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Comment by amanfredi | Hacker News Reader

The author spends a lot of effort ignoring the simple explanation that wealthy families can spend more money on things that make a world of difference in educational opportunities later on, such as books in the home and parents who know how to read.

The educational gap between poor and wealthy students is certainly something worth trying to remedy, but colleges wanting the best students is no more a conspiracy to keep the poor powerless than the demand for money is a conspiracy to keep them poor.

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As an SAT tutor I can remark that wealthy families have a real advantage in the process in being able to pay the high fees for SAT training. I think the best way to eliminate such an advantage would be to ask students to report what sort of tutoring or classes they got.

Agreed; I've been doing pro bono SAT teaching in inner city schools since 2000, but nothing can replace one-on-one SAT tutoring, which I've never seen a grant for.

How does one get into this? Are you a teacher, or are schools also looking for professionals in other fields to help out?

A bunch of my friends from college are doing or have done this. For pro bono stuff, I believe you just find an SAT tutoring place you'd like to help out and volunteer. It's pretty manpower and time intensive, so they're always looking for qualified people. You definitely don't have to be a teacher. I believe they ask for your own SAT scores though, and only take people that scored significantly above what would be expected from the people you're trying to tutor. My friends are mostly in the 1500+ range, and a bunch have perfect 1600s, so they're pretty hot commodities on the market.

I started teaching for Kaplan back in 2000, and pretty much used that as my credential.

(I've since left Kaplan to work on Red Ivy Prep, my side project that aims to find repeatable TODOs based on learning styles. Thankfully, I have a sister getting a PhD in learning and memory research who's helping me out with the theory. I'm trying to do a free all-day drop-in workshop for students here in Boston on MLK day, but it's a lot harder without that credential anymore.)

Thank you both for following up. I like this, because its something actionable that I can do to have an impact on an unfair system.

I am having trouble locating SAT test prep centers in Raleigh, NC who provide free training (via Google). I will try to contact the school system directly this week.

"My friends are mostly in the 1500+ range, and a bunch have perfect 1600s, so they're pretty hot commodities on the market."

I think that is mostly true for people who are younger and have less other experience. If you are trying to tutor in HS or College you will need exceptional scores. However, if you have graduated with a degree in Math, English, or Education you can likely parlay that into tutoring, certainly pro-bono, they can use all the qualified people who are willing to help

I think the author suggests that merit alone should be a determining factor, so that quantative knowledge, which can vary depending on education level, does not determine admissions.

People who feel benefitted by the elite college system will obviously be a proponent of it. They will then keep perpetuating the system which produces similar people. It's not a conscious conspiracy, but effectively one.

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