<p>102190: It’s too bad you have so little experience with how Yale and others scour non-traditional sources (urban, rural, international, Questbridge) for top applicants. Your generalizations are rather broad and blunt. Certainly income level is directly correlated with academic performance. No one questions that. But you seem to be fixated on some notion that Yale et al. are satisfied with that outcome. That’s simply not been my experience in almost 3 decades of personal interaction w/Yale.</p>
<p>SAT/ACT prep? I never worried one lick. Took them each in one sitting. Frankly, I never even sweated college applications. I was just doing my thing. And such is the case with kids I interview today who are the top candidates for admission. Unless you’ve seen these kids who seem to float in the clouds, you won’t understand. They’re the types who don’t even need a school like Yale. Their trajectories in life are pretty evident regardless of the college they will attend. I’ve met some of these kids. They’re amazing. And not due to their family income level per se. Couple of years ago, we lost an applicant to Pomona ED – single mom household, moderate income household. The dude was phenomenal – my area admissions officer was very disappointed we never got a chance to offer him admission. About 6 yrs ago, 2 people from my nearby urban school district – cloud floaters. No doubt. Low income households.</p>
<p>Are Ivy grads geniuses overall? Again, your blunt wording. Certainly they exist. But mostly, we’re fortunate. As for unique, numerically we are-- no doubt. So are alums of William and Mary or Harvey Mudd. What’s the point? </p>
<p>@poster 3, again, it’s unfortunate that your experience has been such. From a kid who attended an inner city HS, whose parents were restaurant workers, I found Yale to be incredibly welcoming. Were there snobs? I’m sure they existed but certainly not a “good deal”. Again, too bad for you.</p>