WSJ Reporter Says Ivy League Schools Reward Donors with Admission for their Kids
Just got an interesting subscriber e-mail from the
Wall Street Journal "proudly" announcing release of a new book by one of their Pulitzer-prize winning reporters, Daniel Golden. Sure to kick up cocktail conversation among
THE PRICE OF ADMISSION: How America's Ruling Class Buys Its Way into Elite Colleges -- and Who Gets Left Outside the Gates (Crown Publishers, $25.95) "...reveals the corrupt admissions practices that favor the rich, the powerful and the famous. According to the
WSJ's e-mail:
* At least half the children of 425 big Harvard donors that applied to the school were accepted, based on Mr. Golden's study of those donors. By contrast, Harvard only admits 10 percent of applicants overall.
* Princeton admitted Sen. Bill Frist's son even though it gave him the lowest ranking on its academic scale. Sen. Frist is an alumnus, an ex-trustee and prominent politician -- and his family donated $25 million to the school.
* Brown University sought to expand its Hollywood connections by admitting the son of powerbroker Michael Ovitz, a mediocre student who'd been suspended in middle school for swinging a baseball bat at a female classmate. Even though Chris Ovitz dropped out in less than a year, Brown still reaped the benefits: It snagged Ovitz pals and A-list celebrities Martin Scorsese and Dustin Hoffman at university events.
Publisher's Weekly says:
A heavy-hitting, name-naming expos by Wall Street Journal deputy bureau chief Golden concludes that Ivy League admissions offices do not practice meritocracy. Instead, top-drawer schools reward donor-happy alums and the legacy establishment, which Golden defines as elites mastering the art of perpetuating themselves. Moreover, the preference of privilege" enables wealthy candidates to nose out more deserving working- and middle-class students, especially new immigrants and Asian-Americans.
Buy it here from Amazon.
Susan Herr
Just got an interesting subscriber e-mail from the Wall Street Journal "proudly" announcing release of a new book by one of their Pulitzer-prize winning reporters, Daniel Golden. Sure to kick up cocktail conversation among THE PRICE OF ADMISSION: How America's Ruling Class Buys Its Way into Elite Colleges -- and Who Gets Left Outside the Gates (Crown Publishers, $25.95) "...reveals the corrupt admissions practices that favor the rich, the powerful and the famous. According to the WSJ's e-mail:
* At least half the children of 425 big Harvard donors that applied to the school were accepted, based on Mr. Golden's study of those donors. By contrast, Harvard only admits 10 percent of applicants overall.
* Princeton admitted Sen. Bill Frist's son even though it gave him the lowest ranking on its academic scale. Sen. Frist is an alumnus, an ex-trustee and prominent politician -- and his family donated $25 million to the school.
* Brown University sought to expand its Hollywood connections by admitting the son of powerbroker Michael Ovitz, a mediocre student who'd been suspended in middle school for swinging a baseball bat at a female classmate. Even though Chris Ovitz dropped out in less than a year, Brown still reaped the benefits: It snagged Ovitz pals and A-list celebrities Martin Scorsese and Dustin Hoffman at university events.
Publisher's Weekly says:
A heavy-hitting, name-naming expos by Wall Street Journal deputy bureau chief Golden concludes that Ivy League admissions offices do not practice meritocracy. Instead, top-drawer schools reward donor-happy alums and the legacy establishment, which Golden defines as elites mastering the art of perpetuating themselves. Moreover, the preference of privilege" enables wealthy candidates to nose out more deserving working- and middle-class students, especially new immigrants and Asian-Americans.
Buy it here from Amazon.
Posted at 12:09 PM, Sep 05, 2006 in High Net Worth Donors | Permalink | Comment