kid”
I coulda been a contendah!
P.S. Lock your dorm rooms.
I think it’s a good thing. Poor kids who are smart aren’t always motivated in the best ways. I don’t believe this is a social experiment at all.
So what?
This is good stuff, but based on what I see, socioeconomic factors are secondary to the fact the kids have good grades, SAT scores and are getting into good schools anyway.
Kudos to those schools who are moving away from the legacy programs!
I know kids in low income families, they are more honest and hardworking than some rich kids I know. The rich ones are the ones who get away with everything because who their momma and daddy are.
Regardless, scoring a full ride to U of Florida is nothing to sneeze at, this student will go far.
College bound? Now hand over $30/k please!
It’s been my observation that industrious people will succeed regardless of what is or isn’t given to them. Smart people, regardless of their advantages or lack thereof, will succeed if they’re motivated. McCollege isn’t a guarantee to success anymore—just ask all the Shakespeare-quoting french fry chefs out there.
It MUST be based on MERIT. Otherwise it will be a joke.
Another way of taking money from the “haves” and giving it to the “have nots”. Americans of European background pay higher tuition fees, so that the colleges can give away tuition free to others.
“Tony Jack with his pure intelligence — had he been raised in Greenwich, he would have been a 1500 kid,” said Tom Parker, the dean of admission.
No way. My daughter did extremely well on her SAT's. No coaching; no classes. We did buy her a $29 computer program that was supposed to have practice tests on it. I think she used it a few times.
Coaching will help a bit. But no amount of tutoring is going to make up for what Junior lacks in aptitude. And aptitude does not discriminate on the basis of socioeconomics. If you're bright, you're bright -- regardless of how much money your parents make.
So if I am middle class I would not be able to get into Amherst, right?
It’s good this young man was given a chance - I have no quarrel with that. He probably would be successful in life if he’d gone to U. of Florida too. But universities and prep schools have been recruiting talented black students for a long time - this is not new. I was thinking this article was going to be about universities finally recruiting students from poor families and mediocre schools and offering scholarships regardless of race - and it isn’t.
The daughter of my pscyhology professor is getting a full scholarship to a prep school that costs 20K a year - and the professor is going to be a practising clinical psychologist in a matter of months - big bucks - her husband is employed too. The family is black - the little girl is not a star athlete - and the prep schools don’t recruit disadvantaged white kids and give them scholarships. They recruit visible diversity.
Mrs VS
Silly me! I always thought that the roll of Colleges was to Educate, not to perform Social Engineering.
And people wonder why the US is falling behind the rest of the world in competitiveness.
Sometimes bright kids ARE constrained by the schools in which they were placed. Given the opportunity, they might do very well. Of course, they might bomb too, but that's the chance they take. This would have to involve series screening of applicants. Many times, kids from low income areas just won't fit in because no matter how 'welcome' the school tries to make them feel, they'll just never fit in.
Instead of trying to push them into the elite schools, they might do better at a second tier college, where they can be challenged, but the social atmosphere might not be so hard on them. Instead of enduring a year of being a social outcast at an elite school, then dropping out thinking they've failed, starting out at a second tier school could give them a chance to prove themselves while not having to feel like they have to try to keep up socially with far wealthier schoolmates.
I’m afraid it’s nothing but affirmative action on steroids, masquerading as something else.
I went to Harvard, and my father went to Harvard, but there’s no way in hell any of my kids can ever go to Harvard, because they aren’t Indian or black.
Two of my daughters were National Merit Scholars. They were admitted by some good schools they applied to, but were offered zero scholarships by those schools, because they are not certified minorities, so they were unable to accept. That will not change.
The ONLY school we have applied to that offered scholarships based on merit was the University of New Hampshire. Don’t ask me why, but they actually seem to want to have bright kids go there. That is no longer true of the scholarship systems at Harvard, Princeton, or Yale.
When I read the opening of the article, I said to myself, “Tony Jack is black.” Sure enough, there’s his picture at the link. Utterly predictable. The only thing that changes is the story line. Which is nothing against him. Maybe he’s much smarter than his SATs indicate. But there’s no doubt what got him admitted.
Well, instead the kid got a real education. That there are prepschools for the SATs tell you how low American elite education has sunk. This is not about kids who can think for themsleves. Actually, I think he would have been better off at UF. They actually care about their students, and my view of the eduction and product of "elite" schools has really taken a tumble because of this complete idiocy.
How do you get real quality when you outsource your admissions to a bunch of idiots (ever tried talking to the folks at ETS) instead of doing your own work, you get what you earn.
The sad thing is a needy kid will go to a place like Harvard and will have to watch the trust fund kids enjoy the college experience while he will have to work two jobs to meet normal non-covered expenses.