It’s not a about stats. Sheesh. It’s not other kids with higher gpa who rested on the hs laurels. This kid stretched and had impact. And not unilateral.
So happy for him and best wishes! Harvard does not need another straight A student but our republic does need new blood for leaders.
He’ll get a Harvard degree without having the grades/test scores qualifications for it. I think that’s a pretty good deal for him.
So Harvard DOES have affirmative action for white men who don’t meet typical grades/test scores requirements, if they’re (1) from rich families (Jared Kushner) or (2) liberal activists (David Hogg). At least David Hogg has accomplished something good on his own.
I’m sure he’ll be fine. I remember reading some Dean years ago saying if you could get a 600 in a section you were perfectly capable of doing the work. Seriously, it’s really easy to get B’s.
My Florida SIL struggled freshman year (also from Florida) struggled freshman year because she had never in her life written a paper. She did figure it out eventually.
Havard is looking for future leaders not just academics.
Heck, he doesn’t even need to graduate from Harvard to be highly successful as a future political leader. Gates and Zuckerberg did just fine in their fields without the degree…
@mathmom I took my oldest out of HS because in two years at her college prep top public HS she hadn’t been asked to write any papers requiring research and most of her assessments were multiple choice. I was really concerned! She’s at the cc college now and they are teaching her how to write and cite. It’s so important to be prepared for that!
The quote I’m thinking of, @mathmom, was MIT, one of their bloggers commenting on CC- that anything with a 7 in front can do the work. (And going on to describe how more is needed.) But. that was before the new SAT.
@HappyAlumnus This is SO not about affirmative action.
Anyone can benefit from realizing an admit to a tippy top is NOT about being one dimensional, not about being a big dawg in your own little hs enviornment, or just racking up comm service hours, or titles, founding the pie club, or other limited ideas. Likewise, not about national or international awards or USAMO scores.
And btw, lots of kids ARE having impact, even in small ways. But legit, committments, stretching.
Please don’t knock this kid, just because you can.
A while back Harvard Crimson actually once featured an article about how ill-prepared so many incoming Harvard freshmen are with the writing skills and their high schools were blamed for this gaping hole in their curriculum. They found that many incoming freshmen had never written a paper any longer than 5 pages while in high school. Writing was one of the main reasons why I specifically chose an IB school for my boys. For the Extended Essay requirement, which so many students find the easiest way possible to complete it just to get it out of the way, I took the pains to take my boys to a local university library and started a research term paper style project, from how to search electronic databases and book catalogs to organizing the writing itself. Other than the EE itself, the IB program demanded lots of other writing assignments that I truly appreciated. The IB program itself did not teach the students how to write; it just offered many opportunities to write. I as a parent just added the “research” component to it as a prep for their college life. It made a huge difference. I’ve always told my boys, in order to be successful in college, writing is half the battle.
He may well feel LESS pressure at Harvard than elsewhere. He won’t be the only one in the class with a famous name or national/global achievements on his resume. It’s kind of normal there. Harvard students work very hard to pretend that they are not impressed by the stars in their midst.
On semantics: “hook,” to me, does not mean an unearned edge. It means anything that pulls you out of the ordinary pool for special consideration. Olympians are hooked applicants, just like legacies.
Has anyone read Mountains Beyond Mountains? Harvard let Paul Farmer stretch and expand his efforts in Haiti while attending. David Hogg proved himself interested, interesting, and to be a mover & a shaker. Couldn’t be a more classic example that it isn’t just about stats. They want people who will change the world. (That “all A” thread ought to take note)
And with the Yale-like realization that changing the world can be in small ways, as well, that accumulate. The whole being greater than the sum of its parts. How one’s work can ripple.
It’s when you see a kid like Hogg that the next generation impresses. But not all the great kids reach his level of attention.
@CCtoAlaska said:
IMO, Harvard and Yale don’t challenge their students much at all. The students who go there from our high school find it shockingly easy to get the “gentleman’s C”, which these days seems to be an A-. And I will once again repeat my nephew’s expression about his Yale experience: “It can be hard to get an A, but it is much harder to get a C”
So David Hogg will in all likelihood graduate from Harvard. It is good that he chose Harvard rather than say Princeton or Cornell which do seem to challenge their students.
He’s obviously shown himself to be a very natural leader. That’s something that can’t be prepped for, and it’s clearly something Harvard wants.
I suspect he’ll be fine there.
@happyalumnus by definition, if he gets a Harvard degree, he deserves a Harvard degree.
A tragedy is NOT a hook. It really hurts to listen to kids (and often parents) complaining that if only thier kid had suffered in some tragic way, they would be able to get into Harvard. Sometimes a tragedy can be the inciting incident that awakens something in a kid and starts them on a path that has impact, whether that be in politics, art or science or something else. However, its the accomplishements that are the “hooks” not the tragedy or simply surviving it. Not every kid who survived Parkland is getting into Harvard, only the ones who took meaningful action and show the promise of being leaders going forward.
And plenty of kids are motivated to have that kind of impact without needing a tragedy to start them out. Those kids get into elite universities without needed to suffer first.
David was able to accomplish more as a teenager than the typical 4.0/36/1600 student did. It wasn’t a hook at all.
Totally agree @gallentjill Most students who experience tragedy suffer consequences that negatively impact their academics and many (most?) never recover without a great deal of supportive case. More young people need help than “hook” themselves into Harvard.
This is not a hook, it is a tragedy. This young man and others rose to a horrific challenge that should never have occurred. I wonder if David would be happier as a freshman at UCI right now than as an advocate for gun control if the shooting had never happened. If getting into Harvard is the “reward” for his hard work of advocacy he deserves it. Not too many kids his age can muster up and display the courage and eloquence he has shown.
My S’s lowest grade at Harvard was a B+ in expository writing his freshman year. He’s an excellent writer, got an 800 on the SAT writing section, but could not crack that nut, likely because the A’s in that class were all future professional writers with talent beyond just excellent.
He can chose whatever school accepts him but David Hogg doesn’t need Harvard to accomplish his goals - he’s shown that the past year. Harvard needs him much more than he needs Harvard. He could go to UCI and still do great things.