Elite destinations: pathways to attending an Ivy League university

As higher education expands and becomes more differentiated, patterns of class stratification remain deeply entrenched, in part due to class‐based differences in college choice. A qualitative study of 50 Yale students shows the effects of social class, high schools and peers on students’ pathways to college. For students from wealthy and highly educated families, the choice of an Ivy League institution becomes normalized through the inculcated expectations of families, the explicit positioning of schools, and the peer culture. Without these advantages, less‐privileged students more often place elite institutions outside the realm of the possible – in part because of concerns of elitism. These findings suggest that even low‐socioeconomic status students with exceptional academic credentials must overcome substantial hurdles to arrive at an Ivy League university.