<p>I’m not making fun of people for being insecure or for wanting to get to Harvard. I’m making fun of students whose insecurities are relieved by soliciting answers to chances posts from random, uninformed strangers, the majority of whom are high school students.</p>
<p>Why not read tea leaves, use a palm reader or use a ouiji board? The answers would be just as useless.</p>
<p>LOL, My son doesn’t interesting in the CC’s post, then his chance to H would be > 7%?</p>
<p>IMHO as a fellow alumna of Northstamom’s and a current interviewer, I feel that there may be truth and humor in her post but that the post is in poor taste. There may indeed be humor that only a Harvard student or graduate would get, but to use it on this forum in that way is elitist and exclusionary. My criticism in no way detracts from my recognition of the helpfulness of Northstarmom’s other postings on this forum regarding issues in college admissions.</p>
<p>Browniebaker-Don’t the posters here need to toughen up a bit? I mean, considering the ambition, energy, and intellect required to even be in the running for the elite schools, you’d think CC people would see the humor in Northstarmom’s post.</p>
<p>Just curious, Browniebaker, about what you think is elitist and exclusionary about my post? What about it is something that only a Harvard student or graduate would understand? I don’t think that one needs to be a Harvard student or graduate to know that strangers on the Internet don’t know whether one is going to get into Harvard.</p>
<p>I’ve said this before: “something that only a Harvard student or graduate would understand” does not exist. As if Harvard anointed its alumni with magical powers of comprehension…</p>
<p>“Just curious, Browniebaker, about what you think is elitist and exclusionary about my post? What about it is something that only a Harvard student or graduate would understand?”</p>
<p>You’re kidding right? You basically said it yourself. </p>
<p>“One addition to my original post: If you thought that my chances post was funny or good, then there’s an 89% chance that you’re either a Harvard student, a Harvard alum or a future Harvard alum.”</p>
<p>“No big deal, and probably is a typical reaction to Harvard humor. What Harvard people think is funny is snarky, and many other people view people with such humor as being full of themselves.”</p>
<p>The fact you try to spike out of this shows the hypocrisy underlying your post.</p>
<p>“The fact you try to spike out of this shows the hypocrisy underlying your post.”</p>
<p>Sigh… or it shows that I didn’t remember what I wrote more than a month ago. :)</p>
<p>I do think that in general, people who’d be good fits for Harvard will get the humor of my post, however. As is the case with any rule, there are exceptions, I’m sure.</p>
<p>Not the response I was looking for, but I am glad you acknowledge this somewhat… :)</p>
<p>Northstar,</p>
<p>I guess I just didn’t see the need for the post. It was a long, involved one that seemed designed to lure kids in and then sort of swat them down for falling for the bait. I think their lives in high school are stressful enough right now. I really doubt that many of them who do chances threads actually believe in the accuracy of the predictions they glean. They are not robots, eternally rational machines navigating the college admissions process. They are human and a little irrational along the way - just like the kids who do “get in” at Harvard. </p>
<p>Have appreciated many of your other posts, though. No biggie.</p>
<p>agree with sewhappy. Honestly, though, Northstarmom, your posts generally…not always…come across as elitist.</p>
<p>^Ditto </p>
<p>.</p>
<p>Instead of going to college you guys should become whambulance drivers.</p>
<p>Good idea, why don’t you try it out first?</p>
<p>One in a million? I like my chances.</p>
<p>Everyone just needs to relax.</p>
<p>hm… I actually think this is a true thread to see (dont want to say calculating your chances) how much you fit into Harvard.
If you did not at all find the thread funny then may be its culture doesnt fit you at all. I think 
just my 2 cents.
I always feel like people are so easily hyped up …</p>
<p>“Everyone just needs to relax.”</p>
<p>At the risk of being a hypocrite, HEAR HEAR!</p>
<p>I don’t see that there’s anything wrong with seeking comfort where you can get it. One doesn’t have to believe fully in something to be comforted by it. This is a time of high stress for a lot of us - I take my reprieves where I can get them, even if I know that they’re worth taking with a few thousand grains of salt.
Ultimately I don’t think that anyone who makes a chance thread is at fault. It may be silly, but most posters are aware of the silliness. And I certainly don’t think it’s indicative of qualities that would keep one out of Harvard.
No man is an island. Sometimes it’s nice to be bolstered by the masses. Those masses may be nameless, faceless letters on a computer screen, but the effect is much the same.</p>
<p>“If you did not at all find the thread funny then may be its culture doesnt fit you at all. I think.”</p>
<p>That’s what’s wrong with the original post: There’s not just one culture at Harvard; it’s a diverse place.</p>