The College Admissions System is Not Fair

What can we learn from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and could Golden Tickets make things more equitable?

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity opens up to go to the most prestigious chocolate factory in the world. Everyone wants to go, but there are only a few places available. So, a lottery is set up in the style of a treasure hunt for one of five Golden Tickets, hidden away in the wrappers of Wonka’s chocolate bars. Whoever you are, if you buy a chocolate bar, you can find one of those tickets and gain access to Wonka’s factory.

For a fleeting moment, this sounds like an elegant way of levelling the playing field. Wonka could have simply invited his friends and family, or perhaps influential politicians or industrialists. But he doesn’t; he chooses to randomise the selection process and make it possible for anyone to make it. It’s an inclusive gesture and possibly the most profitable marketing campaign ever.

In the end, five children (as it happens!) get the Golden Tickets, including a well-mannered but underprivileged boy called Charlie. He’s so poor that the closest he can get to the prestigious factory is through the chocolate bar he receives once a year on his birthday.