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<p>More like kudzu, can’t get rid of it…ever.</p>
<p>Seriously, URM isn’t as powerful as people make it out to be. If you happen to come across as extremely arrogant in an essay, there’s probably not a spot for you at a hyper-selective university regardless of if you’re black or white. I’d guess there are tons of factors that can work that way, but I really don’t have a basis for that.</p>
<p>I want to say: look at all the misinfo being recycled here. Its all a conspiracy, right? Folks get the idea they have done what should “earn” them a seat, then have to figure what went wrong.</p>
<p>Well, what went wrong may not have been not wearing a headdress or declaring yourself gay. It may have been the superficial thinking that shined thru in the app.</p>
<p>As I wrote yesterday, we’re in the Season of Unfairness.</p>
<p>Anyone who wants to make handy quotes out of Espenshade ought to read what HE has to say about his study.</p>
<p>Suzie’s article now seems fully blocked, except for a few response blogs that quote sections. To imply those who get in are forgeries or subpar is to dismiss the whole process. You really want to go that far, while still buying in?</p>
<p>Spare me the faux angst of people who are crawling ALL OVER THEMSELVES to get in (or get their kids in) to these places, while simultaneously decrying all the unqualified URM’s / superficial schmoozers / dumb jocks / rich-kid legacies who are there. If their student bodies are OH SO BAD AND UNQUALIFIED, then why do you want your kid there again? No one believes for an instant that you all believe their student bodies are oh-so-awful and yet you’re dying to get your kids into theese schools.</p>
<p>I have a couple of comments.</p>
<p>First, having a rich family helps kids develop real credentials, not just fake ones. Things like music lessons, top quality instruments, summer programs, and the time and knowledge to know about contests and apply for them–these lead to real accomplishments. It’s a fact of life that having money helps you get these things. So I think it’s OK to gripe about the advantages of money–but we know, really, that a lot of the credentials aren’t fake.</p>
<p>As to URMs, it’s pretty clear that the top schools take some students that they wouldn’t have taken but for the fact that they are URMs–their academic credentials are still very, very good, but not quite as good as the credentials of non-URMs. This agitates some people, while others (including me) think it’s a good idea. For every hook, schools make some compromises on academic stats–you can argue endlessly about whether any particular hook is a good idea (my kids benefitted from legacy, so I think that one’s obviously totally justified), but there’s no point arguing about whether there’s a benefit from having the hook–there clearly is.</p>
<p>“If their student bodies are OH SO BAD AND UNQUALIFIED, then why do you want your kid there again? No one believes for an instant that you all believe their student bodies are oh-so-awful and yet you’re dying to get your kids into theese schools.”</p>
<p>YES! YES! YES! Exactly!</p>
<p>Interestingly, my H reports that he ran into the same exact attitude at his state flagship 30 years ago when HE was an URM there. And, my younger D experienced this attitude in our district’s gifted program which used a strict numbers cutoff-no possibility of any boost in anything. And this, friends, is why there are still HBCU’s, since not every URM wants to have to explain themselves to ignorant people every other day.</p>
<p>Well, I guess my son must be guilty of shameless self promotion. All he did was join a national nonprofit organization after he was nearly killed by a fatal blood clot in his lungs (twice)- he accepted the organization’s nomination to be the young adult representative of their patient advocacy committee. He formed a support group for patients who have suffered from blood clots. He approached two hospitals about improving preventative efforts for hospitalized patients. He was invited to speak to a group of 500 people about his efforts. He did this for one reason- because he truly cared. And no, he wasn’t accepted to any Ivies. But, he will take his talents to either WUSTL, JHU, or Michigan. As he posted on his facebook page, “their loss will be someone else’s gain”. The college admissions game is so unpredictable, and he respects that. I’m just proud for all that he has done and will continue to do in college as an advocate. What I taught him was the lesson that life isn’t always fair and that there is always a fantastic opportunity available when your first choice doesn’t pan out.</p>
<p>I agree with Shawbridge. I came to CC a highly dissalusioned mom, I dont believe in the current college system. I am just glad we are done. (last year)</p>
<p>I really take “just be yourself” as having an implied tag : and we’ll chose those of you ‘real selves’ that we see as worthy.</p>
<p>Hunt, oddly enough, plenty of lower SES kids have been building credentials through high school. Not cuz Mummy and Daddy could write a check. I’ve said before, they can leave more privileged kids in the dust, with DE, school activities, community leadership and more. In contrast, the ones relying on “oh poor me”- or worse, “oh wonderful me”- are conveying something less desirable. </p>
<p>And the issue of scores is…while CC looks hierarchically, the bar is not 2300. It doesn’t have to be.</p>
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<p>Same darn thing, in the long run. All fine schools and they’ll get him where he needs to go. Congrats to him - he has just the right attitude!</p>
<p>She obviously wasn’t accepted to those schools because she forgot to mention chicken mcnuggets in her essay.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m bringing that one back.</p>
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<p>LOL! But in real life, there’s no difference between a 2300 and a 2400. It’s hardly as though in the real world, the 2400’s are the ones running the companies and coming up with new ideas, and the 2300’s are just pedaling furiously to keep up with the brilliant 2400’s. </p>
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<p>You got into AMHERST, WILLIAMS, EMORY AND CORNELL – four of the top colleges in this country – and you are complaining? You know, you can only attend one school at a time. Getting into any one of those should have been enough to make you dance on tables and shout in the streets with excitement – to get into 4 is an incredible blessings – but oh, no, boo hoo, only Cornell and not any of the other Ivies? Spare me. It’s not an attitude that will get you far in life, alexisss. Sorry.</p>
<p>My Harvard bound son was building his credentials since he was in preschool, or younger! As a family we were building all three of my kids’ credentials, but we certainly weren’t thinking that way. Our choices were almost always academic, lots of reading and writing, lots of board games and very little tv. He never participated in activities with the plan that those activities would get him into Harvard. His strong passion is running track and this passion was evident on his application through his essays and his recommendations.</p>
<p>So, what annoyed me about this blog post was that Suzy didn’t seem to understand that many “regular” kids can achieve this definition of success through hard work and sacrifice.</p>
<p>During this season I have seen a lot of kids with shocked disappointment after decisions came out. But, I’m not sure these kids or many people realize just how much work and sacrifice throughout a kid’s whole life is needed to get a spot at an elite college.</p>
<p>pg, I’m pretty alexissss is joking.</p>
<p>She posted something similar on a different thread (which is where I knew the schools she had gotten into). I’m hoping she is, in which case I apologize!</p>
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<p>It’s more than joking. Alexissss was using sarcasm to mock those who felt URMs were guaranteed admission to HYPSMC merely for that status. </p>
<p>I’m surprised PG didn’t pick up on that as that post broadcasted the sarcastic mocking tone loud and clear.</p>
<p>As always at this time of year, I think it’s nice to cut some slack to kids who are disappointed in their college acceptance results. Whether their results are fair, unfair, predictable, outrageous, etc., I always have sympathy for a kid who was hoping for something but doesn’t get it. Some sour grapes are inevitable, and forgivable, within reason.</p>
<p>I am loving this post. Elite school…Elite education. We live in an era that information cannot be held inside institutions anymore. It is out there being accessed day and night in libraries and databases across the world; so any inquisitive kid with a privilege mind can become whatever he/she wants. Are all MITs Harvard graduates successful? Some are millionaires, some are tutors or high school teachers (I know four). Congratulations to the class of 2017, wherever you will attend .</p>