"How I Learned to Take the SAT Like a Rich Kid"

[LucieTheLakie]

Widely emailed op-ed in the New York Times discusses something most CC families are well aware of:

The bottom line is that students like me — from middle- to low-income families, who live in less prosperous areas of the country — tend to stumble upon opportunities by luck (if at all). My summer-school friends knew to compete for generous merit awards. They understood they had to transform themselves into perfect applicants for a competitive college and employment market that draws students from all over the world. This past month, I watched many of these friends dazzle their social media followers with acceptance letters from Northwestern, Harvard, Williams and Duke, as well as six-figure Presidential Scholarships to various public universities. Their success was hard-earned and I am proud of them. I only wish that more lower- and middle-income peers knew how to pursue such aggressive strategies.

https://nyti.ms/2oQp3ui

Check out the final link that appears in the piece!

[ccforlife]

There are some programs out there trying to fill the gap. Questbridge College Prep Scholars is one that a co-worker’s daughter participated in a few years ago. https://www.questbridge.org/high-school-students/college-prep-scholars/who-should-apply
Another good option is a tuition-free summer program at Carnegie Mellon that incorporates SAT prep and career development as well as coursework aimed to increase diversity in STEM majors. Note: they take a holistic approach when defining diversity. https://admission.enrollment.cmu.edu/pages/diversity-sams