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There has been no disrespect dumped on this young man.
The Ivies are free to have differing admission standards to achieve a diverse population. And they do. And commenters are free to note that. No need to dump disrespect on them for noting that.
On one of the happiest day of this young man's life , if he looks in on this forum the impression he will get is that he's not fully qualified and is " receiving charity " from these World Class institutions.
On one of the happiest day of this young man's life , if he looks in on this forum the impression he will get is that he's not fully qualified and is " receiving charity " from these World Class institutions.
No one said he's not qualified. Frankly the "Ivy League" is overrated from an educational standpoint and attendance is mostly useful for making connections. We're saying that there were undoubtedly equally - or more - qualified white and Asian students that were not admitted because this young man was given preference due to his race.
If you are salutatorian, an Intel finalist, and you have 2200 on your SAT, I think you'd almost be a shoe in. IMHO, I don't think race was a factor.
1. There are over 14,000 high schools in the US alone. There are also students who attend high schools from overseas. Each of these high schools have a valedictorian and a salutatorian. That's a minimum of 28,000 students that rank either 1 or 2 in their class. There are only 8 Ivies, and they cannot possibly accept 28,000 students between them all to fill a freshman class of roughly 8,000 students combined. So just because a student is in the number 1 or number 2 spot in class rank, that is in no way a guarantee to admission to an Ivy.
2. An SAT score of 2270 is good, but not up to snuff for a student who isn't a legacy (legacy = child of alumni; if they are accepted, generally their SAT scores don't need to be as high as an outsider). Ivies are looking for 2400 or darn close. Before you think this is unattainable, think again. Plenty of 2400's out there. Not all of them get into an Ivy.
3. Intel semi-finalist - a good achievement that certainly most students do not attain, but it's certainly not a guarantee to get you into an Ivy. Shweta Iyer split the water molecule at Brookhaven Lab, won a huge science competition, applied to all 8 Ivies and didn't get into any (nor Carnegie Mellon) and ended up at Stony Brook U. - the only school that accepted her. Her scores on the SAT's were in the 2300's. Her class rank was #8. Another Intel Semi-finalist. High SAT II's. According to iluvmycuties she'd "almost be a shoe in." Looks like Shweta forgot her shoehorn.
4. Ivy's have many quota requirements of all types - a certain number of students to be admitted with health disabilities; a certain number from foreign countries; inner city kids (those SAT scores are usually WAY low); students from broken homes; hardships cases of all types including financial or a parent who has died prematurely; and yes, racial quotas; religious quotas; athletic students recruited to boost teams; celebrity kids; etc. These students are all called "flags and tags" because their application folders are literally tagged and set aside when they fit these special requirements. This particular student was flagged and tagged by all 8 Ivies. That's a staggering amount - worthy maybe of an upcoming Stephen Hawking or Albert Einstein, but certainly not of a student who only falls into the high end category along with the same type of student - there must be at least 1500 of them from LI alone (IMHO I think my estimation is low).
The minute I heard on the news about some student getting into all 8 Ivies without seeing any pictures of him or his family or knowing anything about their background, I knew something was up. The average acceptance for a student without any flags and tags, and who meet all the top requirements - 2400 SAT, all 5's on the SAT II's, ranking in the top 10, tops in leadership, awards, etc., is ONE Ivy will give them a letter of acceptance. If they are lucky. They also may be waitlisted or deferred by another Ivy, but those usually don't result in admittance.
Race in this instance definitely played a huge part. The fact that his family is from overseas is another huge factor. Anyone who thinks otherwise is in denial about it and needs a reality check.
Another poster mentioned the word "charity." Yes, it is charity - especially of the financial sort. But all of the Ivies are heavily endowed and are able to give him a free ride.
The book A IS FOR ADMISSION by Michele Hernandez has all the information anyone would want to know about the Ivy League - it's history, and what it takes to earn an acceptance letter. Michele was a former Dartmouth admissions officer, and she spills all the secrets the Ivies don't want you to know in this book. It will be in your local library if you're interested.
1. There are over 14,000 high schools in the US alone. There are also students who attend high schools from overseas. Each of these high schools have a valedictorian and a salutatorian. That's a minimum of 28,000 students that rank either 1 or 2 in their class. There are only 8 Ivies, and they cannot possibly accept 28,000 students between them all to fill a freshman class of roughly 8,000 students combined. So just because a student is in the number 1 or number 2 spot in class rank, that is in no way a guarantee to admission to an Ivy.
2. An SAT score of 2270 is good, but not up to snuff for a student who isn't a legacy (legacy = child of alumni; if they are accepted, generally their SAT scores don't need to be as high as an outsider). Ivies are looking for 2400 or darn close. Before you think this is unattainable, think again. Plenty of 2400's out there. Not all of them get into an Ivy.
3. Intel semi-finalist - a good achievement that certainly most students do not attain, but it's certainly not a guarantee to get you into an Ivy. Shweta Iyer split the water molecule at Brookhaven Lab, won a huge science competition, applied to all 8 Ivies and didn't get into any (nor Carnegie Mellon) and ended up at Stony Brook U. - the only school that accepted her. Her scores on the SAT's were in the 2300's. Her class rank was #8. Another Intel Semi-finalist. High SAT II's. According to iluvmycuties she'd "almost be a shoe in." Looks like Shweta forgot her shoehorn.
4. Ivy's have many quota requirements of all types - a certain number of students to be admitted with health disabilities; a certain number from foreign countries; inner city kids (those SAT scores are usually WAY low); students from broken homes; hardships cases of all types including financial or a parent who has died prematurely; and yes, racial quotas; religious quotas; athletic students recruited to boost teams; celebrity kids; etc. These students are all called "flags and tags" because their application folders are literally tagged and set aside when they fit these special requirements. This particular student was flagged and tagged by all 8 Ivies. That's a staggering amount - worthy maybe of an upcoming Stephen Hawking or Albert Einstein, but certainly not of a student who only falls into the high end category along with the same type of student - there must be at least 1500 of them from LI alone (IMHO I think my estimation is low).
The minute I heard on the news about this particular student getting into all 8 Ivies without seeing any pictures of him or his family or knowing anything about their background, I knew something was up. The average acceptance for a student without any flags and tags, and who meet all the top requirements - 2400 SAT, all 5's on the SAT II's, ranking in the top 10, tops in leadership, etc., is ONE Ivy will give them a letter of acceptance. If they are lucky. They also may be waitlisted or deferred by another Ivy, but those usually don't result in admittance.
Race in this instance definitely played a huge part. The fact that his family is from overseas is another huge factor. Anyone who thinks otherwise is in denial about it and needs a reality check.
Another poster mentioned the word "charity." Yes, it is charity - especially of the financial sort. But all of the Ivies are heavily endowed and are able to give him a free ride.
The book A IS FOR ADMISSION by Michele Hernandez has all the information anyone would want to know about the Ivy League - it's history, and what it takes to earn an acceptance letter. Michele was a former Dartmouth admissions officer, and she spills all the secrets the Ivies don't want you to know in this book. It will be in your local library if you're interested.
I don't understand why your edit involved personally mentioning me. You've done quite a bit of online researching and writing/editing to express yourself. Are you personally offended by my comment or affected by this kid's accomplishments?
360 kids out of over one million got perfect scores.
I didn't know my daughter was one of the 360. Where did you get your numbers from? Quite a few students from Ward Melville HS alone get 2400's each year. There have to be more than 360 perfect scores in this country (I think they can get one or two wrong in each section and still get a perfect score). 360 seems rather low.
I didn't know my daughter was one of the 360. Where did you get your numbers from? Quite a few students from Ward Melville HS alone get 2400's each year. There have to be more than 360 perfect scores in this country (I think they can get one or two wrong in each section and still get a perfect score). 360 seems rather low.
College Board. Numbers are online. Those aren't low numbers to me. Ok, so your daughter's perfect score is what set you off. Got it.
I don't understand why your edit involved personally mentioning me. You've done quite a bit of online researching and writing/editing to express yourself. Are you personally offended by my comment or affected by this kid's accomplishments?
I always do some editing to almost all of my posts to be sure that what I write is clear and not misleading in any way.
I didn't do any online research for about the Ivies - I merely have a daughter who went to one and know what it takes to get into an Ivy.
No, I'm certainly not offended by your opinion. I just disagree with it.
Why would I be "affected" by this boy's accomplishments? He's done very well as a student - certainly much better than the majority by far. BUT his academics, class rank, Intel award, and SAT's definitely do not propel him into the realm of 8 Ivy League acceptances. Change his race and country of background to a student whose family are from one of the States in the US, and change his race to Caucasian, and I will guarantee you he wouldn't get into 8 Ivies. Period. No question about it.
I always do some editing to almost all of my posts to be sure that what I write is clear and not misleading in any way.
I didn't do any online research for about the Ivies - I merely have a daughter who went to one and know what it takes to get into an Ivy.
No, I'm certainly not offended by your opinion. I just disagree with it.
Why would I be "affected" by this boy's accomplishments? He's done very well as a student - certainly much better than the majority by far. BUT his academics, class rank, Intel award, and SAT's definitely do not propel him into the realm of 8 Ivy League acceptances. Change his race and country of background to a student whose family are from one of the States in the US, and change his race to Caucasian, and I will guarantee you he wouldn't get into 8 Ivies. Period. No question about it.
You're probably right. I had to edit to let you know that I think that the 360 perfect scores is a bit high. So, congrats to your daughter. And if you had all those stats and rankings in your head, without research, congrats to you.
Last edited by iluvmycuties; 04-05-2015 at 11:37 PM..
College Board. Numbers are online. Those aren't low numbers to me. Ok, so your daughter's perfect score is what set you off. Got it.
Why are you being so defensive? I merely disagreed with you about a student who got into all 8 Ivies. I don't feel his accomplishments are worthy of 8 out of 8 acceptances. Nothing more. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. If you have decided to take my comments as a personal attack, that's up to you.
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