“College admissions favor the elites, diverse and perverse.”
Not really.
My son is a white male, never been to Africa, nor any other place farther than the nearest Catholic church, to assist any unfortunates. He started no charities, ran no foundations, cured no cancers.
He is a good student, got great grades and test scores in high school, engaged in a few school extracurriculars, and even had leadership positions in a couple.
Because of his grades, his test scores, his rather run-of-the-mill extracurriculars, his winning personality and his ability to articulate himself, both in writing and when interviewing, he made a credible applicant to top colleges and universities. As a result, he was rejected from a couple, but accepted to our state flagship university as well as four of six elite universities to which he applied. He's currently at Harvard.
He's not from an elite family. We're upper middle class, but nothing near wealthy. I'm a small business owner who does pretty well most years, but that's about it. He's not diverse (at least not ethnically or religiously). He's not perverse. He's more conservative than most of the folks here at FR.
Most of his classmates are a lot like him - great students from solid families. He knows some rich folks, but plenty more middle class folks.
Here's something interesting: Most of the students he knows come from intact families. Not a lot of divorce in the families of Ivy League students. Hmmm.... I wonder what the connection might be.
A lot of the students he knows are shallow liberals who are trending libertarian. A fair number of the students he knows are conservative, again, who are trending libertarian.
It's pretty well-known that he's conservative, since he's the publisher of the campus conservative periodical. Some of his faculty are fairly liberal, yet, knowing that he's a conservative, they nonetheless treat him fairly and with respect for his thoughts and ideas.
This young lady trades in a lot of silly stereotypes to get a laugh. Unfortunately, many folks think her comedy routine actually represents reality.
sitetest
As goes teh family so goes the country