Thoughts:
I and my wife are both Jewish Ivy grads, different schools.
Whereas these schools now offer tremendous scholarships and (as we watch our friends’ kids admissions) seem to almost freely admit kids of certain races, (skin colors,) we are assuredly not on that preferential list.
Charitable, involved, and with kids who eclipse us in terms of academic and even athletic performance (and we were good,) we are nevertheless middle-class.
When these big schools are finished with admitting the rich legacies (I went to college with a halfwit who was a SEVENTH GENERATION legacy,) and after they have fulfilled their (often openly stated) will to have incoming classes to be, (in one case,) “50% minority,” we see there really isn’t much room for us.
And the opportunity, after all, is this: to get into massive debt and/or liquidate some or all major assets in order to send your kid to a four-year program largely focused on leftist social indoctrination.
In fine, we hope that certain institutions stay merit-focused. I, for one, hope my physical science-focused kids go MIT, Navy, or USCG... But there are so many great schools.
I will always love my school, though. We’ll see. The important thing, as my pal Herb Cohen famously said, is to “care, but not THAT much.”
The Lord makes ‘em and blesses ‘em. We just do the best we can while we’re on this beautiful Earth.
“after they have fulfilled their (often openly stated) will to have incoming classes to be, (in one case,) “50% minority,” we see there really isn’t much room for us.”
And don’t forget athletic admissions (20% of class at Harvard).
Once all the groups (legacy, racial, donors, athletic, first gen, international, etc..) have been admitted, there aren’t many space left for just a plain normal smart good kid.