<p>Foolishpleasure I agree with you about the top LACs. I don't think I expressed my point accurately before. Let's image 100 AA students. 5 have top 3% (overall--not by race) board scores/grades. 15 have top 10% boards/grades. That leaves 80 with less than the profile of Ivy/top LAC. All twenty of the top AA students are pretty assured of getting into Ivy/top LAC. I don't think that the same can be said of white/asiain (am I right about that)? Some of those white/Asian will drop down to great schools that just aren't Ivy/top LAC. Now the remaining 80 AA are left to populate a whole lotta schools and the numbers tend to get very thin.</p>
<p>Yes, I guess I am saying that. The only barrier I could conceive would be money. Now that the Ivies/top LAC have made financial aid so attractive I guess I don't see a scenario where a student would turn it down (again, assuming financial need is met).</p>
<p>True confession: major Ivy/top LAC bias going on here........</p>
<p>I hear ya Triguena, but . . . even with financial/merit aid, there's still going to be a substantial cost. </p>
<p>I've been waffling on that point. Let's say you get into an Ivy/LAC, but it exhausts the bank account. The only possible point of the sacrifice would be "contacts", right? Because let's face it, isn't a "good" liberal arts ed available at lots of top tier publics?</p>
<p>Well, My D seems like she couldn't care less about Ivies. We visited Duke though, and she did apply. Recently she was kind enough to describe her top 3 choices and didn't mention Duke (hope there's no Duke rep here). Dad asked "So where's Duke?" and she say's "... it's in North Carolina...."</p>
<p>SuperMom, to answer your question I think education is broader than the classroom. Yes, contacts are a big part of it but not the sole reason that I am advocating an Ivy/top LAC education (which for the remainder of the post I will shorhand to "ivy"). First of all the wealth of the institution allows students to blossom in unimaginable ways. Just go onto the Harvard website and look at student research opportunities for the summer. Amazing. </p>
<p>Furthermore there is the intangible entry into the innerworkings of a whole 'nuther world that is yours for the asking. Could you get a Rhodes coming from top tier public? ABSOLUTELY! But will they start grooming you for your Rhodes application in your sophomore year like at the Ivies?</p>
<p>Can you get an internship at Goldman Sachs if you don't go to an Ivy? Absolutely. Will Goldman (and all of the other investment banks) come to interview in droves like they do at the Ivies?</p>
<p>Check out the increase in African American applicants to UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara. I wonder if it had anything to do with "The Black Book" UC Barbara sent out...</p>
<p>Frankly, on the the point of <em>contacts,</em> I'm not so sure the top HBCUs and/or local universities don't win out. It really depends on the field.</p>
<p>Guns, Germs and Steel lays a foundation for understanding human history, which makes it fascinating in its own right. Because it brilliantly describes how chance advantages can lead to early success in a highly competitive environment, it also offers useful lessons for the business world and for people interested in why technologies succeed."Bill Gates</p>
<p>My cousin is black and got accepted early acceptance to cornell! his dad's a heart surgeon so he is definantly upper middle class. I'm a jounior in high school so i haven't gotten accepted anywhere yet, but i'm hoping i go to Amherst. I already went through an application process similar to the one for college in order to get into my high school!so i'm hoping it'll be easier this time around!</p>