many_indicator's comments

>Second, kids from rural Idaho, (kids from rural anywhere really), are given special consideration at most elite schools. They're essentially given the same consideration as poor minorities. Most elite schools have a mandate that you must admit a certain number of males and females from every state in the union.

That may be true. But to tell a kid from rural Idaho she has a shot at MIT, when her parents never graduated from high school, may not be something she'd believe, even if she could get into MIT. Even if she'd get a full ride, her parents may encourage her not to apply, since they'd tell her it's too expensive, and she may believe that over reality. Just because a university tries to help such people, she may never get the message. It isn't like rural America is where Harvard is sending their representatives to educate poor rural kids their opportunities. A talented poor person may not realize they could actually get into Harvard, so why waste an application fee? Being poor effects you in ways most non-poor people cannot begin to understand. It effects your mindset, attitude and outlook on life. It can artificially lower your goals and scope.

You'd think a 1500+, 4.0+, 12+ AP course student coming from an elite magnet school, with a parental income of $250,000+ is smarter than the poor kid from rural Idaho that lacked such opportunities.

The poor rural kid from Idaho may not be admitted to MIT, Duke, Berkeley, ivies and may not look as good as that 1500+ kid, but you surely will miss kids like: https://www.uidaho.edu/engr/news/features/tom-mueller that would have been successful at an MIT or Caltech. While the 1500+ kid might have gotten that score due to SAT prep, they may not actually be that smart. The Idaho kid could be much more intelligent, but since they're coming in with fewer AP courses and fewer ECs, they wouldn't pass the sniff test.

I imagine the signaling is partly due to the selective admissions processes at elite universities. MIT, Stanford, Harvard already vetted for you, so surely you must be intelligent, driven and cut above the rest.

But I wonder if there are recent studies on the demographics of who attends elite universities in general? I'd assume it is mostly kids from the upper middle class to upper class backgrounds.

These sort of places pat themselves on the back for saying they do target minorities and the less privileged, but they have such an insurmountable background to overcome they may never make it to such schools, despite being smart enough to attend.

You may miss people like: https://www.uidaho.edu/engr/news/features/tom-mueller