Meritocracy is a myth invented by the rich

Meritocracy is a myth invented by the rich

In the wake of scandal concerning inequalities of admission to US college, the author deems that the main factors are: both the privilege due to the student’s educational background and thus the advantages granted to the latter according to the social status of the parents.

Access to the college in the US is not within everyone’s reach and disparities are plentiful among students who target the most prestigious schools. First of all, it is well known that the social background of a student is incidentally a criterion of choice for the school. There is not denying that universities will prefer students coming from private school whereas students from public school. Private school with a better level of education are widely and undeniably favoured.  These privileged students are better prepared for university, and will therefore be helped to integrate the most prestigious universities.

Furthermore, the social environment is linked with the parents’ situation. Well-off families can pay in order to get their children into good schools. There is no doubt that it creates inequalities between the rich and the poor because only the wealthiest can afford to pay the grant application, whereas the less fortunate cannot. Inequality is more than evident here.

Finally, it is clear that parents are willing to do anything to give their children access to the best universities. For example, it is not uncommon to find that some are quite willing to cheat or falsify the tests of their children, to allow them to obtain the optimal scores. Some others will lie, arguing that their children have staggering results in extra scholar activities! On the other hand, rich families do not hesitate to make lavish donations to the university. Thanks to these donations, the students will be considered as special administrations. It really shows the blatant inequalities because socially less well-off families do not have the capacity to compete financially. Therefore, their children’s entry into university is more than compromised or even impossible.

As a conclusion, the college admission in the US are very controversial because it leads to many inequalities and the phenomenon of meritocracy does not exist anymore in the American society. This money-based system is widely criticized in the United States, but no action is actually taken in order to restore these inequalities. Simply because the majority persists in believing that “the Elite” can only come from economically advantaged backgrounds. When you think about it, what happened to the values of personal merit and work?

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