You meet a black Ivy League grad - what are you secretly thinking to yourself?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My guess is the first thing that comes to mind is Affirmative Action.

I hate this. Yet another reason to get rid of this notion.

hmmm, I am very against affirmative action, but I don't think this. When I worked for big law firms and I first met a minority associate, I tended to think affirmative action, because they went so overboard in recruiting minority candidates with much lesser credentials, but when I just meet a random ivy grad I don't think anything good or bad. But I'm not impressed with Ivy grads.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The first thing I think of when I meet a White Person that graduated from an Ivy (other than one of the big 3) is, "I bet they're either a legacy or their daddy knows the Dean." Why else would anyone want to go to Dartmouth or Brown?

Sincerely,

Black Princeton Grad '01

I know people think this! My dad was in the military and I went to Brown after public high school. Now when people meet me I'm afraid they will think I've come from money. I see no shame in making or having money but I am proud of my past.

Anyway, I think it is easy to wonder how people got where they are. I've known enough unimpressive people from good schools to not think much upon first hearing. I wait until they say more and then I judge them based on what they say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I think: "Is he single?"

That's what I thought. Then I married him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think: "Wow, the summer associates get younger every year."

Along those lines....but usually, "I wonder if I could pinch his hot black (or AA if you prefer) ass"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The first thing I think of when I meet a White Person that graduated from an Ivy (other than one of the big 3) is, "I bet they're either a legacy or their daddy knows the Dean." Why else would anyone want to go to Dartmouth or Brown?

Sincerely,

Black Princeton Grad '01

Awesome!

Dartmouth? To ski of course! (Anyway, all the black students I knew in Hanover were smart as whips, hey Aisha Tyler, AND knew how to have a good time once the clock hit 11pm!)

[Anonymous]

He or she must have sucked at sports

[Anonymous]

My best friend in college at a elite private liberal arts college in New England had siblings who went to Princeton and Stanford. Their mom had gone to Yale med and all the kids had gone to a private prep broarding school.

Affirmative action or not they were also very nice, bright and athletic and seemed just like the other kids with a similar background.

[Anonymous]

What do you think of people who got into Ivy League schools before women and people of color were admitted?

I think, that white guy wouldn't have gotten into Yale if he'd had to compete with women and minorities - so it's really not that impressive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you think of people who got into Ivy League schools before women and people of color were admitted?

I think, that white guy wouldn't have gotten into Yale if he'd had to compete with women and minorities - so it's really not that impressive.

I think this all the time. The 70 year old partner who didn't have to compete with women or Jewish people or black or Hispanic people to get into Harvard Law. It's not his fault but it's true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you think of people who got into Ivy League schools before women and people of color were admitted?

I think, that white guy wouldn't have gotten into Yale if he'd had to compete with women and minorities - so it's really not that impressive.

I think this all the time. The 70 year old partner who didn't have to compete with women or Jewish people or black or Hispanic people to get into Harvard Law. It's not his fault but it's true.

Yeah - that partner wouldn't have gotten in today!

[Anonymous]

Oh please. This is DC. You can't throw a stone around here (especially now during the Obama admin) without hitting a black Ivy League grad (metaphor! metaphor!). If meeting one is a novelty for you, you need to get out more. Hell, I know a whole bunch of second generation black Ivy grads. And private school grads. This ain't Kansas.

[Anonymous]

Excsue me, but to PP 0:33, why would you date such a jerk??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you think of people who got into Ivy League schools before women and people of color were admitted?

I think, that white guy wouldn't have gotten into Yale if he'd had to compete with women and minorities - so it's really not that impressive.

I think this all the time. The 70 year old partner who didn't have to compete with women or Jewish people or black or Hispanic people to get into Harvard Law. It's not his fault but it's true.

For the most part, they were smart then, too. It's just that now, as if should be, fewer smart white guys get admitted from the available pool.

[Anonymous]

Ivy league grad here - I don't think anything differet than I would if I saw any other person who graduated form an ivy league school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let's not forget that athletes are the biggest affirmative action cases on every ivy league campus! (and before you jump to vonclusions I'm actually a two-sport athlete at an ivy) The reality is there's ssoooo much that factors into the admissions process. One father actually complained to the admissions office that his son had the same grades as a black student from his high school but the Black student was accepted and the white student was not. In the midst of complaining and trying to file a lawsuit... An admissions officer came out and showed the father all of the grammatical errors in his son's personal statement.

Also, to add a personal anecdote... My boyfriend is white and I'm Jamaican. We literally had the same SAT score (exactly), similar class ranks and GPAs. We both got in... My bf was always quick to say that my minority status helped me out and that I was more likely to get in bc I was a minority... But he (like most people) forgot 3 things.... Firstly, he's a minority at such an elite university bc he, like me, went to public school. secondly,vwe were both top recruits for our perspective sports.... And, if it really came down to it I'd probably get accepted over him... And no, not because I'm a racial minority... But bc I'm the sixth person in my family to go to this institution.

The reality is that no one fits into these neat liitoe categories and that everyone is a great applicant but the person reading your application felt that you had an xfactor. And you'll never be able to pin it down on one thing.

This is an old post. Why do you feel the need to resurrect it?