Creating a Class College Admissions and the Education of Elites

"Admissions officers love students, but they work for the good of the school. They have to bring in each class "on budget," burnish the statistics so crucial to institutional prestige, and take care of their colleagues in the athletic department and the development office. Stevens shows that the job cannot be done without "systematic preferencing," and racial affirmative action is the least of it. Kids have an edge if their parents can pay full tuition, if they attend high schools with exotic zip codes, if they are athletes - especially football players - and even if they are popular.".