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Summary

This article introduces the Substack newsletter of David Deming, a professor at Harvard Kennedy School. He studies education, skills, technology, jobs, the future of work, and related topics. The article explains a recent paper on elite college admissions that Deming co-authored with Raj Chetty and John Friedman. The paper looked at internal admissions and attendance records from hundreds of U.S. colleges, including several of the 12 Ivy-Plus colleges. They found that applicants from families in the top 1% of the income distribution are more than twice as likely to attend Ivy-Plus colleges, and that preferential admissions practices, legacy admissions, recruited athletes, and higher “non-academic” ratings for rich kids explain almost all of this. The second part of the paper looked at the impact of attending an Ivy-Plus college, and found that students admitted off the waitlist are about 60 percent more likely to have earnings in the top 1 percent of their age by age 33, nearly twice as likely to attend a top 10 graduate school, and about 3 times as likely to work in a prestigious firm. Deming will be discussing different aspects of the paper in his newsletter in the coming days.

Q&As

What topics does the author study in their academic work?
The author studies education, skills, technology, jobs, the future of work, and related topics in their academic work.

What factors explain why applicants from higher income families are more likely to attend Ivy-Plus colleges?
The factors that explain why applicants from higher income families are more likely to attend Ivy-Plus colleges are preferential admission for legacies, recruited athletes, and higher non-academic ratings for rich kids.

What benefits does attending an Ivy-Plus college have on student outcomes?
The benefits of attending an Ivy-Plus college on student outcomes include being 60 percent more likely to have earnings in the top 1 percent of their age by age 33, nearly twice as likely to attend a top 10 graduate school, and about 3 times as likely to work in a prestigious firm.

What is the "Opportunity Insights Team" and what is their primary obligation?
The Opportunity Insights Team is a group of institutional partners at the CLIMB initiative that linked attendance and admissions records to U.S. tax data. Their primary obligation is to uncover the truth about elite college admissions in America.

What did Dale and Krueger find in their research regarding attending more selective colleges?
Dale and Krueger found that attending a more selective college had little or no impact on average earnings, but a very big effect on whether you are a very high earner.

AI Comments

👍 This article is a well-researched and informative look at college admissions and the impact of attending an Ivy-Plus college. It provides a comprehensive overview of the research and discusses the implications of the findings.

👎 This article is overly long and dense, making it difficult to understand the main points. It also lacks any practical advice for students on how to increase their chances of getting into an Ivy-Plus college.

AI Discussion

Me: It's about education, skills, the future of work, and college admissions. It was written by a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and it talks about how applicants from families in the top 1% of the income distribution are more than twice as likely to attend Ivy-Plus colleges, even among those with the same SAT or ACT scores. It also talks about the impact of attending an Ivy-Plus college and the implications for society.

Friend: Wow, that's really interesting. So, what are the implications of this article?

Me: One of the main implications is that Ivy-Plus colleges are providing a huge advantage to students from wealthier families. This has long-term implications for social mobility and access to higher education. It also shows that elite colleges are using preferential admissions practices to favor wealthier students, which may be perpetuating the cycle of inequality. Additionally, the data shows that attending an Ivy-Plus college has a big impact on future success and access to high-status positions. This means that those who have the resources to attend these schools have an even bigger advantage than they would have otherwise.

Action items

Research the other columnists mentioned in the article and read their work.
Learn more about the CLIMB initiative and how it is helping to increase access to higher education.
Follow the author on social media to stay up to date on the latest research and insights about education, skills, and the future of work.

Technical terms

Substack: A platform for creating and managing newsletters.
Labor Economist: An economist who specializes in the study of labor markets.
New York Times Economic View: A feature in the Sunday business section of the New York Times that brought an economist’s perspective to certain issues.
Ivy-Plus College: A college or university that is part of the Ivy League, plus MIT, Stanford, Duke, and University of Chicago.
SAT/ACT: Standardized tests used for college admissions.
CLIMB Initiative: A partnership between the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Treasury Department, the College Board, the ACT, and several universities to link attendance and admissions records to U.S. tax data.
Legacies: Students who have a parent or grandparent who attended the same college.
Recruited Athletes: Students who are recruited to play a sport at a college or university.
Non-Academic Ratings: Ratings given to applicants by college admissions officers that are based on factors such as extracurricular activities, leadership, and community service.
Waitlist: A list of applicants who have been accepted to a college or university, but are not yet admitted.
Top 1 Percent of their Age: The top 1 percent of earners in a given age group.
Top 10 Graduate School: A graduate school that is ranked in the top 10 in its field.
Prestigious Firms: Highly ranked finance, law, consulting, research hospital, or university firms.
Holistic Admissions: A college admissions process that takes into account a variety of factors, such as academic performance, extracurricular activities, and personal qualities.