Worrisome Admissions Stats When Compared to What a Lot of the Rest Get

Best, Brightest and Rejected: Elite Colleges Turn Away Up to 95% – NYTimes.com.

“This is interesting news and good coverage.  Here is my comment:

These statistics are worrying for all of us, socially, economically and politically. 

I can only speak from my experiences teaching at a regional college, and then teaching at an “elite” school.  But given those years of observations, my concern is, “what happens to those, outstanding, hardworking students who don’t get in?”  Here is why I am worried.

I have seen “elite” schools use government grants (like “national need” grants) to graduate unqualified doctoral students, who then go on to teach at many of the schools that the “other 90%” have to attend.  I have seen these PhD’s teach.  Many teach at an unbelievably simple level.  This is for two reasons.  First, they aren’t very capable and are reluctant to address deep issues.  Second, life is much easier for a professor who keeps students happy.  Of course, many of their students don’t do well, as either teachers or, more generally, “college graduates”.

I believe that this is a part of the inequality gap – economically, socially and politically (without everyone getting a decent education, we are in trouble). The “elite” become more elite in every way and the rest get the shuckings.”