>> Gruss wrote: >> What that means, at least for the time being, is that any kid looking >> to jump economic classes can do it by attending one of the world's top >> universities which, if you live in the US, gives you an advantage: >> there's one close by.
The New York Times is running a series right now on class in America. I picked up last Sunday's paper and there was a big feature on it. The basic differentiator of class today in the U.S. is education, no doubt. At the same time, the article hints at how class matters less than ever before. Some people, for instance, do well economically but still identify themselves as working class. >One other thing: FYI home schoolers don't do well in top university >admissions. While the data is ambiguous the plain truth is that >admissions officers don't know how to compare them which means they >have to be exceptional (overseas missions, perfect standardized test >scores, etc. but not too perfect :) No doubt about that. My alumni interview season is over, and two of four kids I interviewed were accepted. One went to La Jolla Country Day (prep school), and one went to Torrey Pines High School (one of the two best public schools in San Diego). The one that went to Torrey had a sister already at the New England Conservatory of Music (which has dual-degree programs with Tufts), he may not have been accepted otherwise. In San Diego, they take kids from La Jolla Country Day and The Bishops School (the top two prep schools), and they may take a handful of other kids from around the county, which they did this year. My point is that all of the kids applying are smart, do well in school, score well on tests, and are generally very interesting people. The level of competition to get into these top schools is just nuts, and hom schoolers end up on the outside, I think. >If your kid has the discipline the better and cheaper route is to go >to a public university and get a 4.0 as well as aceing the GMAT, GRE, >LSAT, etc. Their major usually doesn't matter so they're better off >picking something they can ace. > >Again, if they have the discipline, it can be key to get an internship >at a top firm in their graduate field - this can be a bonanza if the >firm hires them after their under grad. I think that's the key. In fact, it doesn't even have to be a top public school. In my experience, the biggest factor is wanting it to happen and being willing to sacrifice for it. I have a neighbor who went to San Diego State night school and now makes crazy money in bio-tech. But he really sacrificed to make it happen. Discipline and sacrifice. That is, by the way, why kids in India and China are doing so well. Their fallback options are not nearly as attractive as in the U.S., so they work all that much harder to make option A (professional career in engineering, etc.) work out. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Discover CFTicket - The leading ColdFusion Help Desk and Trouble Ticket application http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=48 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:158266 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
