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<p>That’s the perception of an Ivy Prof and indirectly, those of other adcoms at that particular college’s admissions office at the time. Since she was working with those adcoms and looking over the undergrad applications, you’ll excuse me if I find her words more credible considering she was actually “in the trenches” alongside those adcoms during that time.</p>
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<p>A few years ago we visited a college which is well regarded on CC. During their information session, we watched a welcome video. It was a montage of life on campus and all the activities that the students are involved in. I noticed that not a single Asian person was featured on that video. I did see a focused shot of a chess board and someone playing violin, but oddly their faces were not in the shots. Accuse me of stereotyping, but I assumed that these were Asian students. I then went home, with a more critical eye, and studied the brochure. With over 30 pictures, there were only about 2 Asians; all the other races were fairly represented. This school has about 22% Asians. I got the feeling that the school was “ashamed” of the Asians and did not want to give the impression that there were too many of them.</p>
<p>I completely agree, blossom. The job market is extremely competitive. It’s fine to have geographic preferences, but a new or recent grad needs to be willing to take whatever reasonable job they get, wherever it is–especially when the other alternative is no job. It’s a start–it’s not forever.</p>
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<p>Good for you. And excuse me if, in the absence of a few details that might offer context --as in the name of the school-- to continue to consider that account to be spurious. Either for the event or the accuracy of the content. </p>
<p>How hard could be it to name the school, and let some of us ascertain if the story of “professors” working with adcoms is realistic. And especially professors who care enough about admissions to be able to judge the applicants beyond their narrow interest.</p>
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<p>Not surprising in the least. Colleges have been known to have highly photoshopped “target” brochures where the faces are changed based on the audience. Some brochures are deliberately more ethnic (and colorful) than others. I guess it was a matter of poor luck to have picked up one from the wrong stack. </p>
<p>Also, the content of the brochure might change. A few years ago, MIT (yes, yes, QM, I know) produced a financial aid brochure that had plenty of pictures depicting ridiculous activities on campus. Most of the students displayed happened to be Asian and minorities. Did not stop the producer of that poor effort (which included misleading information on summer expectations and scholarships) to be proud of it! </p>
<p>And, fwiw, one could imagine how hard it would be for the best public research universities in California to come close to the brochure you saw. Just as Herculean a task it is to hide the huge classes! :)</p>
<p>That makes sense Xiggi and you are undoubtedly more knowledgeable about this stuff than me. I just found this to be an extreme case of marketing directed at race. This is a highly, highly regarded school and I would imagine any kid, lucky enough to be offered a spot, would happily accept regardless of the racial makeup. Just thought it was curious.</p>
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<p>LoremIpsum, I see your point. But we are talking about people who are smart enough to think they deserve consideration by “top” schools…often with parents who have been grooming them for this moment for nearly two decades. It defies comprehension that people who know enough to test theories in class or research information for school papers would not take the time to verify what they believe to be true. The increasing difficulty of college admissions is not a sudden trend or a big secret. It seems either arrogant or ignorant to fail to do one’s homework, especially when one has been working very hard at homework for the past four years or more.</p>
<p>Consolation-</p>
<p>Good point that those differences may be related to urban/suburb/rural and not to NE/Midwest. </p>
<p>However it doesn’t really change the larger point that cultural differences might be one factor out of many an individual might consider when choosing a school or job.</p>
<p>I agree with Sally. If you’re applying to a school where the acceptance rate is (say) 15% - then your chances are 15%. Period. End of subject. And you’re an idiot not to have that in your head as you await the acceptances. I don’t know if these supposedly bright, educated, upper middle class people aren’t as bright as they think they are, or if they really think that the applicant pool at these schools resembles the entirety of their kid’s high school and so they assume that because their kid is top 5% of the school, their kid will be top 5% of the applicant pool. But, sometimes you can’t fix stupid.</p>
<p>QuantMech, I would be an avid follower of the “Happy Box” thread should you choose to start one.</p>
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<p>Im sorry this may seem off-topic at this point, but I was unable to reply before. I feel like I have to point out this especially egregious example of bulling that seem to be so common place here. A number of prolific posters, and especially xiggi, frequently attempt to humiliate and shut down people they dislike, especially newcomers.</p>
<p>My intent is not to start a discussion about bulling, and certainly not to provoke a fight, but to point out a fact of bulling. Because, I believe, someone has to do it, or the bullies might believe that their behavior is acceptable. I ask people to refrain from replying to this post. I would be happy to discuss this by PM.</p>
<p>To clarify my comment that xiggi quoted out of context, it was a last sentence in a post (1257) that made a contribution to the discussion that certainly wasnt negative. Although, this sentence was unnecessary, it was provoked by the posters frequent expression of dislike of certain references that other people thought relevant to the discussion (test scores, USAMO etc.). Compared to insults frequently hurled around on this thread, my comment was pretty innocent and didnt warrant such a strong reaction from xiggi. However, if PizzaGirl expresses her upset, I will most definitely apologize.</p>
<p>[A decade ago, Suzy might well have gotten in; today she’s nothing special. ]</p>
<p>I really wonder about this… I think she may not have gotten in to Yale, even 10 years ago. I really didn’t think what we know of her resume was that remarkable? </p>
<p>Also, if her article was meant to disparage “holistic” admissions, using more objective standards such as GPA/SAT/ranking - she definitely wouldn’t get in.</p>
<p>Parent teacher conferences this week made me think that one real crap shoot aspect of college admissions is whether middle and high school policies are sensible, whether your teachers are rational, and whether your development as a person syncs with the school’s timing for placement.</p>
<p>There are always perplexed and unhappy 8th grade parents this time of year, when they get clues at conferences about how their child will be tracked in high school. Tracking for freshman year predetermines your trajectory as a student and GPA ceiling, and despite their rhetoric, it’s very difficult to move to a higher track if you aren’t in it from the very beginning. While there are some “objective” measures like grades and standardized test scores, teacher recommendations also play a part. We all know that grading rigor and criteria aren’t consistent among different teachers teaching the same subject, much less standardized across the middle schools in the district. Student A at X middle school with Y teacher is stronger, but Student B at M middle school has N teacher who inflates grades. B gets placed in honors, A doesn’t.</p>
<p>So the kind of stories you hear now are: Kid loves social studies, aces all the tests, but hates art because he isn’t good at it. Kid’s social studies teacher always assigns glorified craft projects and wants color, beauty, and "creativity. Kid’s grade always gets dinged for poor coloring or something, and now kid gets shut out of honors social studies freshman year. </p>
<p>Boy is brilliant at math, but socially immature. Teacher believes that for a child to be qualified for honors math, the “social piece” also has to be there. Kid not recommended for honors math in high school.</p>
<p>Girl plays sports all 3 seasons in the middle school. English teacher tells mom that since he likes to consider the whole child and he knows girl will be busy with sports at the high school too, he thought she’d be better off starting high school in a level below honors.</p>
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<p>And, how would you know what I do frequently as you are a new member? For the record, while I do not sugarcoat my opinions more than needed, I am not sure how I would go about humiliating or shutting down people I happen to dislike. I voice my opinion directly and without innuendo. </p>
<p>I make no apology for my earlier remark (401) regarding your quip about Pizzagirl hiring decisions (your 399) or for my last post that addressed what I perceive as an inappropriate conversational style. I did not take any of your words out of context. </p>
<p>I call as I see it. And I suggest you read the post you quoted again. And especially this part:</p>
<p>This is not an exclusive club. Everyone who can create an account --or more as it is often the case-- can contribute. Over time, people have come to accept that recent members approach our discussions differently. While you are entitled to call out people on remarks they made, I think that repeatedly doing so, and especially with people who have made thousands of posts with plenty of nuances, is getting old. </p>
<p>To be clear, I found the last sentence quoted above to be entirely misplaced and uncalled for. Unless, you wanted to attract our attention to the original post in this thread by being funny, offensive, and annoying in one swoop of the keyboard.</p>
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<p>Ok then. Now that Pizzagirl has issued her ruling, it simply must be true. Did you miss the math classes on conditional probability?</p>
<h2>Anyone remember when SNL parodied the Point-Counterpoint between James J Kilpatrick and Shana Alexander? And the great zinger, Jane, you ignorant xxxx? Don’t we all have thread moments when we wish we could let loose?</h2>
<h2>Enough ragging on PG.</h2>
<p>There are ways to improve your chances of getting to final round and they are simple, legit and ethical. They have nothing to do with minority or gender, fake charities or popularity.</p>
<p>But they are not as cathartic as griping and poking at each other. Your choice.</p>
<p>I for one think this thread doesn’t have enough tags…</p>
<h2>Enough ragging on cobrat.</h2>
<h2>Enough ragging on Beliavsky.</h2>
<h2>Enough ragging on QuantMech.</h2>
<p>And anyone else who is routinely insulted and criticized for expressing their point of view.</p>
<p>Speaking of QuantMech, your mailbox is full. :)</p>
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Cue the goth, hun, vandal and viking youtubes…</p>