<p>You do realize that the original post is tongue in cheek? You’re not supposed to take it seriously.</p>
<p>Actually, with this years admission rate set to go around 6 percent I think applicants might as well employ astrology or magic incantations of any nature to figure out their chances. It’s not a stretch to imagine that’s the sort of “process” the admissions committees emply in making selections . . .</p>
<p>“You do realize that the original post is tongue in cheek? You’re not supposed to take it seriously.”</p>
<p>There is nothing quite like individuals who say or do something that others find offensive or problematic, if even slightly, and then say ‘Hey, I was only kidding!’ when called on it.</p>
<p>I actually appreciate the subtly of harvard humor. Perhaps I’m in the minority though.</p>
<p>Snarkyism does seem to be a trait at Harvard. I know three kids who are current students at Harvard and that certainly is an outstanding feature. Their moms become just as snarky and elitist as well. That’s when I decided I didn’t want my son to apply. I wan’t willing to start every sentence with, “My son-who-goes-to-Harvard…” That’s a requirement, isn’t it NSM?</p>
<p>I don’t see how the original post was elitist in any way… subtle, snarky, tounge-in-cheek, perhaps. Elitist, it’s definitely not. </p>
<p>As for the harvard moms, perhaps, but I don’t see why that would necessarily translate to the students themselves. After all, parents are generally proud of their kids after they get accepted to the most prestigious university in the world. Just give them some room, and if you don’t like it, just smile and move on.</p>
<p>All based on the assumption that admission officers care more about you than the little piece of paper that you turn into them.</p>
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<p>^ if you are talking about hypocrisy then I do think hypocrites exist every where. </p>
<p>“That’s what’s wrong with the original post: There’s not just one culture at Harvard; it’s a diverse place.”
Every institution/organization has a culture of its own. Diversity can be a part of a culture too. One way to verify that is going to another country that is totally not diverse and see if you are treated differently.</p>
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<p>He/She’s probably referring to the fact that HYP (Harvard, Yale and Princeton) is the “holy trinity” that most often gets hyped up.</p>
<p>“Elite: A group or class of persons or a member of such a group or class, enjoying superior intellectual, social, or economic status”</p>
<p>By definition, those that go/went to Harvard ARE elite.</p>
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<p>People need to stop putting Harvard people on pedestals. “Harvard Humor” as if only Harvard students can understand it. Give me a break</p>
<p>I can’t believe how much angst a little giggle-topic has caused.</p>
<p>This whole thread reminds me of the story of the emperor’s new clothes.</p>
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<p>My fav fable and one that is quite apt in describing the world of elite college admissions.</p>
<p>How is it hard to understand that only Harvard students/alumni can understand the joke? It’s the same thing as saying that only people who went to X camp can understand Y joke (precisely because one cannot know all the small things about Y joke without knowing enough about X camp), but you perceive it as being elitist because you hold some preconceived idea that anything that is exclusive to anything Harvard related is inherently elitist, not because it truly is elitist. I seriously don’t understand why everyone always perceives Harvard in such a negative fashion…</p>
<p>^^ The problem is that the joke isn’t even related to Harvard specifically. The post could have been placed into any of the extremely selective forums for Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT…etc. but it would still garner the same negative responses. People don’t like the post just because it was Harvard, the problem is that Harvard people seem to be full of themselves. </p>
<p>However many people in this thread seem to think that only Harvard people can understand it, when it really isn’t an inside joke specifically to Harvard at all. Like I said, the same thread could have been posted on any other highly selective forum, with the replacement of Harvard to another big name.</p>
<p>Haha, I love this! So funny, yet so true! :D</p>
<p>Seriously, but this needs to be reposted everywhere! Hopefully then people will finally understand what it takes to truly be worthy of admission to all the top schools!</p>
<p>A distinctly “Harvard” sense of humor? Perhaps there is one (characterized by the satire of the Lampoon, Hasty Pudding, et al.), but it certainly isn’t related to the snark-cum-bathos on this thread.</p>
<p>Any self-respecting Harvard grad should distance themselves from such preening, and from the nasty, masturbatory business of admissions in general.</p>