First Daughter's College Choice?

musicprnt
Tue, 03 May 2016 19:51:32 +0000

It is funny when people rant and rave because Malia Obama got into Harvard, yet the same people when people question the scions of the rich and famous (also known as the dumb and rich when my cousin went to Dartmouth) have preferential admissions to the top schools. Anyone remember when people brought up the fact that George W Bush got into Yale with a C average in prep school, then got into Harvard Business school with a C average in college, and all those dumping on Malia, that she only got in because she is black and the daughter of the president, went around saying that was class warfare and jealousy and so forth? Bush went to a prestigious prep school (and got in because his family had a legacy there, not because of outstanding achievement in school), got mediocre grades, got into Yale, Got into Harvard Business with mediocre grades, meanwhile Malia apparently did very well all along, did great at one of the most prestigious schools around, a very competitive one, yet she doesn’t deserve to be there or must have gotten in under “affirmative action?”. Colin Powell once commented on that, he said that many of those who railed against affirmative action as being unfair got into top schools because they were legacy/connected students…

There was an article not long ago about how the kids of the entrepeneur class are getting into top schools with less than stellar grades,yet where are the hateful comments?.. I also wonder if those ranting about Malia wondered why Donald Trump’s kids got into U of P, that given his status as an alumnus, having given money to the place and being very, very well off, how they got in unfairly to an ivy league school, when they may not have been stellar (ivanka is supposed to be very bright, the other Trump kids by reputation aren’t exactly brilliant).

As far as the gap year goes, I think she was really smart to do it. There are a variety of reasons to do it, but getting out in the world and seeing and doing things makes sense to me. My son went to a prep school for several years that turned out kids who got into the top level schools, but also was very different in some ways, and they encouraged kids to take the time to find themselves and what the world is before going to school, and more than a few did, and I remember talking to one of the English teachers, really amazing woman, and she said that one of the things that made teaching worthwhile was when kids got what she said when she encouraged them to experience things, rather than go on the academic treadmill rat race, and they did it and came back and said what a difference it made. It does make a difference, I saw that in grad school in my management program, the kids coming right out of the academic track in some ways were so clueless, didn’t know the reality of how things work, and kept proposing these things right out of the management book as if it was reality…