Sir,
No apology necessary. To clarify, I believe your argument implied that Harvard was
disproportionately full of wealth and privilege. I disagreed with that. To add in the unsaid assumptions to your words:
My theory: a greater portion of Ivy league med students went to Ivy League undergrad. A great portion of Ivy League Undergrads are uber rich. [This is different from "regular" schools, where most people come from normal backgrounds.] I bet a good chunk of old-money hah-vahd folks don't have too much trouble finding the dough for school. [Unlike the rest of us poor schmucks.]
My counter-argument was not that there isn't wealth at Harvard (the upper middle-class is certainly the norm), but that such affluence is
generally no different than that of many American families privileged enough to send their sons and daughters to university. Yes, it is true that three-quarters of Harvard families make more than $80,000, but it is also true that the average student at the University of North Carolina comes from an $80,000 household as well. I was arguing that the socio-economic backgrounds of the two student groups are more similar (thankfully) than one might presume (with notable exceptions, of course).
In conclusion, sir:
1. I believe your assertion that
"a great portion of Ivy League Undergrads are uber rich" is false. (A very small minority is uber rich -- the rest of us are not.)
2. I believe your assertion that
"hah-vahd folks don't have too much trouble finding the dough for school" is false. (More than two-thirds at Harvard receive financial aid, and I have plenty of friends who had to sacrifice more than one might think to attend.)
3. I believe your implication that Harvard is uniquely full of rich people -- and that other schools are not -- is false. (Please refer above.)
In the end, sir, it's just semantics and stereotypes. Bottomline, all of us who went to college -- let alone graduate school -- in these here United States should consider ourselves very blessed folk, indeed, and we should make the most of our opportunities.
Sir, I think a lot of it comes down to individuality. For better or for worse, most of my peers find themselves in the extraordinary position of being able to pick jobs/grad schools with greater ease than that of the average college graduate. Since service in the military is seen by the vast majority of Ivy-Leaguers as an unnecessary infringement on their pay, professional opportunities and personal freedoms, the rhetorical question becomes:
"Why bother?"
I personally disagree, and once upon a time, so did many Harvard folks:
http://www.harvardregiment.org/
Then again, I think I'm somewhat of an idealist, sir:
"The nation that will insist upon drawing a broad line of demarcation between the fighting man and the thinking man is liable to find its fighting done by fools and its thinking by cowards." Sir William Butler (UK LtGen)
Thank you for your service, sir. Much respect to the physicians who treat sailors and Marines!
respectfully,
S/F,
4401
one of those Hah-Vad kids spelled it Sand Diego!! 
