Yale Reflections on Class in New Haven
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As a freshman in a Massachusetts public school, I've met people who come from every walk of life. I have a friend whose grandparents are paying his way through college, another friend who saved money to pay for college, and still others whose parents are able to fully support them during their college years, tuition and all. Personally, I've taken out student loans to finance my studies at Framingham State. I'm friends with all of these kids, and have never had any problems dealing with different classes. This is a public school, however, and so I have only experience in this one institution. From what I've seen, colleges are conduits for upward mobility, a chance to improve one's station in life and command more earning power than those who did not attend college out of high school.
I personally feel that yes, Ivy League schools may guide their students, based on history and tradition, into a certain viewpoint of the rest of society, establishing classes, but on the whole, even these schools are accessible to a person without the deep family money and heritage once required to attend. If a poor kid from some ghetto has the ability, his grades may secure him a healthy scholarship to some big name school where he'll mix in with the wealthy, afforded the same opportunities as they are. At the same time, the rich may have a certain feeling of elitism, but that is steadily fading as history progresses and those born into a lower station in life are more and more able to improve that with a successful college education and hard work.
Glennon, on the other hand, goes into detail of the socializing of classes of Yale, but it's important to notice that this piece was based on her early life in New Haven during the 50's and 60's...