<p>I don’t know why this headline on CC has to perpetuate the myth of the essay. His essay did not get him into the Ivies. It was his entire application.</p>
<p>I see many tearing this kid down saying that there are more qualified students of more represented backgrounds, and I understand the frustration as a middle class white female. But I guess if you think about it from a college’s point of view, it makes a lot of sense. I wouldn’t want to go to a school of all Asians, or all whites, or all anything. Everybody likes diversity. I’m sure Ivies could easily fill a class exclusively of Asians or whites if they wanted to, but nobody would want to go. While there are certainly more qualified applicants, it’s not as if Enin is unqualified. If it were kids with like 2.0 GPA’s and 24 ACT getting in because they add diversity, I’d have a problem with that. But he clearly is a smart kid. Congrats to him.</p>
<p>@fallenchemist
Why are you trying to argue extensively? All I said was that his essay was good, but not excellent (in my opinion) and that many more academically qualified students are rejected from those schools. I see no way one can turn this into an argument. </p>
<p>@fallenchemist The issue I have with your position is that you doubt that this kid got in mostly on the combination of academics+race. Why would you doubt a reporter, whose job is to report, especially in something where bias probably would not be introduced? I’m not naive, I know that the press can be a little off at times. This is especially true when they have an agenda to push. But in a story where there is little gained or lost from swaying opinions, they will typically tell it as it is. And major awards and such would definitely be picked up by the press. I mean, you mean to say that if this kid made it to USAMO they wouldn’t report it? The press, I guess, can be stupid at times, but they are not that incompetent. </p>
<p>You might doubt it as a more mature and experienced adult far removed from the current world of admissions, but as a high schooler on the ground witnessing classmates’ results, I have no reason to doubt this person’s results. The only two kids this year that got into Harvard were black. Both with iffy standardized test scores, flawed transcripts, and meh ECs. They were both slightly worse applicants than this kid. Only one kid that was not a URM made it into HYP, but it was engineering so that also doesn’t really count as a “true HYP admit”. </p>
<p>There’s no reason to doubt it. This is just how admissions works. The Ivy Leagues have diversity quotas they want to fill to prop up disadvantaged races. It’s their idea of justice, and it is their right. Like I said, no need to make it more complicated. Just call it like it is.</p>
<p>@novafan1225 “I’m sure Ivies could easily fill a class exclusively of Asians…if they wanted to, but nobody would want to go.”</p>
<p>That’s racist. Your statement is maybe valid from the perspective of middle class (EDIT: racist) white men, but not for anyone tolerant enough to look past race. Berkeley with its almost 50% Asian population, still is one of the most highly regarded, prestigious, and selective schools in the country. Not everyone weighs every value or moral the same. </p>
<p>^^^ Yup.</p>
<p>(except not all middle class white men would have that intolerant viewpoint).</p>
<p>@Suchwowmuchcool -
Where did I say that? Absolutely nowhere. I said based on the factors reported alone. The reporting involved academics plus his viola playing, and the essay. I don’t recall reading much about race being a factor per the reporter, although I am sure that was a factor. Again you read too much into what I said (and didn’t say). You should be a reporter.</p>
<p>I have no idea what the kid got in based on, mostly. Guess what? Neither do you. Both you and Feynman are saying that because certain factors such as EC’s or the actual results of the AP tests were not reported in the story, they must not be present or very good. I am simply trying to tell you (and I do understand that as a high school student you can’t possibly have the experience with this that I do) that the lack of reporting absolutely doesn’t tell you anything about the facts regarding those issues. Surely you can see what a leap that is, if you assume every time something is not in a story it must not exist. That would be absurd.</p>
<p>@suchwowmuchcool… isn’t that a convenient bit of editing there on your part? Thank goodness we have novafan1225’s post to read for ourselves and judge accordingly. Just as I can read all of your posts in this thread and clearly see that, when it comes to racism, you are utterly blinded by your own.</p>
<p>@chesterton I edited because I wanted to keep the “racist white middle class man” bit in without contradicting myself. Anyway, even if I hadn’t edited, my point would still stand. Saying you wouldn’t go to a school just because it is populated mostly by Whites and Asians is racist. I mean, earlier in the post, the guy posted “I wouldn’t want to go to a school of all Asians, or all White”. If that isn’t racist, I don’t know what is.</p>
<p>Nothing I said has been racist. Can you specifically show where I have made a racist statement?</p>
<p>@fallenchemist You know what, you’re right. I read too much into it.</p>
<p>@Suchwowmuchcool - I give you a lot of credit for owning up. Thanks for that. Peace.</p>
<p>@wannabefeynman a) after a certain score (around 2200), all SAT scores look relatively similar, b) top 2% of a large class is much more difficult than top% of a small class, c) if AP’s are “overrated” then why do you make the comment that students similar to him don’t get in?</p>
<p>I’m sorry but your post comes off a bit rude.</p>
<p>Why are you all trying to sensationalize every post? All I said was that his essay was good, but not excellent (in my opinion) and that many more academically qualified students are rejected from those schools. I see no way one can turn this into an argument. I do not see how my post was rude either. It was my opinion - if you disagree, then I will be happy to defend my opinion all day, and if you for whatever reason find it discourteous, then I apologize (note that it obviously was not my intention at all). </p>
<p>I’m sorry but I just can’t with some of the bitterness in this thread. If he got in because of his race then why aren’t all minority populations higher at these institutions? Literally whites still make up the majority of the class with Asians coming in at second (and this is still a smaller percentage). If the Ivies were specifically looking for more African Americans (regardless of accomplishments) don’t you think there would be more of these students admitted into these schools? Why is it so hard for you all to believe that this particular student was admitted into highly selective universities without -or regardless of- a “hook”? </p>
<p>This kid worked for his admission. It didn’t just happen because he was black. An extremely selective school is not going to lower their standards for one student (if it doesn’t benefit them financially). I’m sorry but it’s just not going to happen.</p>
<p>@wannabefeynman @Suchwowmuchcool - Here is an article I found in the local paper that pretty much cements what I was saying about incomplete reporting. <a href=“http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/kwasi-enin-s-faith-work-ethic-keys-to-academic-success-family-says-1.7620904”>http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/kwasi-enin-s-faith-work-ethic-keys-to-academic-success-family-says-1.7620904</a> Specifically note the following quotes from the article:</p>
<p>
Did you see anything about clubs or track in the other articles? I sure didn’t. But see, they exist, at least according to this reporter.</p>
<p>
The article referenced that started this thread said nothing about any of that, and is also more than is mentioned in USA Today article as well, except for the hospital work.</p>
<p>I rest my case.</p>
<p>My school had a similar case this year. African American student in top 2% with a 2240. The usual EC’s for a student of this caliber. I’m assuming the Usual Essays. Applied to 5 Ivies. Got into 4 (waitlisted at Harvard). I’m pretty sure if he had applied to all of them he would have gotten into all of them but Harvard. This guy just got lucky that he got one more. I’m sure it happens everywhere. Most just happen to get randomly rejected by one or dont apply to all of them!</p>
<p>I honestly was expecting a better essay…dude is obviously qualified for the ivies based on his merits alone. As an African American, I honestly think race played SOME part in his acceptances everywhere. However, the key word is some. He is qualified based on merit alone, but his race would add much needed diversity at each school. Plus, I hate to admit it, but a black male with his SAT score is quite rare statistically speaking due to a lot of factors. Plus, who knows if he needed financial aid or not? I read his parents were both doctors or something. If he didn’t need financial aid, what school would not snag him? Not trying to undermine the dude’s accomplishment at all because it is amazing, but I feel people are overrating how much race has to do with it. If people want to form those types of arguments, then superior financial status is the golden ticket to any college in the country whether you have the merits to get in or not. I see nobody complaining about that. </p>
<p>
Tell that to every other applicant who is just as sincere, honest, and thoughtful, did not get an essay edited by an adult, writes with perfect grammar, thematically highlights a joyful path through life instead of life’s struggles, talks about a source of passion, does not pretend to be the next Ivy League graduate to change the world, clearly and succinctly explains a motivation in life and how it has been educational about life, is a more impressive scholar than Kwasi by every measure, and gets shut out from the Ivy League.</p>
<p>It is perfectly fine to admit that the Ivies admit a class as a whole rather than admitting individuals, and that their goal is to socially engineer a specific kind of community rather than to make sure that the most desirable student gets in, then to make sure that the second-most desirable student gets in, etc. Once that is admitted (whether or not we agree with the motives of social engineering), it is no longer necessary to make the big stretch for a convincing argument that Kwasi is an all-around better person than everyone who got rejected from the same applicant pool. Instead, we now have the explanation that the people who admitted him thought that the entire class, including him, would meet their social engineering goals better than it could meet those goals if they replaced Kwasi with any other applicant.</p>
<p>Remember, to answer the question “how did _____ get in?” the answer must be more than just “_____ is a spectacular person” because for the schools Kwasi applied to, there are many times more spectacular people applying than there are seats available. The uncomfortable truth is that some spectacular people are incomprehensibly more spectacular than other spectacular people, e.g. Archimedes probably had enough genius ideas to outshine the combined ideas of the 10 most intelligent people you or I know, even though we would classify them all as “brilliant” people. And when asking what an applicant can contribute to a school, the potential to be the next Archimedes makes every other quality look superficial and inconsequential, especially demographic information.</p>
<p>Basically, I am saying (not in response to any particular person):</p>
<p>In response to “_____ is more accomplished, and a better person, than almost all high school students; therefore, he deserves his Ivy admissions” – that does not work because there will always be someone who is just as good of a person, but many times more accomplished, who got shut out from the same schools.</p>
<p>In response to “_____ University could easily fill a class with brilliant and accomplished scholars, but that would be boring” – okay, that probably is the university’s motive (again, social engineering), but it is a questionable argument because it ignores the fact that there is extreme differentiation in terms of intelligence and academic accomplishment, even among the very upper echelon of college applicants in the country. One group of “top” applicants might contain the next Archimedes, the next Shakespeare, the next Mozart, and the next Einstein, and another group of “top” applicants might not. Hardly a negligible difference, especially in comparison to the difference between a freshman class with n URMs and a freshman class with n+4 URMs.</p>
<p>After reading all these comments and more about Kwasi Enin, I think the real mistake was for Mr. Berry to even post this thread with the title “Here’s The College Essay That Got A High School Senior Into Every Ivy League School”. Shame on you Mr. Berry, you of all people should know better than to imply, nay actually say, that an essay alone got a student into any school. This whole publicity blitz is something of a travesty, but really. After all the time and effort that goes into trying to make people realize how many different factors go into college admissions, this thread was a bad idea.</p>
<p>^^ Yes. It is time to close this thread. It started with the wrong premise and went down hill from there ;)</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s that great, to be honest. </p>