<p>Bay@136
Well, I suspect it explains the WSJ publication.
It certainly was not the quality of the writing.</p>
<p>If it is a crapshoot, it’s only one for people who have stats/achievements/hooks that make them plausible candidates. For everybody else, it’s not a crapshoot at all.</p>
<p>I think the kid with an ACT score of 8,is the exception to the rule versus the regular run of the 35/36 that applies to an Ivy. maybe having the potential and not much of anything is the true ticket to success, because our economy was pretty tanked thanks to all those people with big brains… :0</p>
<p>I would say that the “crap shoot” part is whether your application fits the institutional needs of the university for that particular year, and how many others in your pool also offer the same qualifications. </p>
<p>If your hook is pole vaulting and you apply in a year when the team’s two pole vaulters are graduating, then you’ve got a shot, especially if few other pole vaulters are interested in that college that year. But if the team already has two pole vaulters who are freshmen, or if 100 other pole vaulters apply that year, then you don’t have much chance.</p>
<p>My guess is that this theory applies to all types of candidates, including female applicants from Pennsylvania who don’t need FA and have Capitol Hill experience. A college only needs so many of those, and there may have been others who had better test scores than Suzy, or who also had additional talents or characteristics that made them more attractive.</p>
<p>What makes it hard is that we never get to know the reason for the rejection.</p>
<p>I’ll admit I didn’t read the article. Don’t have a child applying to an Ivy at least for 3 years. But as an anecdotal story, I did have a neighbor apply to Harvard with about a 2150 SAT, 3.7 GPA, nothing much more to speak of. But she acted like she was already in. I just said “good luck” when I’d visit her mom, a good friend. Well, she got in! I said “that’s great”. She said right to me “I know your wondering how but Gramps (her Grandfather) is a Circuit Court Judge that knows so and so.” (High ranking Harvard official). So I don’t know if that makes it a crap shoot for others, but definitely not the fairest system.</p>
<p>I can’t help but think “boo hoo” and “too bad so sad” when I see/hear these stories about Ivies rejecting self-styled perfect candidates.</p>
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<p>Yep, but how does one increases the odds? Schools have different needs at different times, so the pole vaulter who prepares a reasonable set of targets will reduce the chances of being the third best vaulter when they need two. And today, nobody should rely on a single application.</p>
<p>The above also explains --and it is not that hard to understand-- that one candidate will fare differently at different schools. There is NOTHING extraordinary for one student to be accepted at Harvard and rejected at Duke. Does not make Duke more selective nor H easier to get in. It is all about marrying candidates with the right school at the right moment. </p>
<p>Applications should be viewed in their total outcome and not school by school.</p>
<p>However, if the pole vaulter happens to be two feet below the recruiting norm of the NCAA, it won’t matter how many packages he is sending. Either way, it is hardly the crapshoot some love to allege.</p>
<p>I don’t know what is so objectionable about the term “crapshoot”. Life isn’t fair, get over it. a lot of things are a crapshoot.</p>
<p>Tufts has said (something like) they get 20,000 applicants for 2,000 openings and all of the 20,000 meet our qualifications. They are looking for what makes you special. In my simple world that is a crapshoot because what you think makes you special may not be what they are looking for.</p>
<p>when I read on this board of students being accepted at a school where DD was rejected and their stats are noticeably weaker than hers, I call that a crapshoot because even though you meet the advertised criteria, you never know…</p>
<p>As far as increasing the odds, how do you do that if you don’t have some kind of insider information?</p>
<p>A girl in DD’s class (ranked #2 of 250), unweighted GPA at 4.0, SAT over 2300, has AP classes and volunteer hours up the wazoo. has been filling out her college resume since 8th grade. has wanted to go to Bowdoin ever since she visited 4 years ago. not even wait listed there but was waitlisted at an Ivy.</p>
<p>I don’t understand the hatred on here… it’s pretty obvious that neither the applicant nor the parents are butt-hurt about the rejection(s). Ill echo what others said and just say that it was funny and satirical, and I believe that reading any more into it and criticizing her for being “overprivileged and entitled” is reflective of a deeper insecurity regarding one’s own position in life.</p>
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<p>I think it has to do with a sensitive nerve struck in those who have had an Ivy experience because they somehow translate it as an attack on their merits. But I can tell you if my daughter had been accepted to one of the 5 Ivies she applied to, I would have still referred to it as a crap shoot. The only difference would have been that she had scored.</p>
<p>I agree - although who really cares - with FlyMeTotTheMoon. It seems many seem a little bent by describing the admissions process as a “crapshoot.” It is hard to describe it as anything but. If objective criteria (i.e., grades and test scores) were the only criteria, it would not be a crap shoot because you would know exactly what it takes to be admitted. Now, when you have schools - justifiably so IMO - saying it goes beyond the objective criteria and involves a more holistic approach, well, then you are moving towards the shooting of crap because the additional criteria then becomes harder to define and most likely differs from school to school - which is why some kids with great objective creds are denied at one school and accepted at a similar school. </p>
<p>Calling something a crapshoot doesn’t denigrate those who were successful in receiving an offer of admission, it simply describes a situation that is hard to define.</p>
<p>Hmm I’m late to the discussion…but anyway.</p>
<p>I thought that the piece was really funny, and I don’t really sense a whiny tone (maybe some bitterness…but hey, can’t really blame her). It’s clear to me that it was written with a goal of being satirical, but I could still see many points that could be pretty (unintentionally) insulting (e.g. the whole coming-out-of-the-closet thing).</p>
<p>And with the whole admissions being a “crapshoot” thing…what’s wrong with calling it that? Although really, I think that’s only true at “middle” of the applicant pool. At the very bottom, no one gets in. At the very top (although many would argue against this), the chance of getting in also increases to a pretty high probability. Some anecdotal (yes, I know, it doesn’t really mean anything): A girl I know who had EXCEPTIONAL (like REALLY exceptional) application/achievements got into all 6 Ivies that she applied to, MIT, JHU, and Stanford. She wasn’t rejected from a single school. (And no, she wasn’t URM, she was Asian. She wasn’t famous, low-income, super-rich, or legacy either)</p>
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<p>Everyone in America is privileged. I agree that it speaks to an individual’s insecurity to imply (or outright ordain) that Ms. Weiss is not “entitled” to feel spurned and hurt by her rejection and express it publicly, but somehow it would be okay if others who grew up with less and worked harder whined about theirs. There are people in this world living in caves and dirt, who hunt for their own food to stay alive, people. I guess to some here, that should mean you all better shut up.</p>
<p>To whom much is given, much is expected. She comes from a pretty privileged background but didn’t seem to do much to leverage her considerable resources, which makes me wonder if she was really serious about Ivy. </p>
<p>Still, a funny essay for what it is, making fun of the admissions process, which has much to be made fun of.</p>
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<p>That’s true, Hunt, but with 30,000 typical applicants, there are bound to be at least a handful of kids with across-the-board credentials similar to your kid’s. So acceptance might well hinge on when your application is read and whether you struck a special chord with your regional rep due to a turn of phrase or other minor detail.</p>
<p>Anyone who feels validated solely by the school he attends has serious self-esteem issues. More helpful to think of these universities as art collections and the applicants as works of art. Some of the works collected are hard to fathom. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There is only room to hang a finite number of Picasso’s. There is no guarantee you will appreciate in value by attending one of these institutions. Perhaps you will stand out in another school’s collection.</p>
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<p>Maybe.</p>
<p>In most cases it’s not a sole validation, but rather a component of the choice. CC fosters this belief. Look at all the threads asking for advice on whether to choose a flagship or an Ivy. Ninety percent of the responses advocate for choosing the Ivy, regardless of cost or major.</p>
<p>Its a well known fact that people CAN pay their way to get into ivy leagues, ive seen it happen myself. The father has a legitimate point, the admissions system is flawed and personally i think the government should step in to private institutions like this to make sure only the ones who DESERVE a spot should get the spot, not the ones who can make the biggest donations =.=</p>
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<p>People with sub par stats who only get in because their parents donate a massive sum of money to the school (You’re probably looking at 20 million+) probably make up less than 1% of students at top schools.</p>
<p>I guess the reason I don’t like the term “crapshoot” is that it suggests that the process is random and is not susceptible to strategy. I don’t think that’s the case. I’d say it’s more like a poker game–where there are random elements, but also strategic steps that you can take to make the most of the hand you’re dealt. As I’ve said numerous times, just because I can’t predict something doesn’t mean that it’s random. And for college admissions, there are things you can do to hedge against the apparent randomness–applying to more schools, finding schools that have a particularly good fit, presenting yourself at your best, etc.</p>