The Power of Privilege: Yale and Americas Elite Colleges

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The Power of Privilege: Yale and America's Elite Colleges - Lionel S. Lewis,

It is a documented history of the institutional gatekeepers, confident of the validity of socially biased measures of merit, seeking to select tomorrow's leadership class from among their economically privileged clientele. Acceptance in prestigious colleges still remains beyond the reach of most students except those from high-income professional families.

Ultimately, the author suggests reforms that would move America's top schools toward becoming genuine academic meritocracies. Paperback , pages. Published March 28th by Stanford University Press first published To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

To ask other readers questions about The Power of Privilege , please sign up. Be the first to ask a question about The Power of Privilege. Lists with This Book.

The History of Discrimination in Admissions at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton Part 1

Jan 31, Hong Deng rated it it was amazing Shelves: This book is written by an exceptional critic, Joseph Soares, who expertly examines the correlation between one's social status and the chance of getting into the tope colleges in the United States. The book provides many insighful ideas that introduce readers into the mist of admissions to prestigious colleges. It focuses on the admission history of Yale, one of the most selevtive and well-known colleges in the country.

The Power of Privilege: Yale and America's Elite Colleges

In addition to different voices from many prominent scholars and critics, J This book is written by an exceptional critic, Joseph Soares, who expertly examines the correlation between one's social status and the chance of getting into the tope colleges in the United States. In addition to different voices from many prominent scholars and critics, Joseph Soares also offered his advice on how to improve the admission process into a purely meritocracy based selection.

Feb 17, Kathy Godwin rated it liked it Shelves: Interesting book with a lot of information about Yale admissions. Good for higher ed students to consider, but the book is difficult to read at times. While the information on California and the use of SAT is helpful, the flow of the book seems almost interrupted by the insertion.

I'd recommend it to other higher ed students, but please realize that the reader may be trying to determine which timeline, president, or policy is in effect at any moment in the book. Nov 12, Jake rated it liked it.

Soares takes a subject with great potential, but delivers a dry, monotonous book. The history of admissions at Yale could be fascinating, but his tone and ubiquitous charts and numbers combine to create an uninspired text. It is by no means a bad book, but disappointing nonetheless. Mar 16, Stoneelizabeth rated it it was amazing. Great book about discrimination against Jews in the past century of higher education Yale especially.

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Andrea rated it it was ok Jun 19, Zoey rated it it was amazing Mar 08, Melinda rated it really liked it Mar 31, Wei-ling rated it really liked it Aug 01, Brittany rated it it was amazing May 29, Francis Baraan IV rated it it was amazing Apr 01, Geoffrey Kabaservice rated it it was ok Dec 08, Colin Burke rated it liked it Nov 19, Terri rated it liked it Jun 06, This well-written and often fascinating book exhorts readers to look vigilantly behind the rhetoric of meritocracy and to pay closer attention to the real effects of admissions policies.

Soares's history of Yale admissions is tragically amusing. He chronicles an embarrassing past that includes Yale's enthusiasm for the early SAT as a tool of eugenics and the college's participation, until , in the Ivy League practice of taking nude pictures of freshmen men to study the relationship between body type and ability. He provides an interesting social history of admissions at one institution and a window into a world that, if Soares is correct, most readers likely were never intended or permitted to set foot. He also offers provocative suggestions for reform.


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His first book, also from Stanford, was The Decline of Privilege: The Modernization of Oxford University , which traced the way Oxford evolved from its Brideshead Revisited image to an institution that had meritocratic values. In an interview, Soares said he wanted to do an American companion and started off assuming he would find the same sort of evolution in the United States. But with a focus at Yale, that's not what he found. Given that Yale has described itself repeatedly as having gone through such an evolution, this was surprising to Soares, and he argues that the differences between myth and reality point to important steps for a number of colleges to consider today.

Additional Information

Distinguishing between factors that influence who applies to elite schools and those that increase the odds of admission, Soares draws nuanced inferences about class reproduction. This is must reading for anyone interested in understanding admission policies and practices in elite universities.

This book is masterful. Joseph Soares has established himself as one of the most promising social critics. This is a story not just of SAT scores, but also of admissions processes that favor legacies, athletes, and nebulous qualities of leadership and character in which the interests of the wealthy and professional classes in securing advantages for their children indeed are well served!