The problem at hand is that elite college admissions prevent poor kids who are capable of being academically successful at their school from coming to their school through a variety of means. To start, many prestigious colleges have legacy preferences meaning if someone in your family went there before you then you are more likely to get in. Inherently, most people who went to these elite colleges are rich so their legacy preferences stay amongst the rich alumni and their families. The next way is not directly implemented by elite colleges to prevent poorer people from being admitted but the cost of traveling and visiting multiple elite colleges is very expensive. Poorer students can’t afford to fly across the country to tour these schools which give some preference to those who do visit. Early decision is another factor that increases a student’s likelihood of being admitted however due to the high financial costs of these elite colleges it is impossible for families of poorer students to make the decision of which schools are financially affordable for them before they get responses and scholarships from other schools that they applied to.
Elite colleges also prefer students who took college-level course however in poorer communities the school systems might not have the money or resources to offer such classes putting these poor students at an even greater disadvantage. The final way that elite colleges prevent poor people from being admitted is through athletic recruitment. Athletic recruitment is one of the easiest ways for poor people to get into elite colleges but a study shows that the athletic programs at these elite colleges recruit primarily white people. The reason behind this is because they excel in more expensive sports such as crew and people growing up in poor communities probably wouldn’t be able to afford the equipment to play those sports in the first place. One of the main reasons behind why poor people are less likely to go to an elite school despite their academic performance is because their lack of economic capital. Economic capital refers to having more financial substance and is often associated with a higher social class. In addition, economic capital can be used to increase one’s cultural capital. For example, being able to afford to pay for lessons in a foreign language increases one’s cultural capital. Knowing this it can easily be seen how a lack of economic capital severely affects poor students ability to go to an elite college.
The article mentions that if you don’t have the cash to fly from, say, California’s Central Valley to New Hampshire for the weekend? That can count against you” (Kamenetz). Simply said, some students from poorer families can’t afford to tour all of these elite colleges which in the end lessens their chances of getting in or even applying in the first place. Another problem facing poorer students is the fact that early decision application can often boost an applicant’s chance of being accepted but they can’t afford to risk doing that if they need financial aid. It doesn’t make sense for poorer students to go with an early decision if they can’t even compare financial aid and scholarships with other schools to make the best choice for their financial situation. As a result, it lessens their chance to get into these elite colleges when early decision is not a viable option for them. The article notes that the school districts in poor communities have less economic capital as well and don’t have the resources to offer college level classes that in turn give student higher GPAs and potential college credit. This further puts less wealthy students at a disadvantage because “low-income students are more likely to go to small rural schools or big, under-resourced urban schools that don’t offer as many AP or IB courses” (Kamenetz).
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Overall, it is quite easy to see how a lack of economic capital can greatly impede low-income students from going to an elite college. Another primary reason behind why low-income students have a significantly harder time getting into elite colleges is because of class stratification. Class stratification is a form of social stratification that divides society into different classes based on their access to power and resources. There are often significant economic and cultural differences between classes. In addition, moving upward in class is often very difficult because the rich use their power and resources to keep themselves at the top which consequently prevents others from moving up. This can be applied to elite colleges and the tendency for low-income students being unable to get in because they don’t have the power and resources. Throughout their whole lives, they have not had the money to pay for tutors or sports lessons that in turn would increase their chance of being accepted into an elite college. On the other hand, rich people have the money to access these resources which ensure that they always stay above the low-income students.
Another example of how the power associated with higher class affects admissions of elite colleges is how “at some colleges, if your father or grandmother went there, you are automatically advanced to the second round of admissions” (Kamenetz). This demonstrates the power people of a higher class have because their family has the connections and power to ensure the rest of their family remains in high-class status. Another way class stratification plays a role in elite college admission and low-income students is the cultural beliefs associated with different classes. For someone from a lower class their parents may not have even gone to college and if they did it probably wasn’t an elite college. As a result, their culture doesn’t expect them to go to college, their culture sees it as a great privilege to go to college rather than a norm. On the other hand, though, rich families expect their children to go to college and some even expect them to go to only the very best colleges.
