Re:MIT graduate student says income inequality is actually a...
by rtl49 on Thursday November 19, 2015 @10:01PM
(#10599317)
I think I understated the advantage the wealthy have while making the point that the parent comment had overstated it. That said, I'm embarrassed to admit my opinion was mostly informed by anecdotal evidence, and your example with Harvard is certainly better than that. The "fact sheet" in the article is dead, but the conclusion seems reasonable. I'd hoped my comment might serve as some encouragement of the sort outreach might, not as a justification for the current state of economic diversity at elite schools.
Harvard is basically free for low income students, yet they make up a very small percentage of total students.
One thing they could do is to increase their outreach to lower income students. When I was in high school, I had no idea that Harvard was affordable for me. Looking back, I probably had the SAT scores and grades to get in, but I never even considered it as a possibility.
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2012/1/26/diversity-lack-f...