“Ravenwood” College, where the author spent a year conducting ethnographic research, was a small, private, nonprofit institution dedicated to social justice and serving traditionally underprepared students. For these students, college represented hope for a better future—but an uncertain one. To survive in the higher education marketplace, Ravenwood had to demonstrate why that hope should be entrusted to them while negotiating complex notions of merit and prestige rooted in American history. Rather than having long waitlists to fill open seats, admission staff struggled with low enrollments and worked tirelessly to fill empty seats. Whether Ravenwood was mediocre or extraordinary, it needed students.