<p>I said they consider you as a person. I did not say HOW they would consider you as a person, or their definition of a “person” or “human being.” I thought it would be obvious what I meant in the last post, because I said it in the context of top college admissions where there are a lot more qualified applicants than space available, but I guess I should clarify… </p>
<p>Utilitarianists define it as someone that has the capacity to feel (“know”) pain. Social contractionists, on the other hand, define a (real) person as anyone who is free, equal, and rational. Kantians stated that any rational and autonomous being is to be considered in the context of “human being,” no matter their species. (For those who do not know, these are the three biggest ethical/moral philosophy theories, among many others.) So my point is that a “person” can mean many different things, depending on your version of what constitutes a “person.” Top colleges obviously don’t admit just based on whatever their concepts of humanity is…</p>
<p>So what I meant is that Emory (and other top 20 colleges) admits the best from theirapplicantion pool who are within their rough statistical ballpark(s), albeit with a few exceptions, that also fit their definition(s) of what constitutes a good, successful “person/human being.” That is assessed by the university through the applicants’ essay (character, depth, quality, perspectiveetc.), extracurricular activities, leadership, awards, interviews, etc. again, with a few exceptions. If you are among the very small exceptions, great. If not, you can either complain, feel frustrated, angry, and blame whatever–all in vain–or you can learn what might be an important life lesson and move on.</p>
<p>For example, they’re not going to admit an average student who had very abusive, criminal parents, even if the student went through a lot of %$^& and admirably even became an average student at all. Yes, he may feel pain. Yes, he may be free, equal, rational, autonomous, whatever… But he doesn’t meet the rough, statistical qualifications that are also necessary in order to be admitted to a top 20 college.</p>
<p>(I don’t think there’s a correlation between the manipluation of admissions data and how they admit students. )</p>