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Is it because I'm white, educated and middle class? High school senior with 4.5 GPA sparks firestorm with scathing open letter to Ivy League schools that rejected her
This is what happens when diversity trumps qualifications.
What they fail to tell you is, she is very Conservative. The article was composed because affirmative action has restricted her liberties, based on race.
What they fail to tell you is, she is very Conservative. The article was composed because affirmative action has restricted her liberties, based on race.
How was she hurt by affirmative action? The truth is that her test scores and grades were very good but not exceptional, but she had almost nothing to make her stand out otherwise in terms of accomplishments. Honestly--my son's grades and scores were comparable, plus he had varsity sports and student council and a ton of volunteer work. He didn't even try to apply to the Ivy leagues because it would have been a long shot. He's also multiracial.
She didn't get in, just like the other 29 out of 30 kids who apply to those schools who also have really good grades and SOME accomplishments, but they're not exceptional. She wrote a sarcastic, satirical essay about the pretzel that kids twist themselves into to try to get into the very top tier schools, and how ridiculous it is. The truth is she's going to get into a very very good school--just not Harvard, Princeton or Yale--and she's going to do just fine.
One more thing--where are you guys coming up with the 4.5 gpa and the SAT score? It's not in her essay.
What they fail to tell you is, she is very Conservative. The article was composed because affirmative action has restricted her liberties, based on race.
Where she wasn't so smart was in checking the race box. She could have checked the "hispanic" box and she'd have been given a free ride at any of the top colleges of her choice. They don't make you prove it, there is no DNA test for it. I know people who are having their kids check the hispanic box when applying to colleges and for scholarships.
Where she wasn't so smart was in checking the race box. She could have checked the "hispanic" box and she'd have been given a free ride at any of the top colleges of her choice. They don't make you prove it, there is no DNA test for it. I know people who are having their kids check the hispanic box when applying to colleges and for scholarships.
My very white friend from South Africa checked "African-American" on his application to college.
He was pretty smart and a state champion wrestler, too, so I don't know which one helped more getting him into a top school.
She has a point. These top schools need to stick to being top schools and admit the best if the best of the best respective of race, class etc.
This insane need to diversify is ridiculous. Ironically even if the schools did this she may have still been shut out because of Asians.
Here's what I find interesting. If you can pay full tuition and you're a "legacy," meaning that your family also went to school there (and hopefully donated a bunch of money), you don't have to be the best of the best. You just have to at least meet the minimum requirements for admission, which aren't all that different than going to a state university. A year at Harvard as an undergrad is about $60K (or $240K for an undergraduate degree) If you want a scholarship, you've got to be exceptional. That's why the "diversity" issue is kind of a joke, because I promise you--the big chunk of kids there paying pull tuition (60%) are NOT minorities.
How was she hurt by affirmative action? The truth is that her test scores and grades were very good but not exceptional, but she had almost nothing to make her stand out otherwise in terms of accomplishments. Honestly--my son's grades and scores were comparable, plus he had varsity sports and student council and a ton of volunteer work. He didn't even try to apply to the Ivy leagues because it would have been a long shot. He's also multiracial.
She didn't get in, just like the other 29 out of 30 kids who apply to those schools who also have really good grades and SOME accomplishments, but they're not exceptional. She wrote a sarcastic, satirical essay about the pretzel that kids twist themselves into to try to get into the very top tier schools, and how ridiculous it is. The truth is she's going to get into a very very good school--just not Harvard, Princeton or Yale--and she's going to do just fine.
One more thing--where are you guys coming up with the 4.5 gpa and the SAT score? It's not in her essay.
Here's what I find interesting. If you can pay full tuition and you're a "legacy," meaning that your family also went to school there (and hopefully donated a bunch of money), you don't have to be the best of the best. You just have to at least meet the minimum requirements for admission, which aren't all that different than going to a state university. A year at Harvard as an undergrad is about $60K. If you want a scholarship, you've got to be exceptional.
Legacies aren't automatic admits. I just think things have swung too far in one direction. I understand the desire to have diversity although the reasons often cited are overstated. The fact is that Harvard for example has been admitting Blacks for about 150 years the early Black admits didn't need affirmative action to gain admittance. So why do we need it now?
My very white friend from South Africa checked "African-American" on his application to college.
He was pretty smart and a state champion wrestler, too, so I don't know which one helped more getting him into a top school.
Being smart and a state champion wrestler. My kids wrestle, and the state champions always get great college offers, especially if they're decent students. Mine have unfortunately never won state, let alone even medaled.
Legacies aren't automatic admits. I just think things have swung too far in one direction. I understand the desire to have diversity although the reasons often cited are overstated. The fact is that Harvard for example has been admitting Blacks for about 150 years the early Black admits didn't need affirmative action to gain admittance. So why do we need it now?
Legacies get extra points for admission, and if they have parent donors they get even more. We actually did a college visit/tour at Harvard for the heck of it because we were in the Boston area anyway. Most people don't realize that even with affirmative action, the ratio of black students in top tier schools is less than 10% across the board. It's not a big chunk of the student body, and all of them are exceptional students.
We would have obviously been in the "needs a scholarship" category. We can afford to pay for college for our kids, but not at $60K a year.
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