The Ivy Yield is Never High Enough

After recently reading my American Studies classmate, Luke Iida's, blog post,"Our Educated (And Privileged) Government," I was prompted to think further on the subject of social capital, or social connections, and its role in the American class system. Like Luke, I want so badly to believe in the classic "American Dream" in which anyone can achieve their dreams if they work hard and have a little bit of luck. Although I do think the American Dream is true to an extent, I think social connections are also a major part of becoming "successful."

One way social capital and socioeconomic status play a role in our society is in college admissions. As Luke mentioned in his blog post, expensive East Coast private schools often end up sending outrageously high numbers of students to selective schools. In fact, this subject recently came up in a conversation with my mom. My mom told me that she just got off the phone with my uncle (her brother) and that he is outraged. She said that he cannot believe that no one from my cousin's school is going to Harvard or MIT this year. To put this into context, my cousin goes to Gilman School in Baltimore, Maryland, a $27,360 per year private preparatory school for boys (Gilman website). Like many elite private schools on the east coast, Gilman justifies its ridiculous price with its "superior quality" education, but, most importantly, its high enrollment rate at highly selective universities, or what some call "the ivy yield."

Gilman School Logo
Looks similar to Ivy League schools' doesn't it?

Personally, I was pretty shocked that my uncle would be upset that there are no seniors from Gilman going to Harvard or MIT this year, considering the fact that a number of students are going to Johns Hopkins, Princeton, and Dartmouth, as well as several other extremely selective colleges. Do not get me wrong, I know my uncle only wants the best for his children and that is why he and my aunt decided to send their children to private schools. However, I still find it a bit disturbing that many prep schools are basically selling well-off parents the opportunity to increase their child's odds of going to a selective university. I believe that anyone, regardless of the high school they attend, should have the same opportunities to go to any college they want, however, that does not seem to be the case with 1 out of every 20 freshmen at Harvard going to 1 of just 7 high schools: "Boston Latin, Phillips Academy in New Hampshire, Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, Stuyvesant High School in New York, Noble and Greenough School in Masssachusetts, Trinity School in New York, and Lexington High School in Massachusetts" (Sun-Times).

Although I do think that there is a clear connection between selective college admission rates and attendance at certain preparatory schools such as Gilman, I also think colleges are often looking for the best students for their school, not necessarily the ones who went to East Coast prep schools. In an article in the Brown Daily Herald, Jim Miller, the dean of admission at Brown, states that relationships between Brown and high schools do not affect acceptance rates. Miller simply attributes the high rate of acceptance from elite preparatory schools to the schools' "ability to attract a diverse and talented group of students with their high college admission rates." Schools like my cousin's do have a high level of academic and athletic talent, however, I still question Miller's statement. To me, when Miller says that preparatory schools have a "diverse and talented group of students," he really means "a rich and well-connected group of students."

So, what do you think, is there a connection between social capital (such as prep schools) and success (be it financial or otherwise)? If so, what examples of this can you think of?