Question about EA deferreds

Northstarmom
Sun, 20 Mar 2005 09:31:27 +0000

“But someone doesn’t earn respect from me based on what he or she wears; it takes personality, morals, ethics, and other qualities to earn respect from me. Like I said, I guess a different style of opinions from myself and you.”

Wow! I think you are jumping to some very rude conclusions.

No matter how you cut it, how people dress does make a statement about them. And just becuase I am aware that people’s choice of clothing does reflect in some way their personalities doesn’t mean that I don’t judge people on their personality, morals or ethics. To suggest that I don’t is very rude and is jumping to a ridiculous conclusion.

I bet that if you came to my house for a Harvard interview and I greeted you in my jammies, you’d immediately jump to some kind of conclusion about me. Perhaps you’d think that I was some kind of cool person who didn’t care about outward appearances. Perhaps you’d think that I was lazy or ill. I doubt, though, that you would completely overlook the fact that I was in sleeping clothes. If you were a thoughtful person, instead of clinging to whatever conclusion you jumped to, you’d ask why I was wearing my PJs.

A statement such as, “I got out of my sick bed to interview you because I wanted to make sure that you had a Harvard interview,” would reflect far diffferently on my personality, character and ethics than, “I figured, why get dressed? I’m not doing anything important today.”

Meanwhile, for the record, when I set up my interviews with students, I tell them flat out to come casually and to not bother wearing a suit or anything unless they happen to becoming from some place in which that kind of attire is required. I tell them that Harvard and I care far more about what’s in their head than what’s on their bodies.

No one has ever come to an interview with me who has had dirty clothes or who has looked like they rolled out of bed. If a person did that, though, such unusual behavior would be something that I would ask about and that could be included in my report, depending on their answer. As I clearly indicated before, a student who replied that they were very rumpled after being up all night with an EC would be reflecting a very different personality than a student who said they were rumpled because they didn’t think the interview was important enough to wear fresh clothes.

Surely you can see how those differing answers reflect differing personalities.