The Student’s Track Record and Distinctiveness Are What Matters

There are many paths to the goal of college admissions. It is not necessary to come from a family of means to be admitted to the nation's premier colleges and universities. 55% of the students at Harvard College are on need-based financial aid. At Princeton, the percentage is 62%. 17% of Dartmouth's freshman class are first-generation students, compared with 22% at Columbia. 22% of Amherst's freshmen are from low-income families; at Stanford, the percentage is 20%.

Families with resources can back their students' talents with years of ample coaching, private lessons, intensive training, and so on. These students can provide long records of accomplishment in their endeavors. Their applications will be viewed as coming from privileged family backgrounds, and the expectations from the college admissions offices are much higher for these candidates.

Successful candidates for admission demonstrate their distinctiveness in a myriad of ways. I know one young woman, admitted to Harvard, who won 1st place (out of 1,200 entries) in the short story competition by The Los Angeles Times. This feat did not take financial resources -- it took creativity and excellent writing skills, which she developed at her local public school. Our local music conservatory is filled with students on music scholarships, who practice long hours each day to hone their craft. Many disciplines are mastered only after spending thousands of hours practicing.

The effort of attaining mastery, of working towards constant improvement, is itself important.  Are students spending two hours a week on something -- or 30?     

We are not, as a society, at the place where we have an equitable distribution of resources available to all. But I maintain that there are paths available for an education to just about anybody.