<p>Last week a friend and I were talking about the content of a school magazine from the HS our children had graduated from. A student was bemoaning the school’s record of Ivy admissions compared with other similar High Schools. </p>
<p>We talked about the 2 most recent Harvard admittees- the first was a young woman who was a great tennis player, very political and a top 5% student. Her hook- 1/16th Native American. Guess what, this year her sister- even less impressive than her older sibling but still 1/16th Native American- plus, of course, a legacy. Admitted.</p>
<p>These girls are upper middle class, privileged by all accounts and no doubt greatly add to the diversity at Harvard by virtue of their rich cultural background…what a joke. You want in to Harvard, buy a Native American great, great grandparent.</p>
<p>Out of curiosity, were you present when the Harvard admissions officers were making their decision and explaining their reasoning? I’d be surprised if you weren’t, because it would be really presumptuous for some random person to declare with certainty the reasons why certain applicants are accepted or rejected.</p>
<p>"These girls are upper middle class, privileged by all accounts and no doubt greatly add to the diversity at Harvard by virtue of their rich cultural background…what a joke. You want in to Harvard, buy a Native American great, great grandparent. "</p>
<p>I agree with DwightEisenhower and, BTW, siblings aren’t considered legacies by Harvard.</p>
<p>I personally know someone who is Native American, high scores , recruited athlete, father heads the state’s department that serves Native Americans, – and this young man was REJECTED by Harvard. </p>
<p>Being Native American does not guarantee acceptance.</p>
<p>However, if Harvard realizes that one is a racist, that would guarantee rejection.</p>
<p>The point is, they are not Native American. They are completely Caucasian and they played a card. IF the preference were being shown to really diversify a student body, to give an opportunity to a kid who overcame adversity related to this diversity, etc…then I can appreciate a degree of justification. This is simply not the case here… but the number shows up the same on Harvard’s statistics, doesn’t it…</p>
<p>And no, I wasn’t in the admissions meeting.</p>
<p>You probably don’t know whether they are connected to their Native American roots or not. I doubt that you know everything those students and their families do.</p>
<p>I know some Native Americans who look 100% white, yet are members of tribes and participate in tribal rituals, etc. </p>
<p>You also have no idea whether their being 1/16th Native American was something that tipped them in.</p>
<p>The same goes with Hispanics. I’m 50% Venezuelan, but I’m fluent in Spanish and the culture takes a central role in my life. It’s downright unfair for 1/8-Hispanics who are not fluent in Spanish and take no part in community culture to be given any advantage at schools like Harvard. I’m not saying they are given advantage; I’m not an admissions officer, I wouldn’t know. Yet it seems that adcoms often admit URMs solely to raise the percentage points of URMs in their student body without checking to see if their minority status (Native American or Hispanic) played an important role in their life.</p>
<p>In addition, I know an African girl from an affluent background who moved with her family from Germany several years ago. She is a permanent resident now and thus can call herself African American, gaining admission to elite institutioins while, in fact, even she will admit that she does not consider herself American in any way. That’s simply unfair.</p>
<p>You are not considered hispanic if you are 1/8 hispanic…you must be at least 1/4 to win a “National Hispanic Recognition Program” from the college board. 1/16 Native American, not sure if they are more liberal for N.A.s but since the percent of N.A.s in schools is generally under 1 percent, I have zero opinion. Sounds to me the tennis and top 5 percent were more important. When did this thread become a discussion on URMs? If so, move it to the URM threads, there is one for Hispanic, African American, and Native American’s. You will get real answers there. Every times someone posts to the "general’ discussion threads the topic migrates to a near racist level of complaints about how URMS have it so easy. Check the Hispanic admit stats. You will find that most Hispanic admits have at least 2200 SATs and the same SAT 2s, APs etc. as other admits.</p>
<p>THe comment on the 2 N.A. sisters (not sure 1/16 qualifies BTW) is really immature. Why is there never complaints about athletic admitted “hooks” or legacy “hooks”? Easy, because those admits bring diversity?? Disgusting thread, sorry I posted here to begin with. Later</p>
<p>I will add one point that I recall from my kids application days and applicants were debating trying to claim some sort of URM status. If I recall correctly, in order to claim NA the individual must be registered with a tribe.</p>
<p>"In addition, I know an African girl from an affluent background who moved with her family from Germany several years ago. She is a permanent resident now and thus can call herself African American, gaining admission to elite institutioins while, in fact, even she will admit that she does not consider herself American in any way. That’s simply unfair. "</p>
<p>I doubt that schools would consider a black permanent resident who immigrated from Germany to be African American. </p>
<p>The diversity in her background – particularly her being a black German – might make her stand out in other ways, however. She sounds like a very interesting person whose life experiences would give her an interesting perspective on the world that her classmates would benefit by being exposed to.</p>
<p>I’m African American (descendent of Africans enslaved in the U.S.), and I know some black Germans and have found them to be very interesting.</p>
<p>“Why is there never complaints about athletic admitted “hooks” or legacy “hooks”? Easy, because those admits bring diversity?”</p>
<p>Seriously, people complain about athlete recruits all the time! And if you are a recruited athlete, the assumption is you couldn’t get in on your own merits, which is not the case for MOST athletes in the Ivy League. Admission standards may be lowered slightly, but you still have to be a top student. And once admitted, you still have to do the same work as every other student, plus maintain a rigorous training regimen, with little or no academic support, which is pretty standard at most other DI schools, including most of the other Ivy League schools. Not to mention the athletic scholarship money Ivy League student-athletes forgo to attend an Ivy League school!</p>
<p>That’s so cool! You’re a fellow URM! Lol.
Yes, though, I suppose the ‘black German’ thing makes her more ‘diversified’ than others. She was actually born in South Africa and moved to Germany at age 7, then moved to the United States at 13. I suppose that’s as diverse as they get. It just seems unfair because her family is excessively wealthy and because she doesn’t even consider herself African American, but rather simply African. But like you said, she’d get benefits either way, so it doesn’t matter.</p>
<p>I apologize if I missed somebody else saying this, but I have a suggestion for those who might be thinking of posting a “chance” thread. As NSM suggests, it’s pretty futile to ask what your chances are at Harvard. However, you might get some useful ideas if you post a “help me build my list” request. In a thread like that, you might hear about some colleges that you may not have considered (perhaps because they are in another region of the country), or about different programs. You will incidentally get responses about how high you should reach–and you should take those with a large grain of salt.</p>
<p>“Harvard humor”? It really is sad that you base your personality off of the brief experiences you had at a University. A sense of humor isn’t something that you find at a school. It’s something you develop throughout your lifetime.
In all honesty, your “snarky” posts here aren’t making you seem intelligent and successful. They’re making you seem like a terribly self absorbed and boring person.</p>
agree with the OP</p>