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Bush was admitted to Yale in 1964 under an affirmative-action policy for children of alumni -- what colleges call a "legacy" system. Legacy preferences still exist, of course, at most selective schools, including Michigan and Yale. But they no longer carry quite the same weight they did at schools such as Yale, Princeton University and Harvard University when Bush was applying to colleges in 1964.
The president never released his high-school grades from Andover -- an elite New England prep school that his father had also attended -- or his SAT scores. But several years ago, The New Yorker got hold of Bush's Yale records and discovered that he scored a 566 on the verbal SAT and a 640 on the math SAT -- 180 points below the median score for his Yale classmates.
From what is known about Bush's academic performance at Andover, it is doubtful that he would have been admitted to Yale unless his father (at the time a Texas businessman running for the U.S. Senate in a race he eventually lost) and grandfather (Prescott Bush, a former Republican U.S. senator who represented Connecticut from 1952 to 1962) had been Yalies (from, respectively, the classes of 1948 and 1917). In fact, as a student, Bush studied in the Yale library's Prescott Walker Bush Memorial Wing.
Back then, Yale's student body was disproportionately made up of white, upper-class students from the nation's most elite prep schools. But without a Yale legacy, even a student from the most select private high school needed excellent grades and SAT scores to get in. Like other Ivy League colleges, Yale at the time had its own criteria for "diversity." It looked for students with strong athletic abilities or special skills such as musical or theatrical talent, as well as students from different parts of the country. These non-legacy students had to meet Yale's basic academic standards, of course, though the college no doubt rejected plenty of one-dimensional students who may have had higher grades and SAT scores but lacked other qualities Yale was looking for. (At the time, however, Yale made little effort to recruit minorities. In the fall of 1964, there were only 28 African-American students out of 4,093 undergraduates.)
Other than being a legacy, Bush had no qualities that would have gotten him into Yale. Had he been a National Merit Scholar finalist, an outstanding athlete or actor or editor of the Andover newspaper, or had he perhaps organized his fellow students to tutor underprivileged kids, we probably would know by now. In fact, he was a mediocre student -- he never made the honor roll -- and demonstrated no particularly outstanding talents to warrant being admitted to Yale. He was head cheerleader during his senior year, organized the school's stickball league and played baseball, basketball and football. But, unlike his father, who was an outstanding baseball player, W. was not a star athlete, and certainly not good enough to be recruited by Yale's coaches. Perhaps Yale was looking for students from west Texas to add some cultural and regional diversity, but, if so, why accept a kid from Midland, Texas, who had attended prep school in Massachusetts?
It probably didn't hurt that three of the seven members of Yale's admissions committee who reviewed Bush's application had been in Skull and Bones, the exclusive college club that also included W.'s grandfather and father among its members (and would later "tap" W. for membership during his junior year). The fact is that, just a few years later, when Yale began admitting women and tightened its legacy policy, it is unlikely that Bush -- even with all his connections -- would have gotten in.
You surly have to be kidding. All I read on here from the left is Rush said this, Beck said that, Sara said ... And over and over each of these allegations are proven false. The same people never listen or read the actual commentary. They just parrot Oberman, Mathews and the ever non biased Huff post.
What is good for the goose, etc.
I don't care about any of those sources, so stop deflecting to Olbermann and Matthews, who are also buffoons. Nothing you said in that post has any substance, especially without any examples of the allegations you're speaking of being proven false. Additionally, you've still completely dodged my assertion and the point that Black is making. So no, I'm not kidding.
In the fall of 1963, George W. Bush was a senior at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., facing the same dilemma confronting his 232 classmates: where to apply to college. He had never made the honor roll, and his verbal score on the SAT was a mediocre 566. Although popular among his classmates, he was neither an exceptional athlete nor did he possess any particularly outstanding extracurricular talents. Looking over his record, Andover's dean of students suggested that the young Mr. Bush consider applying to schools other than Yale, the alma mater of his father and grandfather.
But unbeknownst to the dean and Mr. Bush, Yale had quietly changed its admissions policy toward alumni sons during the very months when his application was under consideration. As the number of applicants to Yale increased, the administration decided that it could no longer afford to treat all legacy applicants equally. Instead, it would differentiate among alumni sons, giving extra preference on the basis of the family's contribution to Yale and its importance to American society.
As the son of a prominent Texas oilman then running for the United States Senate - and the grandson of a United States senator from Connecticut who had recently served as a member of the Yale Corporation - George W. Bush was no ordinary applicant. In April 1964, he was accepted to Yale - unlike 49 percent of all alumni sons who applied that year.
So, we should discount all the Kennedys, and every other politician who has had their children go to college.
My grandson could come up with a better reply than that.
Are you saying that all of the children of the Kennedy's and "every other politician" were legacy students who were admitted to college simply because their parents made sizable contributions to those institutions?
How about a few links to prove what you're suggesting.
Your grandson - what does he have to do with the links provided responding to your questions?
Lmbooo Your source is classic. Seriously I asked for factual actual proof
I will be waiting for a letter from the school or something that states what you claimed. Not someones opinion of thats the only reason Bush got into Yale. Did Bush take an entrance exam and not pass it. Do you have some actual hard facts to back up that claim.
Lmbooo Your source is classic. Seriously I asked for factual actual proof
I will be waiting for a letter from the school or something that states what you claimed. Not someones opinion of thats the only reason Bush got into Yale. Did Bush take an entrance exam and not pass it. Do you have some actual hard facts to back up that claim.
Yes, please attack my source (even though I provided two) without using any critical thinking whatsoever.
It is REALLY difficult to believe that an absolutely sub-par student was accepted into a notoriously nepotistic University primarily because his family was extremely powerful and connected with the University's administration. Sorry, I don't think Yale puts "legacy admit" on their letters of acceptance. Guess your COLD HARD FACTS will have to wait, since common sense isn't your forte.
Not much use discussing things with people who have already made up their minds to be purposefully contrarian. Stick your head into the sand all you want, it's clear to anyone with a modicum of sense that you're absolutely wrong.
While many applicants and students believe that legacy status guarantees a student admission to Yale, only about 30 percent of legacy applicants are accepted, according to a recent issue of the Yale Alumni Magazine.
Still, compared with the general Yale College acceptance rate of 9.9 percent for the class of 2008, it seems that legacies do have a significant advantage over their peers, a fact that has garnered national attention recently, especially after prominent politicians like George W. Bush '68 -- a legacy himself -- denounced the practice. Admissions officers give legacies more attention during the admission process, especially if the legacy comes from a donating family. Legacies comprise 14.8 percent of the class of 2008, and though the percentage of legacies in a class has fallen dramatically since the early 1960s, when it reached its peak of 27.4 percent, legacies still make up a sizable portion of the class.
Quote:
Giving green to bleed blue
But while the pool of legacy applicants is stronger, there are other reasons -- including monetary factors -- for favoring legacies.
Jeff Brenzel, executive director of the Association of Yale Alumni, acknowledged the power of money in the admissions process. After graduation, legacies tend to become more generous donors, Levin said.
While donation rates vary from class to class, in most classes close to 50 percent of legacy alumni choose to donate and usually donate more than their classmates.
"Not every legacy feels close to Yale, but I think for a lot of legacies the family relationship acts in a way to reinforce the Yale relationships," Brenzel said. "There's no question that legacy parents and legacy alumni have higher rates of engagement and tend to be more supportive of the University on average."
And in some cases, money can be even more of a factor than legacy status.
A family can significantly increase its child's chances of getting into Yale by giving a large sum of donation money, the former admissions officer said. Yale's development office has an official list of students whose parents or families make substantial donations. "Development kids," as the admissions officer called them, are almost guaranteed admissions if their families are big enough donors.
Yes, please attack my source (even though I provided two) without using any critical thinking whatsoever.
It is REALLY difficult to believe that an absolutely sub-par student was accepted into a notoriously nepotistic University primarily because his family was extremely powerful and connected with the University's administration. Sorry, I don't think Yale puts "legacy admit" on their letters of acceptance. Guess your COLD HARD FACTS will have to wait, since common sense isn't your forte.
Not much use discussing things with people who have already made up their minds to be purposefully contrarian. Stick your head into the sand all you want, it's clear to anyone with a modicum of sense that you're absolutely wrong.
You dont know that Obama wasn't a sub par student since you didnt get to see his college transcripts. Heck you didnt get to see anything from Obamas past or life really.
I asked for proof other then a liberal/progressives opinion. Cold hard facts and all I got was an opinion. Do you believe every single thing you read on the net without verification? Because thats what you are expecting me to do. Provide say an entrance exam that he failed yet still got admitted.
You dont know that Obama wasn't a sub par student since you didnt get to see his college transcripts. Heck you didnt get to see anything from Obamas past or life really.
I asked for proof other then a liberal/progressives opinion. Cold hard facts and all I got was an opinion. Do you believe every single thing you read on the net without verification? Because thats what you are expecting me to do. Provide say an entrance exam that he failed yet still got admitted.
Wow you're bringing up Obama now, how laughable. Keep deflecting, clearly you see how weak your position is now. Frankly, I go to an Ivy League school, I know firsthand all about the preferential treatment given to legacies and the children of powerful families, even in this day and age. In the past, it was MUCH, MUCH worst.
Draw your own conclusions:
Fact: Bush had a mediocre school record, and SAT scores far below the average of Yale.
Fact: Bush had no extracurriculars or other outstanding personal qualities that would make him attractive applicant to Yale
Fact: Bush's father and grandfather both went to Yale, and Yale is well known, as the source I quoted above FROM THE YALE DAILY NEWS shows, to give preferential treatment to legacies.
Fact: Bush's grandfather, besides being a prominent political figure, served as member of the Yale corporation, and both he had George H.W. had been members of Skull and Bones, an organization whose members comprised almost half of Yale's admissions committee at the time of W.'s admission.
So, how did Bush get into Yale? On some secret merits that no one knows about? Or the blatant old boy network that Yale and other Ivy League schools are quite well-known for?
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