<p>epiphany - </p>
<p>Fair enough.</p>
<p>"The fact is that elite schools are still very wealthy places. There’s no way a low-income or low-middle-income student could fit in comfortably. This is the reason why I, and probably at least a few dozen or hundred other well-achieving low-income students, have a hard time considering the elite schools. "</p>
<p>It really does depend on the student, and the colleges look to accept low income students who not only have the stats indicating that they’ll thrive academically, but also have the personalities indicating they’ll thrive socially.</p>
<p>For instance, my boyfriend at Harvard lived with his single mom and 3 siblings in a walk up apartment over a store in the Baltimore ghetto. He took Greyhound and a couple of suitcases to get to Harvard, and one of his work study jobs was washing dishes in the dining hall. </p>
<p>He loved being at Harvard, and carried himself with such assurance that most people thought he came from money. He would make appointments with famous professors just to talk to them. He ended up getting his doctorate from there, too. I never saw any indication that he felt out of place.</p>
<p>^beautiful story, NSM. (And completely believable.) I have known people like this. Congratulations to him.
:)</p>