Elite Colleges

            Recently, there was a debate on elite colleges and whether or not they help you to be better in life(at the website Room For Debate). Some of these debate responses were convincing and pursuasive, others weren't so good at telling me otherwise. One of these really convincing debate posts was titled "What You Do v.s. Where You Go" by Martha O'Connell. She really had an interesting post on elite colleges and she put in things that I didn't even know. One of them was that some celebrities were dropouts but ended up being rich and famous and have the most brilliant minds. These people include Steven Steilberg and Bill Gates. Both of them are very rich and famous, and they were dropouts. Most people would think that they went to some college that would be really selective and elite and expensive. Usually when I think of those kinds of colleges, I think of big chances of getting accepted into jobs that will make you rich and famous in whatever job you pursue. Another thing that Martha said that was surprising to me was,

"Researchers found that students who applied to several elite schools but didn't attend them -- either because of rejection or by their own choice -- are more likely to earn high incomes later than students who actually attended elite schools."

          This qoute in Martha's speech surprised me. I can see why this would happen though. If you want to just go to a good college like Harvard or something, then you think, "Oh, I graduated from Harvard, so I'm smart and can get any job I want". There's that versus someone who really knows their stuff and went to a community college. The second person would probably get more money and a way better job, and easier raises.
            The debator with the least pursuasive argument was Anthony P. Carnivale's Access to Money and Power. Sure, it had a few strong points in it, but the one thing that I caught was that he said,

"The elite colleges are increasingly white and affluent. The least selective four-year colleges and community colleges are increasingly home to disproportionate concentrations of low-income students as well as African-American and Hispanic youth."

             What Carnevale said was like a loophole in a contract. It was that one sentence that means either a lot of elite colleges are racist, or if they know these kids are wealthy, then they might demand money right at that time and no loans. But either way, that slims the chances of someone who really has potential for something, like a latino Bill Gates or a black Steven Steilberg. Because it is what you do, and not where you go.