What are “Lived Experiences” vs “Exeriences”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:we live in one of the most advanced country.
why should being normal and middle class be penalized.

Such a fukced up system.

Being normal and middle class feels pretty great to me. If you feel like you are being penalized then maybe strike the "normal" from your statement? You have an abnormal belief that your good life is also a punishment

I don’t know. I do remember thinking that coming from a traumatic upbringing myself, I made great sacrifices to raise my kids in a way that was drama free. Went without so my kids would have a stable middle class life and then the college essays were like “tell us about your experiences standing in line at the food bank” and on some level you wonder if they aren’t in some way rewarding the bad parent who gambled away the grocery money or whatever. Not completely logical but it is a feeling that its possible to have.

Let's just cut to the chase, right? Please point to the essay prompt(s) that asked for your personal sob story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:we live in one of the most advanced country.
why should being normal and middle class be penalized.

Such a fukced up system.

Personally, I would want mentally healthy, stable students on my campus. Those raised with good moral values, e.g., kind, empathetic, community-service oriented, etc.

The trauma porn always confused me. Why are we searching for the most troubled individuals and then making fun or scapegoating your typical MC/UMC kid who works hard and is a good citizen?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My immediate response is that the schools want to hear from the student. They have read so many essays that are written by parents and massaged by the many who proofread.
The take away is let your kid express who they are. Admissions people are not stupid and they can spot your little fraud.

+1

I have seen a few dozen and it is really obvious when people are cutting onions to work up some tears.

If your kid has any sense they'll just write something about getting a puppy for Christmas. Anything in their honest voice will do.

We are a military family that hunts a lot, belongs to hunting lodge, gets excited about hunting season and eating meat that we killed. Our daughter is a vegetarian animal rights activist that wants to study environmental law. She wrote about navigating those challenges in our family.

Great topic. I can see how that would be challenging.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For applicants with unarguably privileged backgrounds, this essay is a minefield. Maybe there was someone in your life who had an outsized influence that you can focus on. But it seems like a no-win proposition for children of privilege.

This is why so many of you are so fired up about this question. Because your children are privileged and yes, this specific question is "no-win" for a privileged child, but here's the thing. Your privileged child has been winning in many other categories up until this exact point. You are angry that now at this point, you do not get to continue using that privilege to guarantee this particular success (admission to an elite college) for your child and you CAN buy this thing (paying full freight for a private college). About 45% of students at Ivy schools are full pay. The stats on how many Americans are rich are nebulous depending on what you consider rich, but if we use a basic number - how many households have a net worth over $2 million. That works out to right under 10% of households. What that number means is that rich kids are already incredibly overrepresented in those places. It is what it is.

I have yet to meet a parent of a child who is not privileged that has a problem with this question. Privileged children were overrepresented before in top colleges and they will continue to be. Pick another essay prompt and remember that 45% of the slots are going to 10% of the population. If your child doesn't get one of those slots, they will still have a decent life with whatever college they end up going to.

Being a child of normal middle class is not a privilege
It's a normal thing. It should not be penalized.

Under-privileged kids will still have a decent life with whatever college they end up going to.

Merit should be the major measure.
I can understand social status as a tiebreaker.
That much I can understand, but middle class normal kids should not be penalized.

Define "merit"

being poor is not merit

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For applicants with unarguably privileged backgrounds, this essay is a minefield. Maybe there was someone in your life who had an outsized influence that you can focus on. But it seems like a no-win proposition for children of privilege.

This is why so many of you are so fired up about this question. Because your children are privileged and yes, this specific question is "no-win" for a privileged child, but here's the thing. Your privileged child has been winning in many other categories up until this exact point. You are angry that now at this point, you do not get to continue using that privilege to guarantee this particular success (admission to an elite college) for your child and you CAN buy this thing (paying full freight for a private college). About 45% of students at Ivy schools are full pay. The stats on how many Americans are rich are nebulous depending on what you consider rich, but if we use a basic number - how many households have a net worth over $2 million. That works out to right under 10% of households. What that number means is that rich kids are already incredibly overrepresented in those places. It is what it is.

I have yet to meet a parent of a child who is not privileged that has a problem with this question. Privileged children were overrepresented before in top colleges and they will continue to be. Pick another essay prompt and remember that 45% of the slots are going to 10% of the population. If your child doesn't get one of those slots, they will still have a decent life with whatever college they end up going to.

Being a child of normal middle class is not a privilege
It's a normal thing. It should not be penalized.

Under-privileged kids will still have a decent life with whatever college they end up going to.

Merit should be the major measure.
I can understand social status as a tiebreaker.
That much I can understand, but middle class normal kids should not be penalized.

You have to read the thread in conjunction with other threads about elite schools losing their luster.

It’s vexing if you think a small handful of elite universities are the ticket to a successful life, and then see how a certain cohort of high-achieving kids from well-off families are systematically denied access to those institutions because, on the one hand, they don’t have “hooks,” yet on the other hand they don’t check the diversity boxes (which essays about “lived experiences” are intended to surface) that give them an edge with liberal admissions officers.

However, if you recognize that some of the elite schools increasingly see themselves as in the business of promoting social change and mobility, and less interested in rewarding academic merit than in the 70s to 00s, you can move on. An ever-increasing percentage of the young adults who make valuable contributions to society will come from less “selective” state schools, and the Ivies and “top” SLACs will be seen as increasingly twee - a nice lottery to have won, but not necessarily indicative of exceptional smarts or intellectual strength.

So, sure, when some schools demand essays about kids’ “lived experiences,” they can try to write an honest, introspective essay, but it seems there’s also every reason to believe they are now used by left-leaning admissions officers as a tool to toss applications from kids deemed to have enjoyed too many “unearned privileges.”

We are half a season into these new "lived experiences" essay prompts. You can believe what you want but if you want to sway someone who takes the effort to think for themselves and not come to premature conclusions then you are going to need evidence. And none of us will have evidence for a few months at best. Most likely years. Or never.

You are projecting your fears that wealthy families are being undermined by "twee elite communists." Talk about tropes!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For applicants with unarguably privileged backgrounds, this essay is a minefield. Maybe there was someone in your life who had an outsized influence that you can focus on. But it seems like a no-win proposition for children of privilege.

This is why so many of you are so fired up about this question. Because your children are privileged and yes, this specific question is "no-win" for a privileged child, but here's the thing. Your privileged child has been winning in many other categories up until this exact point. You are angry that now at this point, you do not get to continue using that privilege to guarantee this particular success (admission to an elite college) for your child and you CAN buy this thing (paying full freight for a private college). About 45% of students at Ivy schools are full pay. The stats on how many Americans are rich are nebulous depending on what you consider rich, but if we use a basic number - how many households have a net worth over $2 million. That works out to right under 10% of households. What that number means is that rich kids are already incredibly overrepresented in those places. It is what it is.

I have yet to meet a parent of a child who is not privileged that has a problem with this question. Privileged children were overrepresented before in top colleges and they will continue to be. Pick another essay prompt and remember that 45% of the slots are going to 10% of the population. If your child doesn't get one of those slots, they will still have a decent life with whatever college they end up going to.

Being a child of normal middle class is not a privilege
It's a normal thing. It should not be penalized.

Under-privileged kids will still have a decent life with whatever college they end up going to.

Merit should be the major measure.
I can understand social status as a tiebreaker.
That much I can understand, but middle class normal kids should not be penalized.

You have to read the thread in conjunction with other threads about elite schools losing their luster.

It’s vexing if you think a small handful of elite universities are the ticket to a successful life, and then see how a certain cohort of high-achieving kids from well-off families are systematically denied access to those institutions because, on the one hand, they don’t have “hooks,” yet on the other hand they don’t check the diversity boxes (which essays about “lived experiences” are intended to surface) that give them an edge with liberal admissions officers.

However, if you recognize that some of the elite schools increasingly see themselves as in the business of promoting social change and mobility, and less interested in rewarding academic merit than in the 70s to 00s, you can move on. An ever-increasing percentage of the young adults who make valuable contributions to society will come from less “selective” state schools, and the Ivies and “top” SLACs will be seen as increasingly twee - a nice lottery to have won, but not necessarily indicative of exceptional smarts or intellectual strength.

So, sure, when some schools demand essays about kids’ “lived experiences,” they can try to write an honest, introspective essay, but it seems there’s also every reason to believe they are now used by left-leaning admissions officers as a tool to toss applications from kids deemed to have enjoyed too many “unearned privileges.”

LMAO, you are contradicting yourself.

Small handful of elite universities are not the ticket to a successful life, however it's a ticket for the poor people.

make up your mind.

[Anonymous]

Healthy society should reward hard working tax paying middle class instead of penalizing them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For applicants with unarguably privileged backgrounds, this essay is a minefield. Maybe there was someone in your life who had an outsized influence that you can focus on. But it seems like a no-win proposition for children of privilege.

This is why so many of you are so fired up about this question. Because your children are privileged and yes, this specific question is "no-win" for a privileged child, but here's the thing. Your privileged child has been winning in many other categories up until this exact point. You are angry that now at this point, you do not get to continue using that privilege to guarantee this particular success (admission to an elite college) for your child and you CAN buy this thing (paying full freight for a private college). About 45% of students at Ivy schools are full pay. The stats on how many Americans are rich are nebulous depending on what you consider rich, but if we use a basic number - how many households have a net worth over $2 million. That works out to right under 10% of households. What that number means is that rich kids are already incredibly overrepresented in those places. It is what it is.

I have yet to meet a parent of a child who is not privileged that has a problem with this question. Privileged children were overrepresented before in top colleges and they will continue to be. Pick another essay prompt and remember that 45% of the slots are going to 10% of the population. If your child doesn't get one of those slots, they will still have a decent life with whatever college they end up going to.

Being a child of normal middle class is not a privilege
It's a normal thing. It should not be penalized.

Under-privileged kids will still have a decent life with whatever college they end up going to.

Merit should be the major measure.
I can understand social status as a tiebreaker.
That much I can understand, but middle class normal kids should not be penalized.

You have to read the thread in conjunction with other threads about elite schools losing their luster.

It’s vexing if you think a small handful of elite universities are the ticket to a successful life, and then see how a certain cohort of high-achieving kids from well-off families are systematically denied access to those institutions because, on the one hand, they don’t have “hooks,” yet on the other hand they don’t check the diversity boxes (which essays about “lived experiences” are intended to surface) that give them an edge with liberal admissions officers.

However, if you recognize that some of the elite schools increasingly see themselves as in the business of promoting social change and mobility, and less interested in rewarding academic merit than in the 70s to 00s, you can move on. An ever-increasing percentage of the young adults who make valuable contributions to society will come from less “selective” state schools, and the Ivies and “top” SLACs will be seen as increasingly twee - a nice lottery to have won, but not necessarily indicative of exceptional smarts or intellectual strength.

So, sure, when some schools demand essays about kids’ “lived experiences,” they can try to write an honest, introspective essay, but it seems there’s also every reason to believe they are now used by left-leaning admissions officers as a tool to toss applications from kids deemed to have enjoyed too many “unearned privileges.”

LMAO, you are contradicting yourself.

Small handful of elite universities are not the ticket to a successful life, however it's a ticket for the poor people.

make up your mind.

+1

I don't think they intended to make sense. I think they were just itching to use the words "vexing" and "twee" in an argument

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Healthy society should reward hard working tax paying middle class instead of penalizing them.

We are a middle class, tax paying, two parent home. Our kid was accepted. And our kid didn't have to rub shampoo into bunny rabbit eyes either. Just wrote a really good essay about an ordinary suburban life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one is being penalized. Just write your essay.

Asians have been penalized.

So is middle class.

By this essay? No.

By the colleges that using the essay

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For applicants with unarguably privileged backgrounds, this essay is a minefield. Maybe there was someone in your life who had an outsized influence that you can focus on. But it seems like a no-win proposition for children of privilege.

This is why so many of you are so fired up about this question. Because your children are privileged and yes, this specific question is "no-win" for a privileged child, but here's the thing. Your privileged child has been winning in many other categories up until this exact point. You are angry that now at this point, you do not get to continue using that privilege to guarantee this particular success (admission to an elite college) for your child and you CAN buy this thing (paying full freight for a private college). About 45% of students at Ivy schools are full pay. The stats on how many Americans are rich are nebulous depending on what you consider rich, but if we use a basic number - how many households have a net worth over $2 million. That works out to right under 10% of households. What that number means is that rich kids are already incredibly overrepresented in those places. It is what it is.

I have yet to meet a parent of a child who is not privileged that has a problem with this question. Privileged children were overrepresented before in top colleges and they will continue to be. Pick another essay prompt and remember that 45% of the slots are going to 10% of the population. If your child doesn't get one of those slots, they will still have a decent life with whatever college they end up going to.

Being a child of normal middle class is not a privilege
It's a normal thing. It should not be penalized.

Under-privileged kids will still have a decent life with whatever college they end up going to.

Merit should be the major measure.
I can understand social status as a tiebreaker.
That much I can understand, but middle class normal kids should not be penalized.

You have to read the thread in conjunction with other threads about elite schools losing their luster.

It’s vexing if you think a small handful of elite universities are the ticket to a successful life, and then see how a certain cohort of high-achieving kids from well-off families are systematically denied access to those institutions because, on the one hand, they don’t have “hooks,” yet on the other hand they don’t check the diversity boxes (which essays about “lived experiences” are intended to surface) that give them an edge with liberal admissions officers.

However, if you recognize that some of the elite schools increasingly see themselves as in the business of promoting social change and mobility, and less interested in rewarding academic merit than in the 70s to 00s, you can move on. An ever-increasing percentage of the young adults who make valuable contributions to society will come from less “selective” state schools, and the Ivies and “top” SLACs will be seen as increasingly twee - a nice lottery to have won, but not necessarily indicative of exceptional smarts or intellectual strength.

So, sure, when some schools demand essays about kids’ “lived experiences,” they can try to write an honest, introspective essay, but it seems there’s also every reason to believe they are now used by left-leaning admissions officers as a tool to toss applications from kids deemed to have enjoyed too many “unearned privileges.”

LMAO, you are contradicting yourself.

Small handful of elite universities are not the ticket to a successful life, however it's a ticket for the poor people.

make up your mind.

+1

I don't think they intended to make sense. I think they were just itching to use the words "vexing" and "twee" in an argument

Obviously it's the arrogant eitle colleges that think their degree is a ticket to successful like(social change and mobility), hence they graciously donate some seats to poor people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For applicants with unarguably privileged backgrounds, this essay is a minefield. Maybe there was someone in your life who had an outsized influence that you can focus on. But it seems like a no-win proposition for children of privilege.

This is why so many of you are so fired up about this question. Because your children are privileged and yes, this specific question is "no-win" for a privileged child, but here's the thing. Your privileged child has been winning in many other categories up until this exact point. You are angry that now at this point, you do not get to continue using that privilege to guarantee this particular success (admission to an elite college) for your child and you CAN buy this thing (paying full freight for a private college). About 45% of students at Ivy schools are full pay. The stats on how many Americans are rich are nebulous depending on what you consider rich, but if we use a basic number - how many households have a net worth over $2 million. That works out to right under 10% of households. What that number means is that rich kids are already incredibly overrepresented in those places. It is what it is.

I have yet to meet a parent of a child who is not privileged that has a problem with this question. Privileged children were overrepresented before in top colleges and they will continue to be. Pick another essay prompt and remember that 45% of the slots are going to 10% of the population. If your child doesn't get one of those slots, they will still have a decent life with whatever college they end up going to.

Being a child of normal middle class is not a privilege
It's a normal thing. It should not be penalized.

Under-privileged kids will still have a decent life with whatever college they end up going to.

Merit should be the major measure.
I can understand social status as a tiebreaker.
That much I can understand, but middle class normal kids should not be penalized.

You have to read the thread in conjunction with other threads about elite schools losing their luster.

It’s vexing if you think a small handful of elite universities are the ticket to a successful life, and then see how a certain cohort of high-achieving kids from well-off families are systematically denied access to those institutions because, on the one hand, they don’t have “hooks,” yet on the other hand they don’t check the diversity boxes (which essays about “lived experiences” are intended to surface) that give them an edge with liberal admissions officers.

However, if you recognize that some of the elite schools increasingly see themselves as in the business of promoting social change and mobility, and less interested in rewarding academic merit than in the 70s to 00s, you can move on. An ever-increasing percentage of the young adults who make valuable contributions to society will come from less “selective” state schools, and the Ivies and “top” SLACs will be seen as increasingly twee - a nice lottery to have won, but not necessarily indicative of exceptional smarts or intellectual strength.

So, sure, when some schools demand essays about kids’ “lived experiences,” they can try to write an honest, introspective essay, but it seems there’s also every reason to believe they are now used by left-leaning admissions officers as a tool to toss applications from kids deemed to have enjoyed too many “unearned privileges.”

LMAO, you are contradicting yourself.

Small handful of elite universities are not the ticket to a successful life, however it's a ticket for the poor people.

make up your mind.

+1

I don't think they intended to make sense. I think they were just itching to use the words "vexing" and "twee" in an argument

Obviously it's the arrogant eitle colleges that think their degree is a ticket to successful like(social change and mobility), hence they graciously donate some seats to poor people.

Impeccable timing! I JUST warned my son someone would say he was "given" the spot he earned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For applicants with unarguably privileged backgrounds, this essay is a minefield. Maybe there was someone in your life who had an outsized influence that you can focus on. But it seems like a no-win proposition for children of privilege.

This is why so many of you are so fired up about this question. Because your children are privileged and yes, this specific question is "no-win" for a privileged child, but here's the thing. Your privileged child has been winning in many other categories up until this exact point. You are angry that now at this point, you do not get to continue using that privilege to guarantee this particular success (admission to an elite college) for your child and you CAN buy this thing (paying full freight for a private college). About 45% of students at Ivy schools are full pay. The stats on how many Americans are rich are nebulous depending on what you consider rich, but if we use a basic number - how many households have a net worth over $2 million. That works out to right under 10% of households. What that number means is that rich kids are already incredibly overrepresented in those places. It is what it is.

I have yet to meet a parent of a child who is not privileged that has a problem with this question. Privileged children were overrepresented before in top colleges and they will continue to be. Pick another essay prompt and remember that 45% of the slots are going to 10% of the population. If your child doesn't get one of those slots, they will still have a decent life with whatever college they end up going to.

Being a child of normal middle class is not a privilege
It's a normal thing. It should not be penalized.

Under-privileged kids will still have a decent life with whatever college they end up going to.

Merit should be the major measure.
I can understand social status as a tiebreaker.
That much I can understand, but middle class normal kids should not be penalized.

You have to read the thread in conjunction with other threads about elite schools losing their luster.

It’s vexing if you think a small handful of elite universities are the ticket to a successful life, and then see how a certain cohort of high-achieving kids from well-off families are systematically denied access to those institutions because, on the one hand, they don’t have “hooks,” yet on the other hand they don’t check the diversity boxes (which essays about “lived experiences” are intended to surface) that give them an edge with liberal admissions officers.

However, if you recognize that some of the elite schools increasingly see themselves as in the business of promoting social change and mobility, and less interested in rewarding academic merit than in the 70s to 00s, you can move on. An ever-increasing percentage of the young adults who make valuable contributions to society will come from less “selective” state schools, and the Ivies and “top” SLACs will be seen as increasingly twee - a nice lottery to have won, but not necessarily indicative of exceptional smarts or intellectual strength.

So, sure, when some schools demand essays about kids’ “lived experiences,” they can try to write an honest, introspective essay, but it seems there’s also every reason to believe they are now used by left-leaning admissions officers as a tool to toss applications from kids deemed to have enjoyed too many “unearned privileges.”

LMAO, you are contradicting yourself.

Small handful of elite universities are not the ticket to a successful life, however it's a ticket for the poor people.

make up your mind.

+1

I don't think they intended to make sense. I think they were just itching to use the words "vexing" and "twee" in an argument

Obviously it's the arrogant eitle colleges that think their degree is a ticket to successful like(social change and mobility), hence they graciously donate some seats to poor people.

Impeccable timing! I JUST warned my son someone would say he was "given" the spot he earned.

What school and what are the stats?
Test Optional?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Healthy society should reward hard working tax paying middle class instead of penalizing them.

There’s no evidence that this essay penalizes them unless your kiddo’s too stupid to think of something. In which case the essay has fulfilled its purpose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Healthy society should reward hard working tax paying middle class instead of penalizing them.

There’s no evidence that this essay penalizes them unless your kiddo’s too stupid to think of something. In which case the essay has fulfilled its purpose.

The essay can be written by anyone in the first place including ChatGTP.

Essay should be done like SAT style.
Everyone go to the test center, given a topic/prompt, write it in a given time.

The whole system is just so stupid and fukced up.