The fact that there even is a "Harvard number" suggests that getting into Harvard isn't so much about your academic abilities and whether you were in the jazz band as an extracurricular activity, but is instead more about who your parents are, and who you know.
Sorry, but schools like Harvard, the rest of the Ivy League, and a few others are, as Thiel hints at, more about the perpetuation of America's ruling than they are about providing a "quality education." Most schools can give you as good of an education - from a mere technical and information standpoint - as Harvard does. What most schools CAN'T do, however, is open the door to an elite law firm or trading house for you, based merely on the name on the piece of paper.
I'm sorry, I know there are some people who think this is all jim dandy, but seeing how the Harvard/Ivy League set has monumentally halped to screw up the country over the past two decades makes me think that it's time to end the game. We really don't need these people as an aristocracy, and it's time we start reforming our education system - from the ground up AND the mindset behind it - so that true meritocracy gets a chance.
Which means Thiel's argument is rubbish. You invest in Harvard to get access--and you get it. Where's the problem? As for having to grease palms to get in, welcome to the world. What? You mean sometimes getting ahead comes down to who you know? Next thing you'll tell me there's no Easter bunny.
The flaw in your argument (and Mr. Thiel’s) is the idea that most folks pay sticker price to go to an Ivy.
As I've written in two other posts, that just isn't the case.
Even households with income of well over $100K regularly receive substantial financial aid from the Ivies.
As for the “Harvard Number,” if YOU will google it, you'll find that most folks say that this is applied to a small percentage of incoming freshmen. At one site, I read that perhaps 100 freshmen out of 1800 are from families that make such donations.
The rest of the kids are getting in through the regular application/admission process.
And as I said, unless your family is fairly well-off, they aren't paying $50+K per year for you to go there.
We're looking at schools right now for my son, and it's a bit of a dilemma. If he gets into the Ivies in which he has some interest (and he stands a reasonable chance), they will likely be the cheapest schools to which to send him.
It will likely be cheaper to send him to Harvard or Princeton than to Hopkins or Notre Dame. In fact, the only school on his list that would likely be cheaper would be the University of Maryland, College Park.
Going to an Ivy DOES open doors; it is an excellent credential to get one’s foot in the door, especially in more high-powered jobs in larger or more elite organizations. Obviously, after that, you have to show you can do the work to progress.
And going to an Ivy is, for most folks, cheaper than going to most other private, or out-of-state public universities.
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