Wake up ... college pay to play

[Miigwech]

For most of older folks we have always know that elite colleges had a set aside percentage for the legacy, the famous and the rich folks. Not fair you say? Well just an example of how the 1% keep their 1%. We knew it then. Now it is blowing up in their faces and we all act like the rot is new. No it is not new, just newly exposed. Back in the day it was nearly impossible to get into an Ivy if you were a catholic, from middle class or less, or person of color. .. Forget being a woman.

[leftieNanner]

1. You are so right!

I am such a stupid parent. I encouraged my two daughters to work hard, find something that really excited them (chemistry for one, applied math for the other), and then search for a college that was the right fit. Not Ivies for either of them, but they continue to work incredibly hard and they will be successful in life.

The thing that's actually kind of sad about these 1% offspring who don't work for what they have, they won't really accomplish much in life and will always have their inheritance to fall back on. Doesn't sound like fun to me!

[IphengeniaBlumgarten]

2. Yes, to some of your points...

Legacy admissions, yes. Scions of famous families, yes. But back in my day. 1957 to be exact, academic records, test scores, extracurricular activities, geographical distribution were important criteria. I was middle class and went to an Ivy with scholarship, and there were many people like me who did, as well, and plenty of Catholics among them. While I heard rumors of quotas on Jewish admissions, I had plenty of Jewish classmates, too. So you are too cynical, at least for my time period.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

5. White skin helped, too.

[FakeNoose]

3. The problem is supply and demand

I'm in no way arguing in favor of the wealthy people buying spots for their children in the elite schools. Far from it, my belief is that no kid deserves acceptance without great high school grades, great SATs and financial responsibility of some kind (meaning parents' ability to pay, work/study, or grants/scholarships/loans.)

But the fact is that America has a finite number of elite schools, and there are a finite number of spots in those schools. Each year there are more wealthy people who can afford to buy in, and there are more alumni who expect to get their kids in even though they don't have top grades. That leaves fewer and fewer seats for the academically worthy students every year. It's a seller's market and it always will be.

Even the one-per-centers have to bribe their way in now, as we've seen with this athletic recruiting scam. It used to be that a nice donation (like Jared Kushner's dad made) was all it took.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

4. It's not blowing up in their faces.

It's blowing up in the faces of the rich who avoided the usual pay-to-play: buy a "chair", build a new wing, donate land, set up a scholarship foundation.

These celebrities tried the cheap route, a few hundred grand to a broker and a coach. Unacceptable.