<p>I also think you’re all assuming that people know about these opportunities and are exposed to good literature (as you suggested people should read to up their CR score, Northstarmom). The problem is, in many working class families, parents don’t have time/knowledge to read to their kids and introduce them to Dickens or Austen or other great writers, and to encourage them to read themselves. And, as I said, public schools certainly don’t introduce us to those writers.</p>
<p>Many low-income students don’t know about scholarships to boarding schools because their public schools don’t have the time, resources, or knowledge to inform them. Lots of students that are extremely bright grow up in environments that tell them they can’t go to college or where they can’t spend time on academics because they have to help their families (one of my best friends, who’s Hmong, has to spend all of her weekends and from 3:30 until 10:00 watching her six younger siblings while their parents are at work).</p>