If you are a good athlete, you can get into Harvard with a B average. The same applies if they need a violinist or trombone player for their orchestra. But you are not getting in with a C average. The ones who do get in because of special skills do not generally like the experience, they feel out of place with the rest of the student body. I know all about this because I was in this business. And yes, the schools are on the take if Daddy makes a big donation.
Money has always talked from the beginning of civilization.
But here is the thing. There were minority quotas for each school to meet. If these quotas were met, school funding from the Federal government increased. The Ivy league schools did not like it, but they needed the money so they played ball. Now they can accept almost all students based on merit and not on minority status.
Minority status for college admissions and most scholarships are not based on ethnicity, but on income. Jewish or Asian is not considered a minority in the college admissions process because of income. A Hispanic is not considered a minority if the family is wealthy or upper middle income. Minority is calculated according to income in the college admissions process.
This all had its root in Ronald Reagan. Prior to Reagan, there were numerous Federal scholarship programs based on merit, achievement. Reagan cut out most of those merit based scholarships and turned them into financial assistance. His reason for doing so was very simple: Reagan wanted to give children of poor families a chance to make it so he offered free college tuition to the poor and lower middle income. If you did not take advantage of the opportunity, Reagan washed his hands off from you, provided you were not disabled.
So, yes, it is ultimately an attack on poor to lower middle on behalf of those who are most qualified. Keep in mind that percentage of those receiving full financial aid scholarships and graduating college is very low, a little less than 10% so the program is largely a waste. Even community college graduation rates are very low.
In terms of running for office, especially President or Senator, you need money, lots of it, or some sort of backing if you are short on the $$$. Most candidates are bankrolled by the party and/or private political entities. So, you usually need to be a high profile individual. The House is a little different since the races are very local in scope.
There is a very serious problem with illegals and terrorists in this country. Trump is the guy to fix that. Sometimes it takes a criminal nature to understand and put an end to the illegal, criminal activity. |
