My nephew was told at one school that they didn’t use essays as part of the application any more because there was so much abuse. However, if the school gets rid of one part of the application, then the other parts become more important. My kids both applied (and attended) schools without an essay as part of the application.
Very few adults can write like a 17 year old. And who knows the range of 17 year old writing skills better than the folks who read thousands annually?
But sure, some kids do have them written for them.
Actually, I expect there are adults who specialize in writing like a 17 year old and do it quite well for compensation.
I just don’t think there are that many.
I don’t know yet how to explain that there are so many possible mistakes one can make in an app that it’s hard to call the essay a linchpin that overcomes everything else.
And there are 17 year olds who write exceptional essays.
So what do these HS students who get extra time for their ACT do when they get to a rigorous college? Ask for extra time on those tests? How about later on in the workplace? When the work isn’t done on time, do they bring a doctor’s note explaining that they need extra time?
My daughter gets extra time on standardized tests and college exams. She works as a lifeguard when she’s not in school. Last summer, her quick thinking saved a toddler who fell into the pool when her mother’s back was turned. People’s assumption that those with learning disorders are stupid and slow is a little obnoxious.
Do you understand (no) that students grow out of these chemical imbalances like ADHD? They are not lifelong. If it’s a different type of disability, or a cluster of supposedly permanent cognitive impairments, then some people, yes, may – may – need restrictions on the kinds of jobs they apply for, or they may learn by that time how to work around their various disabilities. Good guidance about LD, when a teenager, actually consists of a combination of accommodation, self-awareness, and self-help. The latter includes the student’s own discovery or creation of strategies to help him or her cope with learning difficulties, yet overcome the most challenging aspects of them, and triumph – building confidence throughout the process.
I wonder how many skeptical adults and suspicious high school students have evaluated themselves honestly. I will tell you, as one who has hired others in the past, that one of the responsibilities of adulthood is honest self-assessment about one’s own limitations. I actually think that might be a surprising good effect of the dreaded interview question, “What are your weaknesses?” While none of us wants to disclose what might eliminate us from a job requiring varied and mixed skills, it’s refreshing and really a Plus for the candidate who can admit imperfections. That might be an imperfection to the interviewee, but something the company considers an eventual asset. And anyone who is realistic about his own limitations should be looked on favorably by a company. It’s not only a laudable character trait; it’s a sign that the potential employee will probably not have a heart attack when criticized or redirected by his boss. Or worse, “go postal.”
Students who have been accommodated in high school and whose paperwork is up to date at the time of college registration are legally entitled to various kinds of accommodations in college, depending on the format of the class, the extent of Student Services available, etc. If their paperwork has expired, they must pay for their own retesting as they enter college. One student I have worked with for several years is about to enter a 4-year college in a couple of months. What i foresee with him is a gradual decline in special services over the 4 years. That is actually because he has been accommodated in high school. It has made him more self-confident and self-aware, not less so.
There are two separate issues being discussed here.
First, is whether the system is being abused so that, in addition to the legitimate cases it was meant for, there are a vast number of people that are using it to get an unfair advantage for their children. The recent WSJ article said that about 1/3rd of the kids in the wealthy town of Newton, MA were getting accommodations (and this is in a public school). That is just outright abuse of the system.
The second is whether an LD makes someone less capable in the future. Strictly speaking, the answer is yes, but only in the same way that someone not physically fit is incapable of of some jobs, like being a Marine. But practically speaking, the answer is no, as the vast majority of jobs are still open to them.
And many kids I know who have actually have challenges like ADHD, dyslexia, etc are also none too thrilled with all of these abuses, as it puts them under suspicion for cheating the system as well. The fact that the two issues are being confused in this very thread highlights that.
It amazes me that educated people on these forums can’t understand that having an LD and getting help like extra time is NOT an advantage. It just levels the playing field for those few that need it.
Please get and read https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1277029.You_Mean_I_m_Not_Lazy_Stupid_or_Crazy_
Or any other well known book on the subject. Many with Adhd can see themselves on like most of the pages. Educate yourself what’s it like living with it etc.
People with Adhd /other LD like slow brain processing are not unintelligent… To the contrary many are inventors, Ceos etc.
I have to have people that can multi-task as my employees since I am not going to. I need people around me to do things for me to get things done. I own two corporations. I do know how to delegate.
Both my kids with separate LD issues, one on deans list and other at Michigan for engineering. He needed extra time on ACT. One with 504 and other with IEP. Neither medicated. Neither using their accommodations that they have for college (we think they should they don’t want to)
Also paying thousands of dollars for testing, tutors etc etc since elementary school is no picnic.
Just remember some are playing the system and cheaters will always be cheaters. Don’t take it on the rest of us that are playing by the book and just trying to help our kids succeed.
MODERATOR’S NOTE: Feel free to start a separate thread about LDs and extra time. This thread has drifted off topic.
First sentencing:
And as reported in the Stanford Daily:
Feds are recommending one month jail for Felicity Huffman; which seems to be a relatively generous ‘gift’, especially in light of her reason for cheating 'Huffman argued that the reason she cheated her daughter into college was to make sure she had a “fair shot” ’
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/06/us/felicity-huffman-college-admissions-scandal.html
Just saw that. What a crock. Both parents are talented actors. They can hire the best acting coach. One call to whatever school bfa for acting she is accepted.
How do I make an eye roll emoji? Puhleeze.
Just when I thought that Huffman could not POSSIBLY demonstrate any more entitlement, she goes and proves me wrong. Her kids have so many advantages, compared to 99% of the population, yet she still believes that they are, somehow, disadvantaged, because there are a few things which are not being handed to them on a platinum platter. It seems a characteristic of so many of the rich and powerful that they truly believe that “rich = better than others”. Consequently, they believe that any requirement for getting an award, acceptance, etc, which is not waived or relaxed for the wealthy, is “unfair”.
On the other hand, perhaps she means “fair” compared to many of her friends, acquaintances, and the many wealthy people who get accommodations for their kids’ testing from psychologists who prefer being paid lots of money and hobnobbing with the rich and famous over little things like professional integrity (or who are also believers in the unalienable right of the wealthy to have an easier time than the plebs do).
Why so much interest in Huffman? There were many other families involved in this, some paid millions - yes MILLIONS - to get their kids into many different schools. It is frightening that conversations revolve around the “news” seen on yahoo (which isn’t real news btw), TMZ and Entertainment Tonight. Haven’t seen the other families listed and condemmed here. I haven’t been to the threads on this topic for a long time and find it hilarious that when dropping by after months, the most recents posts still focus on Huffman or LL. Counting Huffman, 50 or so other people did the same thing, some paying way more than $500K than LL did. Yet no one can name any of the other families involved. Do we all just like to see the prettiest rich people fall with no concern of the big picture? How much of what society views as news is just the surface of any story, and feed the public just what they want them to see? Why no discussion on the family that paid/donated/whatever $250K to get their kid into UCLA, or $120K for USD, or $400k for Georgetown? What are their names?
Frankly, I find the filtering of news (and gulibility of many) scarier and way more disturbing than the scandal. The uninformed and brainwashed masses…now that seems more of a concern compared to fifty or so people - out of millions of honest people - cheating the system.
I think there’s interest on Huffman since it sorta sets up the precedent on what the other cases will look like. If she gets 30 days in jail and a $20,000 fine and pleaded guilty then what will the ones that paid $250,000 get?
I do have respect that she did at least did plead guilty.
I think some of the above comments about Huffman are really disingenuous. They conveniently leave out Huffman’s next sentence:
She goes on to say:
I’m not a fan of hers, but at least she has accepted responsibility, in great contrast to some of the other involved characters of this drama.