Hired by Google as L4 but rejected by top colleges

[Anonymous]

I bet Bill Gates won’t get into Harvard today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had opposite stats as this kid I got into EVERY college I applied to (including MIT) except Stanford. Why? Stanford accepted 3 boys from my high school during early binding admission so even though I had equal or better stats for at least 2 of the 3 I didn't get in because of how I applied (regular admission). I'm assuming this kid did the same and missed out for a variety of reasons including the competition at his own school. Really this isn't about race.


Maybe he did apply Regular decision instead of ED. But that is a problem with the system. Lots of kids aren't sure where they want to go by November 1st and a lot of families can't make a financial commitment because they need to compare prices. ED is a contributing factor that results in great kids like this kid getting shut out from numerous colleges. It is adding to the lottery like quality that admissions to top schools that now seems the norm. The college admission system is not working!

It is working! He got into 2 excellent schools for CS! That is a difficult admit at most top colleges, with limited spaces. You are not supposed to get into all 20 T20 schools. His rejections are all from highly rejective schools, then add in his CS major makes it even more rejective. Had he applied to more in the 25-60 range, he would have more acceptances---many excellent schools in that range that do NOT restrict majors.

So, does that mean that he's actually not that high achieving to be rejected from T10 for CS? Or that it was a lottery, and he lost?

I say this as a parent of a CS major at UMD who also got rejected at those same schools with incredibly high stats (higher than this kid's) from a magnet program.

T10 schools are a lottery for any major, then add in you want CS and your odds are even less.
Many top schools restrict access to CS (and engineering). So yes, if you pick a highly rejective school and a highly restricted major, you are playing a lottery you most likely will not win. And when everyone applying to the T10 schools is applying to all of them as well as all the T25 schools, you are competing with the same people over and over. So if your essays are not stupendous or you don't have something to catch the AO attention, you might not get in.
So cast a wider net. There are plenty of excellent schools that first do NOT restrict access by majors---so find 3-4 true safeties and real targets that do not restrict access by major and apply there. There are plenty of gems out there---a kid who has their own AI business in HS should be able to excel at any of them---in fact might do better as they can more easily rise to the top in a slightly less competitive environment.

The day when people realize that the T20 schools are a lottery, and eng/CS are the next level of the lottery at those schools, and start planning a balanced list of schools is the day when people stop being disappointed. Fact is you are not guaranteed a spot at a top university. So why not control your destiny and pick your target and safety schools while you have the chance---the attitude that your high stats kid cannot find a safety they will love is born out of stupidity and elitism.

[Anonymous]

You really don't need a CS degree to get a job in big tech. Look at the person this post is about! Take a few eng courses, get a well-rounded education that will help you beyond your first SWE job, and prep a lot for your coding & algorithm interviews!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I bet Bill Gates won’t get into Harvard today.

He went to the best private school in Seattle where he did real computer programming before undergrad. I bet he gets in today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, according to some pp who have commented, this kid probably deserved to be rejected because he wrote lousy essays, had bad teacher recommendations because he is a robot, lied about his accomplishments, isn't really interested in attending college, had grades that were too low (and UC colleges didn't look at his SATs and AP scores), and he is at higher risk of committing suicide because he is Asian, therefore damaged and fragile from years of tiger parenting.

Again, this kid sounds pretty amazing, and his rejection from numerous colleges is more indicative of a failing system than of his failings.

Is it a failing system if the actual outcome is he gets a high paying job at a very high prestige employer in his field as the consolation prize?

It’s harder to get into Google as a new hire L4 than it is to get into any of those schools.

“He did everything right, what happened”

What happened is he skipped four years (maybe 6!) of bullshit to land a bullseye on his goal.

Poor kid couldn’t date Natalie Portman or Jennifer Lawrence so he had to marry Taylor Swift.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

He attends a high-performing high school, ranked #1 in the SF area, so many of the kids will very competitive. Enough to grab acceptances.

If he’s 10% rank out of 460 kids, there are 45 kids with better GPAs. And the vast majority of those will have impressive applications as well. Potentially better essays and recommendations as well.

Top colleges aren’t typically accepting 40-50 kids from one high school.

True, he was competing with a lot of other accomplished kids but he applied and got rejected from a wide range of schools. There is a problem when a really bright, accomplished kid gets rejected from multiple simply because he attends a competitive high school. The college admission system is struggling since SAT became optional and grade inflation became common.

This is exactly why attending a private school or a magnet like TJ may decrease your chance of admissions at top schools.

We can't see this kid's application or the applications of the 40-50 other kids from his HS who were ranked higher.

And we can't read too much into this one kid's experience. It sucks, but no one is entitled to admission.

BINGO! Nobody is entitled to admissions. CS is a tough admit at most schools---schools with a 25% admission rate normally will often have 4-5% admit rate for CS. UC have plenty of highly qualified in-state applications for CS at the top schools---most of the 45-50 kids ranked higher than him at his HS likely applied to those same schools.
He had this experience because he applied to a highly rejective major at mostly highly rejective schools. Not hard to do the math and figure out this outcome can easily happen. He could have chosen many excellent schools that have a higher admit rate or do no restrict admission to CS/Eng/any majors. But he didn't. Had he it would look very different

Sure. But it's not the excuse for school to exercise racism and cover it under that statement. This is always what the petition is about: to find out whether there were admitted students who were clearly less qualified.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

He attends a high-performing high school, ranked #1 in the SF area, so many of the kids will very competitive. Enough to grab acceptances.

If he’s 10% rank out of 460 kids, there are 45 kids with better GPAs. And the vast majority of those will have impressive applications as well. Potentially better essays and recommendations as well.

Top colleges aren’t typically accepting 40-50 kids from one high school.

True, he was competing with a lot of other accomplished kids but he applied and got rejected from a wide range of schools. There is a problem when a really bright, accomplished kid gets rejected from multiple simply because he attends a competitive high school. The college admission system is struggling since SAT became optional and grade inflation became common.

This is exactly why attending a private school or a magnet like TJ may decrease your chance of admissions at top schools.

We can't see this kid's application or the applications of the 40-50 other kids from his HS who were ranked higher.

And we can't read too much into this one kid's experience. It sucks, but no one is entitled to admission.

BINGO! Nobody is entitled to admissions. CS is a tough admit at most schools---schools with a 25% admission rate normally will often have 4-5% admit rate for CS. UC have plenty of highly qualified in-state applications for CS at the top schools---most of the 45-50 kids ranked higher than him at his HS likely applied to those same schools.
He had this experience because he applied to a highly rejective major at mostly highly rejective schools. Not hard to do the math and figure out this outcome can easily happen. He could have chosen many excellent schools that have a higher admit rate or do no restrict admission to CS/Eng/any majors. But he didn't. Had he it would look very different

Sure. But it's not the excuse for schools to exercise racism and cover it under that statement. This is also what the petition is about: to find out whether there were admitted students who were clearly less qualified.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I bet Bill Gates won’t get into Harvard today.

He went to the best private school in Seattle where he did real computer programming before undergrad. I bet he gets in today.

Are you suggesting Stanley didn't do real computer programming?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I bet Bill Gates won’t get into Harvard today.

He went to the best private school in Seattle where he did real computer programming before undergrad. I bet he gets in today.

Are you suggesting Stanley didn't do real computer programming?

The racism against Asians is so rampant. They don't even try to hide it. Is this DCUM thing or American thing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I bet Bill Gates won’t get into Harvard today.

He went to the best private school in Seattle where he did real computer programming before undergrad. I bet he gets in today.

Are you suggesting Stanley didn't do real computer programming?

The racism against Asians is so rampant. They don't even try to hide it. Is this DCUM thing or American thing?

Errr...not the PP, but they are probably referring to how much more difficult and manual it was to do computer programming decades ago. It has nothing to do with race. Just the evolution of computer programming.

The more you misinterpret every little comment as "racism" the less the word means.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I bet Bill Gates won’t get into Harvard today.

He went to the best private school in Seattle where he did real computer programming before undergrad. I bet he gets in today.

Are you suggesting Stanley didn't do real computer programming?

The racism against Asians is so rampant. They don't even try to hide it. Is this DCUM thing or American thing?

Errr...not the PP, but they are probably referring to how much more difficult and manual it was to do computer programming decades ago. It has nothing to do with race. Just the evolution of computer programming.

The more you misinterpret every little comment as "racism" the less the word means.

That's a laughable interpretation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I bet Bill Gates won’t get into Harvard today.

He went to the best private school in Seattle where he did real computer programming before undergrad. I bet he gets in today.

Are you suggesting Stanley didn't do real computer programming?

The racism against Asians is so rampant. They don't even try to hide it. Is this DCUM thing or American thing?

Errr...not the PP, but they are probably referring to how much more difficult and manual it was to do computer programming decades ago. It has nothing to do with race. Just the evolution of computer programming.

The more you misinterpret every little comment as "racism" the less the word means.

That's a laughable interpretation.

That was my personal experience. Coding is MUCH easier these days. And I wasn't even building an OS back in the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You really don't need a CS degree to get a job in big tech. Look at the person this post is about! Take a few eng courses, get a well-rounded education that will help you beyond your first SWE job, and prep a lot for your coding & algorithm interviews!

Ummm, I’m at Google do you have any idea how hard it is to get hired as a L4 SWE at Google? The kid is obviously brilliant. L4s have an average salary of 250k/yr and 4 years work experience after grad school. We are talking hundreds of applicants for one L4 slot.

You people are spectacularly ignorant. Stick to counting beans in your cubicle, not pontificating on “big tech” (boomer word as well).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You really don't need a CS degree to get a job in big tech. Look at the person this post is about! Take a few eng courses, get a well-rounded education that will help you beyond your first SWE job, and prep a lot for your coding & algorithm interviews!

Ummm, I’m at Google do you have any idea how hard it is to get hired as a L4 SWE at Google? The kid is obviously brilliant. L4s have an average salary of 250k/yr and 4 years work experience after grad school. We are talking hundreds of applicants for one L4 slot.

You people are spectacularly ignorant. Stick to counting beans in your cubicle, not pontificating on “big tech” (boomer word as well).

They're not necessarily ignorant. They're just maliciously racist, intentionally twisting the facts towards their own narrative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I bet Bill Gates won’t get into Harvard today.

He went to the best private school in Seattle where he did real computer programming before undergrad. I bet he gets in today.

Are you suggesting Stanley didn't do real computer programming?

PP here. No, different era and different tech.

At that time the only real computer access students could get was mainframe shared time at a major university like U Washington, using punch cards.

Home computers did not exist yet, unless you were a hobbyist who built your own like the founders of Apple.

Gates’ school bought a very expensive microcomputer that they let students use.

That was very unusual- he could get all the computer time he wanted, something even university students couldn’t do. He arrived at Harvard an expert programmer.

Today, obviously all students have easy access to commercially available hardware and software at home as well as creating their own work.

Stanley did substantial programming work with commercial appeal, that’s why Google hired him.