<p>Mustafah, youre correct about the numbers but I believe youre misinterpreting them. </p>
<p>Its true that the average household income in the U.S. is about $50,000.00. At Princeton, as at all of the Ivies, the majority of students will be from families with household incomes between $50,000.00 and $75,000.00 per year, so, yes, they come from households with above average income. Still, keep in mind that the average household income of all U.S. college-bound students is always above the average for the nation. The reason for this is both sad and obvious. Those families with incomes below the average tend to live in areas where the public school systems are generally weaker and where a much smaller percentage of high school graduates go to college. The average household income of those with bachelors degrees in the U.S. is a little under $70,000.00 and a high percentage of applicants to all colleges come from those families.</p>
<p>So, while a household income in the $70,000.00 range certainly does put these households in a category that is above the average (in fact, its about the 70th percentile) its not what I understood you to mean by rich which I would reserve for describing those in the top five or ten percent of the income distribution. I think we are simply disagreeing on the definition of rich. Also, keep in mind that a large percentage of the minority applicants at these schools are also from these income ranges. It isnt just the white students.</p>
<p>Finally, I think the comments about wealthy white students feeling socially uncomfortable may have been written to be intentionally ironic.</p>