"Elite" Colleges

After hearing the seven points of views, arguments, etc. I found that the argument titled “Merit and Race” seemed to be the least convincing. It seemed to be the least convincing because the beginning of the argument seems to be bsed and seems to be made up as he went along. He seems to be rambling on as he goes along. Also, the whole argument of his seems to be strange. Being a different race that Caucasian or African-American can increase your chances

This is the concern, largely unexpressed yet often at the forefront of our consciousness, of being a racial minority at a predominantly white institution. This point raises the question of who is a racial minority worthy of special consideration. For example, fewer and fewer historically disadvantaged African-American students are being admitted to elite colleges. Increasingly, elite colleges are admitting biracial students and first- or second-generation black students from the Caribbean and from Africa.

While this does seem kind of convincing, that schools would want to accept biracial students to seem to be more “liberal” and “open-minded”, it also seems to be confusing.

The argument that was written in “What you do Vs. Where you go”  The key to success in college and beyond has more to do with what students do with their time during college than where they choose to attend.

A long-term study of 6,335 college graduates published by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that graduating from a college where entering students have higher SAT scores -- one marker of elite colleges -- didn't pay off in higher post-graduation income. Researchers found that students who applied to several elite schools but didn't attend them -- either because of rejection or by their own choice -- are more likely to earn high incomes later than students who actually attended elite schools.

This would seem to be contrary to “common sense”. that entering a elite college would make you seem to be a more “prestigious and intelligent person”. However, if this is true, then this would mean that your life would be based on personal effort, not how “smart” you seem. This seems more convincing because America is based on the fact that the more effort you put into something, the farther you go.