"Jessica Custer was the editor of her high school paper growing up in Hardwick, New Jersey. She was also a member of the biology team, the chemistry team, the chess club, and the debate club. That résumé got her accepted to a whole slew of prestigious colleges, including Georgetown, Princeton, and Harvard. But in 1995, she made a different choice, one that she believed would set her up for a bright future."
"Jen Mills lived in Redmond, Washington. Like Custer, she believed that studying at Oxford would be a transformative experience-that it was well worth the $21,000 annual tuition. "Even though I had full-ride scholarships from a couple of colleges that I had to give up in order to do it, we thought this is an academic institution that has enough prestige that it would be worth it," she said."
"Dear Ian: this letter is to wish you a warm welcome to Warnborough College and to Oxford and to congratulate you on the credentials and recommendations you're bringing to us. That "Welcome to Warnborough College" thing didn't raise any red flags. That's because the University of Oxford isn't just one institution. Oxford is made up of around 40 individual colleges, and every student attends one of them."
Jessica Custer accumulated extracurricular achievements and gained admission to multiple prestigious universities but chose Oxford in 1995 believing the degree would secure future graduate opportunities. Jen Mills relinquished full-ride scholarships and paid about $21,000 annually because she and her family believed Oxford's prestige justified the cost. Ian Schuler, eager to immerse himself in learning, received a welcome letter admitting him to Warnborough College and Oxford. The welcome did not immediately alarm him because Oxford consists of about 40 individual colleges with distinct histories, dining facilities, and residence halls, which can make outside representations seem legitimate.
Read at Slate Magazine
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