4mo ago

The affirmative action of generational wealth

Context:

How wealth and legacy status impact admissions

Michelle Obama's speech at the 2024 Democratic National Convention

Kamala has shown her allegiance to this nation. Not by spewing anger and bitterness, but by living a life of service, and always pushing the doors of opportunity open to others.
She understands that most of us will never be afforded the grace of failing forward. We will never benefit from the affirmative action of generational wealth.

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It has a name... "Nepotism".
- That's usually "I hire my relatives" not "I admit the kids of rich people" — the admissions officers are not generally relatives of the rich.
  
  https://www.ninertimes.com/opinion/opinion-legacy-students-threaten-to-limit-other-students-academic-success/article_47421d3a-b6dd-11ed-b2ba-0f3a33fd7ae5.html
  "Academic admissions preference policies have been in the public eye for the last few years. It is known that being a legacy student, meaning that the applicant's family has strong family ties to the university, gives a significant advantage when it comes to applying to highly selective institutions. It has been in practice by top institutions since the 1920s.
  Looking at the numbers, calling it a "big advantage" hardly seems to do it quantifiable justice. For example, Harvard has an acceptance rate of under 6%. However, if it were a legacy student applying, their odds of admissions jump to 33%."
  
  And that's why the top-level post was looking exclusively at admission rates for non-legacies, who also get a huge advantage from having rich parents
  
  Rich folk are also good at gaming all the other criteria (varsity sports, extracurricular achievements). "opportunity hoarding" I think is the term that's been used, or resume padding. It's also about being able to pay full tuition.
- “Bribery”?

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