there is more to be said on legacies said the bum

keeping with his new idea, the bum has decided to comment on mr. speckles recent posts on legacies here instead of at his site. before delving into the topic, the bum would like to commend mr. speckles and his genius friend david for their thoughtful and eloquent responses. the bum would also like to inform you that in classic bum fashion his response won't be as eloquent and is questionable if its even thoughtful...but the bum doesn't care so you shouldn't either.

genius david believes that socioeconomic background should be ignored when reviewing a college applicant's application. while the bum would like to agree with him he cannot because he lives in the real world. socioeconomic factors have a great effect on the current situation of the applicant and shoudl be considered when a review board reviews the applicant's application. the individual who comes from a low income neighborhood isn't afforded the same opportunities academically that someone who comes from a high income neighborhood. this could have an effect on the applicant's standardized scores and even grades in school (remember teachers, regardless of where they are teaching, are teaching the same curriculum if they are located in the same state). as a result the applicant from a low income neighborhood might not perform as well as the applicant from the high income neighborhood. does that mean students from a lower income bracket should be given more "breaks" than the student who is from the high income neighborhood? no. all it means is that this situation needs to be taken into consideration.

could the student have performed as well as the high income student if he wasn't of low income? this is a hypothetical but so is the question all admission officers ask about each applicant - will that applicant perform well at their institution? if we can pose that question why can't be pose one more? does this punish students from a higher income bracket? absolutely not, it just gives more consideration to those of a lower one.

random comment: the bum would also like to look at something beyond test scores - courses offered in schools, specifically college level courses. college level and advanced courses are more readily available in higher income bracket school districts than those of lower income bracket school districts. the bum would like to pose the question - is it fair to deny the students of lower income schools who performed well but didn't take any college level courses, simply because they were not available, entrance into a top notch university? here is the answer - no. yet another reason why socioeconomic background should be considered when reviewing an applicant's application.