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What is it like to be poor at an Ivy League school? (2015)

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Re: What is it like to be poor at an Ivy League school? (2015)

#21

Post by ska »

yummyfajitas wrote: post #14
Alex_Butters wrote: post #10

Even being a poor grad student at an Ivy feels like this. The undergrads are wealthy and the grad students cherish every dollar of their ~$30k salary while still sometimes do side work to get by since city's have rents set for the higher income undergrads. There was some resentment we had for our students to say the least.

This article suggests that schools are taking an interesting step to avoid such resentment: White appreciates, for example, that Harvard gives low-income students free tickets to the freshman formal, but they have to pick up the tickets in a different line from everyone else. “It’s clear who is getting free/reduced tickets and who isn’t,” he says... This seems like it might be an effective strategy. Take the people w…

To a first approximation, everyone is there due to the contribution of others.

Of course students on financial aid, etc., should feel gratitude. Surely other students shouldn't be high on the list of recipients.

It does sound like an effective strategy - but for class reinforcement. It's a good way to generate resentment, not gratitude.

Re: What is it like to be poor at an Ivy League school? (2015)

#23

Post by unethical_ban »

yummyfajitas wrote: post #14
Alex_Butters wrote: post #10

Even being a poor grad student at an Ivy feels like this. The undergrads are wealthy and the grad students cherish every dollar of their ~$30k salary while still sometimes do side work to get by since city's have rents set for the higher income undergrads. There was some resentment we had for our students to say the least.

This article suggests that schools are taking an interesting step to avoid such resentment: White appreciates, for example, that Harvard gives low-income students free tickets to the freshman formal, but they have to pick up the tickets in a different line from everyone else. “It’s clear who is getting free/reduced tickets and who isn’t,” he says... This seems like it might be an effective strategy. Take the people w…

Guys, yummyfajitas is kidding. Of course he wouldn't consider a grad student stipend "living on the largess of others". Right? This is Poe's Law, right?

Re: What is it like to be poor at an Ivy League school? (2015)

#24

Post by DanBC »

everyone wrote: post #15

Would be nice, if there is ever some kind of paywall or login-wall, if poster would just paste the plaintext as the 1st comment.

There's a "web" link under the submission title. Click that, and then the first result should be what you want. Using an incognito window seems to be best.

Re: What is it like to be poor at an Ivy League school? (2015)

#26

Post by Cyph0n »

yummyfajitas wrote: post #14
Alex_Butters wrote: post #10

Even being a poor grad student at an Ivy feels like this. The undergrads are wealthy and the grad students cherish every dollar of their ~$30k salary while still sometimes do side work to get by since city's have rents set for the higher income undergrads. There was some resentment we had for our students to say the least.

This article suggests that schools are taking an interesting step to avoid such resentment: White appreciates, for example, that Harvard gives low-income students free tickets to the freshman formal, but they have to pick up the tickets in a different line from everyone else. “It’s clear who is getting free/reduced tickets and who isn’t,” he says... This seems like it might be an effective strategy. Take the people w…

The majority of poor students already know that they're getting a free ride; shoving it down their throats in public helps no one. Actually, it would likely lead to even more resentment which would probably even leak into the classroom environment. On the other hand, I would argue that the vast majority of rich students don't appreciate their position at all.

Re: What is it like to be poor at an Ivy League school? (2015)

#27

Post by ohyes »

unethical_ban wrote: post #23
yummyfajitas wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This article suggests that schools are taking an interesting step to avoid such resentment: White appreciates, for example, that Harvard gives low-income students free tickets to the freshman formal, but they have to pick up the tickets in a different line from everyone else. “It’s clear who is getting free/reduced tickets and who isn’t,” he says... This seems like it might be an effective strategy. Take the people w…

Guys, yummyfajitas is kidding. Of course he wouldn't consider a grad student stipend "living on the largess of others". Right? This is Poe's Law, right?

Having been reading HN for years, I can confirm that yummyfajitas is not kidding.

Although I think he was referring to financial aid rather than graduate stipends.

Re: What is it like to be poor at an Ivy League school? (2015)

#28

Post by mustacheemperor »

yummyfajitas wrote: post #14
Alex_Butters wrote: post #10

Even being a poor grad student at an Ivy feels like this. The undergrads are wealthy and the grad students cherish every dollar of their ~$30k salary while still sometimes do side work to get by since city's have rents set for the higher income undergrads. There was some resentment we had for our students to say the least.

This article suggests that schools are taking an interesting step to avoid such resentment: White appreciates, for example, that Harvard gives low-income students free tickets to the freshman formal, but they have to pick up the tickets in a different line from everyone else. “It’s clear who is getting free/reduced tickets and who isn’t,” he says... This seems like it might be an effective strategy. Take the people w…

Aren't students with wealthy families literally attending school thanks to the contributions of others? I say this as someone fortunate enough to have parents who saved their whole life to pay my tuition - I understand I am fortunate for that, I didn't literally earn that money in any way before attending school and performing well to justify it being spent, and I still can't argue that in any way is the same as literally working for that money. On the other hand I knew classmates who basically worked like slaves for four years at terrible, thankless jobs, struggling to pay rent in an area full of luxury housing targeted at the wealthy, just trying to pay their tuition after loans and aid. This at a school where Greek house membership fees run into the thousands, literally engineering a class divide in the student social life.

I'd say "constantly reminding" someone and their surrounding peers of the fact that they are of lower stature economically is a recipe to divide the student base and breed resentment. You would be less likely to feel resentment standing in a separate line from most of your peers, looking at a bunch of students with outfits worth more than a month's rent, singled out for getting "handouts" from your school? Don't grad students typically earn a stipend working a job anyway? I don't see that as any more "living on the largess of others" than going to school on your family's money.

Re: What is it like to be poor at an Ivy League school? (2015)

#30

Post by Callmenorm »

Should rich kids make an effort to help poor kids feel welcome, yes. However, the net feelings of everybody at Harvard should be excitement for the probably awesome future that they have after college and focus on getting the education that will make that more likely.
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