Word: prepped
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1960-1969
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...foundation in Robert's memory. He was responsible for his own, Robert's and John's children, 15 in all (Ethel's latest made it 16, but Jacqueline's marriage gave John and Caroline a stepfather). Two of Robert's sons were having prep school problems that needed attention. Ted arranged summer trips abroad for the two oldest boys, escorting one of them to Spain. While Ethel Kennedy was hospitalized, he kept a paternal watch over her brood...
Alumni sons and prep school graduates receive a decided preference. Before explaining why it's a "preference" and not just an "advantage" let's take a look at that group...
Twenty per cent of every class are alumni sons. Bender commented that prep schools. Bender commented that this reflected the belief that "in this too rootless world inheritance and nurture mean money." Yet inheri- tance and nurture mean more than money. A qualified applicant doesn't come out of a wallet. A good family, cultural background and an excellent education mean a great deal beyond academic credentials...
What exactly does a prep school education mean in terms of activities and performance at Harvard? To compare preppies and pubbies (public school graduates) we can use the exhaustive data of the Harvard Student Body Center. The data is slightly misleading because "elite" public schools such as Newton High are thrown in with the other public schools. Boston area public schools like Newton receive the same preferential treatment as prep schools. This tends to reduce the statistical gap between pubbies and preppies...
Fees have not been eliminated because 1) the university claims it cannot afford to do so, 2) sheer conservatism as recently criticized by Kingman Brewster of Yale, 3) the stated policy of not being a meritocracy, but favoring prep schools and alumni so as to get potential leaders and financial backing for the future. The high fees help hide this policy by discouraging many applications from coming in. That prevents their ever having to be judged academically. Beyond even that the data shows Harvard is not a meritocracy...