Millions of students from all over the world enroll in top higher education schools every year, a number that seemed far bigger to me a year ago. While my school certainly promotes and values diversity, one of the greatest revelations I've had in my first year is the smallness of the community I now live in. This year, I've discovered just how limited my class really is.
This is absolutely not to discount those clearly present individuals from countries all over the world, or those who tirelessly worked to gain admission coming from a public school in a small town. Yet they are vastly outnumbered by the number of graduates from the country's top preparatory schools, who populate the Ivy League and comparable universities by the masses.
The "Who Do You Know" Game, as it is sarcastically called, is the inevitable connecting of friends at other schools that I have found is all too common. At Georgetown, the majority of my peers can name three or four of their high school friends at Boston College, Notre Dame and Holy Cross - obviously, in this case there is a background of Catholic influence, but nevertheless it provides a view into the more-or-less two degrees of separation between myself and anyone at most of the top universities in the country.
Of course, everyone deserves to be at their respective university, and this by no means undermines their accomplishments or position as a student. But the fact is, this pre-network of connections will only manifest further and further as my classmates and I earn our degrees, enter the workforce and begin using our connections to advance ourselves. It designs a mentality for "the other", those who have not been a part of this community, that you are already an outsider before you've even arrived at school.
Essentially, while many universities boast a depth of diversity, the reality is they are fueled by 20 elite prep schools around the country. The college community is contained. I certainly don't mean to conclude by implying the ultimate disappointment and doom of the population of college; however we truly are much more connected to each other than we think. Next time you find yourself playing the "Who Do You Know" game, consider the breadth of influence these connections command.
