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Comment by rb808 | Hacker News Reader

If I was going to Stanford I've love people like this in the class. These prestigious universities are a great place to work with wealthy and well connected people. You don't go to Stanford/Harvard/IvyX to learn from secret books - the course is pretty much the same as your local state college. Its the mix of people that makes it special.

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And by precisely the same token, those people would loathe every minute spent with you.

I'm not being flip. The super-rich and the plebs mostly don't mix at elite schools

Indeed, the divisions can be more nuanced too - old money vs new is also a thing.

You could take the perspective that the purpose of an elite school is to give the wealthy elite access to a well developed pool of very smart people, so when they make big financial decisions they can consult someone clever and trustworthy about them.

That wouldn't fulfill the more traditional aspects of education, but it would give American businesses a pretty tangible leg up over cultures that, eg, try to do everything in the family. It'd be a good deal for everyone.

That doesn't at all align with my experiences (Dartmouth and Stanford). While I understand where the sentiment comes from, in reality, there are individuals from fantastically wealthy families who are wonderful and kind people looking for friendship in exactly the way that everyone else does.

Time and time again, I was only aware of my friends' affluent backgrounds years after knowing them well.

I'm curious what course you majored in?

We are inclined to see the best in our allies. Have you considered in this case your value as a connection, and characteristics as a person, may influence how others treat you? You may have had a different experience from a different perspective.

My observations were that most people are nice, but there are certainly cliques, and even some pretty bad bullying, at a different elite school.

The cliques point is a good one. Certainly there was stratification, and I'd be misrepresenting myself if I didn't identify as comfortable middle class (with all of the associated guilt for priviledge/etc). I was aware that I knew very few work/study students from lower income families and was aware that there are some unseen forces causing some degree of self-sorting to occur.

I was an engineer. It's not obvious to me why in undergrad anyone would have viewed me as an important connection, although it's impossible to have the perspective to reflect on that without some bias.

Same at Brown. Sure nothing is 100% and jerks exist (in all socioeconomic stratum) but I didn’t see many barriers between the children of the rich and famous and those of other backgrounds.

Rather than questioning the state of things your highest imagination is to submit to hierarchy

Unless your current degree isn't terminal (ie: you plan on applying to other programs), and your grades take a hit from being in a group with a weak member.

So to send a loner or introvert to Stanford is basically lost money?

Exactly, Ivy is where you make great connections, like Low Taek Jho (1MDB).

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