<p>My DH says what makes me funny (to him) is watching me search for humor in things he finds funny all the time (i.e. I missed the humor gene), I it strikes me odd that this one I find humor in.</p>
<p>Oh well, there certainly are others here with differing opinions that I very often agree with and I respect their views. Agree to disagree. :)</p>
<p>Her remarks were born from (if from any source) that incorrigible unsentimental sentimentality of the young which takes the form of hard and often crass levity.</p>
<p>Here, in my opinion, is an article that covers some of the same ground, but is funny without taking shots: [Cavedad’s</a> Crash Course in College Admissions - Washington Post](<a href=“http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2009-03-30/opinions/36886716_1_caveman-mailman-daughter]Cavedad’s”>http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2009-03-30/opinions/36886716_1_caveman-mailman-daughter)
Of course, this was written by an adult.</p>
<p>Note: my son went to high school with the girl in this article, and he might even be the double legacy referred to (with some facts changed)–but nobody could really be offended by this.</p>
<p>
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<p>And, as many things in the US, there is where it ends. We are well divided (perhaps hopelessly so) in politics and about almost every subject worth debating. People do have different opinions. In the case of humor, it is even harder to get a consensus, especially when humor, as it often is, is at the expense of “lesser” subgroups. </p>
<p>Take a look at some of the people who have voiced a “disagreement” and you will see that they do not necessarily share many attributes. For what it is worth, I did NOT consider myself a target of Ms. Weiss humor. And I doubt that Hunt did. Alexisss, obviously did, and rightfully so.</p>
<p>The point I made days ago is that the underlying issues are worthy of a debate, but that they are hardly the ones Ms Weiss derided for comical effect. The biggest issue is that our country still has to rely extensively on crutches and bandaids to correct inequities and imbalances.</p>
<p>Too low SAT, too low GPA. She clearly is not qualified for those schools. What did she expect?</p>
<p>Preach gurl! She is right on the money.</p>
<p>Very good points xiggi. FWIW, my “agree to disagree” comment in my last post was intended to reflect my place on the subject only, not an overall statement that I in any way felt others should agree to disagree or that they needed to stop any dialogue. It was simply the place I had come to.</p>
<p>good link Hunt.</p>
<p>"“No, you idiot,” his daughter snapped. “It’s not good. Bowdoin has a 75 percent yield. I’ll never get in!” She ran to the back of the cave, sobbing."</p>
<p>I think I have been the caveman. Daddies bear the brunt of the abuse. :D</p>
<p>I think it’s just wrong calling admission to any decent college, much less an Ivy league school, a crap shoot.
Unless you only mean it’s to be uncertain and risky, other wise, it’s in poor taste and demeaning to those that were actually accepted.</p>
<p>A crapshoot is when Einstein has the same chance as me to get in!</p>
<p>I understand that the girl wrote the letter as satire and as a method of venting frustration.
But, nothing that was part of her resume suggested she had assured entrance to an Ivy league school. She grew up privileged and achieved only so much, she does come of as having a irrational sense of entitlement.</p>
<p>@fire123 - I respectfully disagree. The college admissions process is a crapshoot (calling it a “crab” shoot might be considered offensive to crabs, but I digress). If anyone who was admitted to a “decent” (however you define that term) college is offended by calling the admissions process a crapshoot (of course, are we really talking about shooting crap - is there a law against that, at least within city limits), needs to get off the politically correct train. </p>
<p>Why is it a crapshoot -</p>
<p>Kids accepted at one school and then rejected at another which has a higher admit rate or both schools have similar/identical admit rates; kid accepted at one Ivy, denied by another; kid accepted at an Ivy, rejected by a Vanderbilt; the “holistic” process colleges claim they use also renders the process a crapshoot - I mean, come on, holistic really means we will do what we damn well please or as the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Potter Stewart said about obsencity - I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it.</p>
<p>Bottom line - the college admission is a crap or, as you note in the subject line of your post, a crab shoot. </p>
<p>The nice thing for our family, we have 4 years before we have to clean and load our crapshooter again. Happy hunting.</p>
<p>I enjoyed her letter and I agree that trying to get into any school involves a roll of the dice. Some people go looking for trouble but she’s not one of them. I applaud her healthy reaction to rejection and am glad we all got to share in it. Life is full of disappointment and being able to take that disappointment and turn it into humor is an enviable talent.</p>
<p>FWIW, My D had better quals than the writer and she was rejected at her reaches *and *matches and only made the safeties. If she had a better acceptance rate, maybe I wouldn’t have seen the humor either. Her letter speaks to many kids.</p>
<p>My view is that it isn’t a crapshoot, but it looks like one to the applicant because the process and the criteria aren’t transparent. I think if you could be in the room when the decisions were being made, most of them would make sense, at least from the viewpoint of those making the decisions.</p>
<p>I know a woman who was an admissions officer at an Ivy League school. She said that after vetting the applications down, they would make a circle on the floor and throw the remaining stack of applications into it. they would then begin selecting from those that landed inside the circle.</p>
<p>it may sound like an urban legend, but she was explaining to a group of disinterested friends just how frustratingly arbitrary the process could be.</p>
<p>Whether or not Ms. Weiss’s piece is truly funny/ satirical is debatable.</p>
<p>What the piece does suggest is that many young people wear a
mantle of irony, sarcasm, worldliness, and cynicism like it’s a second
skin.</p>
<p>Perhaps the admissions officers picked up on this, and were
able to see through her attempts at being wry and self-deprecating
in her essays.</p>
<p>Perhaps they’re desperate to find what is genuine. Perhaps they
want kids to be kids.</p>
<p>I’d hate for things to be worse than they are for a young girl rejected by her top choices for college. She took a stab at humor and it fell flat with me.</p>
<p>One issue I have is why did the WSJ publish this? If it was a satirical publication like Rolling Stone, I might’ve seen some humor in it. </p>
<p>Why is a serious paper publishing poorly executed, borderline offensive satire from a 17-18 yo kid with an axe to grind???</p>
<p>That reeks of privilege to me?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You think? </p>
<p>Oh well, if calling admission decisions a crapshoot makes any of you feel better, be my guest. It will not change anything to the outcome. And you will be none the wiser.</p>
<p>If my kid was rejected, I’d probably call it a crap shoot. If accepted, then admissions is part of a brilliantly developed process to select only the finest applicants from among the masses of applications received.</p>
<p>Perspective is reality to many.</p>
<p>And sometimes the perspective sends mixed signals. When an applicant gets accepted to his reach which has a 12% acceptance rate but gets waitlisted at the school with the 24% acceptance rate, you end up shaking your head at the nature of the process. It can be random/arbitrary/crapshoot but we only see part of the process, the numbers (GPA/SAT/ACT) and activities (EC/Sports). Many times we haven’t seen the essay or whether the student demonstrated interest or dare I say it, applied for financial aid which can influence decisions in those schools that aren’t need blind.
I have found myself hiring employees and there are times when I have 20 applicants for one position, often almost all are qualified. To winnow it down often is decided by the weirdest factors much like college admissions…</p>
<p>in middle my daughter applied to this private highschool. my daughter was an awesome candidate. grades, scores, recs, the whole package</p>
<p>the school had a freshman class of 250.
125 girls, take that pool, and take away 30 slots for sports
95 girls, take that pool, and take away 30 for siblings
65 slots, take that pool and take away 5 for staff’s children
60 slots, take that pool and take away 5 for celebs, politicions, the like
55 slots, take that pool and take away 8 for alumnis kids,
47 slots now, for 850 non-connected applicants</p>
<p>at that point, it was indeed a crap shoot, if she had gotten in, it would have been a lot of luck, timing, etc</p>