<p>Masochist wrote:
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<p>Masochist, my daughter is a very confident person. Barnard now asks its applicants to write a supplemental essay offering their interpretation of Barnard alumna Anna Quindlen’s statement that she “majored in unafraid.” Maybe that reflects a deliberate desire on the part of Barnard admissions to seek out strong-willed and confident women like my daughter – or at least women who have the capacity to develop such qualities. </p>
<p>My d. is the type of person who was always coming to the defense of others in middle school and high school – if someone was a victim of bullying, my daughter would confront the bullier. (And in most of the instances that I remember, the bullier was an authority figure like a teacher-.) So she’s not the type of person to buy into the “second class citizen” frame. She’d recognize that those attitudes stem from immaturity, envy, or other personality flaws held by the people who feel the need to bolster their own self-esteem by demeaning others. </p>
<p>My daughter didn’t personally experience any sort of difficulty with CC students, and in fact I think that on balance she has more close friends who were CC students than Barnard students. Maybe she just didn’t move in the same circles as those malcontents, or maybe it’s because the problem is inflated because of the tendency of people who to post vitriol on the internet under the cloak of anonymity – or maybe it’s just because my d. was focused on more important things (like her coursework, jobs, internships, etc.)</p>
<p>Being accepted to a prestigious university is an opportunity, but it is not an accomplishment. It may feel like one to the high schooler who has set such admission as a paramount goal --but it is what the person does with the opportunity that is presented that counts. I think the academic playing field is pretty level for students among the four separate undergraduate schools at Columbia University --that is, all have pretty much the same opportunities to excel, or not; to achieve their academic goals, or not. Maybe things are somewhat more difficult for GS students because of their school’s lesser commitment to financial aid-- I think it is more common for them to drop out for financial reasons, but it’s hard to find good statistics about GS. </p>