Literature Review Blog #4

1. Visual

2. Citation:

Golden, Daniel. The Price of Admission: How America's Ruling Class Buys Its Way into Elite Colleges--and Who Gets Left Outside the Gates. Crown Publishers New York, 2006

3. Summary

Daniel Golden explains how the admission process for the top 100 higher education institutions, although say they practice meritocracy, follow capitalistic ideals. Those who come from high income households have an advantage that students from low income families who have no contributed to the school.

4. Author

Daniel Golden is a senior editor and journalist at ProPublica. He has written a series of articles on admissions preferences in elite universities that are referred to as, Ivy Leagues. 

5. 2 key terms

Meritocracy, in terms of education, is a system in which students who perform the best in terns of achievement, are rewarded and advanced. 

A big key concept in the price of admission was the manipulation of admissions at elite universities. Those who would like their children attend the Ivy League, contribute donations to the university. 

6. Three Quotes

“‘It was a little bit disappointing because there were at the time others kids we thought should really get in on the merits, and they did not’” (Golden 45).

"“There was no way anybody in the administrative office of the school thought he would on the merits get into Harvard,” a former official told me. “His GPA did not warrant it, his SAT scores did not warrant it" (Golden 45).

"[Kushner's] success-and the subsequent downfall-suggests that elite universities are just as susceptible as politicians to the lure of big money" (Golden 44).

7. Value. 

Daniel Golden's book holds value in my research as it shows that even if schools say that they enroll students based on meritocracy, there are times when it is not through ones skill but through how much you give to the school.