The Prestige Racket
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The Prestige Racket
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Re: The Prestige Racket
#2This is interesting:
GW students’ average SAT scores increased by 200 points
So, this strategy really did improve the quality of the school, it wasn't merely perception.
Re: The Prestige Racket
#3This is interesting: GW students’ average SAT scores increased by 200 points So, this strategy really did improve the quality of the school, it wasn't merely perception.
perhaps more affluent students have more time and money to spend on SAT prep material and classes, and thus have higher averages?
(On the flip side, and to agree with you, I think the strength of a school is really tied to the strength of the students, since it's one's peers that make a great educational experience, IMHO. Any strategy that gets a school to climb the rankings will likely get the school more ambitious applicants.)
Re: The Prestige Racket
#4This is interesting: GW students’ average SAT scores increased by 200 points So, this strategy really did improve the quality of the school, it wasn't merely perception.
perhaps more affluent students have more time and money to spend on SAT prep material and classes, and thus have higher averages? (On the flip side, and to agree with you, I think the strength of a school is really tied to the strength of the students, since it's one's peers that make a great educational experience, IMHO. Any strategy that gets a school to climb the rankings will likely get the school more ambitious…
Or, perhaps more affluent students are smarter, more conscientious and better prepared for academic work on average, and thus have higher average test scores?
I don't know why everyone assumes that children of the affluent get high SAT scores due solely to test prep. If that were the case, you would expect them to underperform once they reach college, which doesn't occur as far as I know.
Incidentally, at least according to one independent study (as opposed to a study by Kaplan), test prep doesn't help much (30 points on the old 1600 point SAT).
Re: The Prestige Racket
#5“Some 40 percent of students pay list price,” Trachtenberg says. “These are people from wealthy families; I have no compunction about charging them list price. They can afford it.” But the school’s financial aid numbers make it clear that the picture is a little more complicated.
It doesn't outright say so, but it seems that Trachtenberg is relying on the canard that students attending on loans are not actually paying full price, which is absurd.
I actually had a college send me an embossed certificate in the mail awarding me a "Faculty of Arts and Sciences Scholarship." It was a low-interest loan. I felt like they were making fun of me. It was humiliating. I really wanted to go to that school, and it was like getting an embossed "Fuck you" in the mail.
Re: The Prestige Racket
#6“Some 40 percent of students pay list price,” Trachtenberg says. “These are people from wealthy families; I have no compunction about charging them list price. They can afford it.” But the school’s financial aid numbers make it clear that the picture is a little more complicated. It doesn't outright say so, but it seems that Trachtenberg is relying on the canard that students attending on loans are not actually payin…
Isn't a loan at below-market rates equivalent to free money?
Re: The Prestige Racket
#7“Some 40 percent of students pay list price,” Trachtenberg says. “These are people from wealthy families; I have no compunction about charging them list price. They can afford it.” But the school’s financial aid numbers make it clear that the picture is a little more complicated. It doesn't outright say so, but it seems that Trachtenberg is relying on the canard that students attending on loans are not actually payin…
Isn't a loan at below-market rates equivalent to free money?
Oh, yay, I would have got a few percent off the list price that I was 70% away from affording.
They could have given me that money up-front, right? Only that would have been too honest. The fact that they called a loan a "scholarship" is all you need to know about how much respect they had for kids' understanding. They rely on kids not knowing what it's like to pay off loans. Or on kids wanting to cash in on their degree after college, which I had no desire to do.
Re: The Prestige Racket
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
Isn't a loan at below-market rates equivalent to free money?
Oh, yay, I would have got a few percent off the list price that I was 70% away from affording. They could have given me that money up-front, right? Only that would have been too honest. The fact that they called a loan a "scholarship" is all you need to know about how much respect they had for kids' understanding. They rely on kids not knowing what it's like to pay off loans. Or on kids wanting to cash in on their de…
I don't get it. Unless the total cost of college was more than you're planning to make over your entire career (which I doubt) then how are you 70% away from affording it?
Re: The Prestige Racket
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
Oh, yay, I would have got a few percent off the list price that I was 70% away from affording. They could have given me that money up-front, right? Only that would have been too honest. The fact that they called a loan a "scholarship" is all you need to know about how much respect they had for kids' understanding. They rely on kids not knowing what it's like to pay off loans. Or on kids wanting to cash in on their de…
I don't get it. Unless the total cost of college was more than you're planning to make over your entire career (which I doubt) then how are you 70% away from affording it?
Being able to pay for something eventually is not a reasonable way to decide what you can afford. Try a mortgage calculator and see how much you can "afford" by that definition. It's insane. Nobody should dedicate half their life to paying off college unless the whole purpose of college for them is to land a high-paying job afterwards. $120k (fifteen years ago) might be a reasonable fee for meeting a bunch of rich people and getting insane management or banking job offers afterwards, but I wasn't interested in that.
Re: The Prestige Racket
#10This is interesting: GW students’ average SAT scores increased by 200 points So, this strategy really did improve the quality of the school, it wasn't merely perception.
Yes, I really doubt it's possible to increase a school's prestige without also increasing its quality. More prestigious schools inevitably attract a better quality of student and a better quality of professor.
All schools are constantly jockeying for prestige and the quality comes with it. Calling it a "racket" hardly seems fair.