Another potent difference I observed in college–
Kids from affluent families thought nothing about seeking help from “adults”. Asking a professor to review an outline before writing a paper; asking a TA for extra help before or after a “regular” review session; asking someone in the housing office to send a maintenance person over to the dorm, with a “punch list” of all the stuff that wasn’t working properly (hot water tap ran cold in the bathroom; broken window lock; missing cover to an electrical outlet in the dorm room).
I had never seen this in my life. At my big, urban HS teachers were to be avoided except during class. Guidance counselors were there as a last resort when you couldn’t get the classes you needed to graduate. And students didn’t presume that the janitorial staff, or administrators, or whatnot were there to help.
Affluent kids somehow knew how this stuff worked. These were the days of iceberg lettuce and a wilted cucumber called “salad” but one of the rich kids in my dorm asked for a meeting with the head of food services, and two weeks later, actual salads (with Boston lettuce-- something I had never heard of even though I grew up in Boston!) appeared. The broken stuff in our dorm magically got repaired. Rich kids didn’t wait to get a C on a paper to meet with the professor-- they were showing up at office hours on Day 1, being proactive, asking for help.
I thought the authority figure was the RA (she was 20). The kids who grew up in affluent homes understood the power structure.