Sandburg - 9th in her high school class - went to Harvard

[Anonymous]

Was it really that easy back then? Sandburg was 9th in her public high school class and got accepted to Harvard. Did she do something extraordinary like ranked tennis player??

Her dad went to Hopkins and was an Ophthalmologist, so they were full pay I’m sure that helped.

[Anonymous]

Which HS? Some send many, many kids off to Ivies back then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Was it really that easy back then? Sandburg was 9th in her public high school class and got accepted to Harvard. Did she do something extraordinary like ranked tennis player??

Her dad went to Hopkins and was an Ophthalmologist, so they were full pay I’m sure that helped.

Well, clearly she turned out to be quite the achiever, i.e. Harvard "material," and accomplished more than 99% of other Harvard grads.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Was it really that easy back then? Sandburg was 9th in her public high school class and got accepted to Harvard. Did she do something extraordinary like ranked tennis player??

Her dad went to Hopkins and was an Ophthalmologist, so they were full pay I’m sure that helped.

Well, clearly she turned out to be quite the achiever, i.e. Harvard "material," and accomplished more than 99% of other Harvard grads.

That is probably about 90% because Summers guided her path.

She went to McKinsey, then worked in ad sales at Google in the highest growth phase. She has been the queen of right place right time.

She is quite capable, but coming from a wealthy family and attending Ivy League she is not earth shattering. I appreciate her efforts on women in workforce.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which HS? Some send many, many kids off to Ivies back then.

North Miami Beach. A public high school in Florida. Surprised that 9 kids would have such great placement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which HS? Some send many, many kids off to Ivies back then.

North Miami Beach. A public high school in Florida. Surprised that 9 kids would have such great placement.

We have no idea how numbers one through nine have done.

[Anonymous]

It was easier in the past, but number nine is nothing to sneeze at.

[Anonymous]

The last 2 kids from our public who got in to Harvard weren’t even in the top 10% (of a class of about 130). No obvious hooks (maybe legacy, I don’t know, but not athletes or URM or geography. And not from particularly wealthy families so didn’t Jared Kushner their way in.) They were however kids deeply engaged in some activities that showed them to be leaders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Was it really that easy back then? Sandburg was 9th in her public high school class and got accepted to Harvard. Did she do something extraordinary like ranked tennis player??

Her dad went to Hopkins and was an Ophthalmologist, so they were full pay I’m sure that helped.

Well, clearly she turned out to be quite the achiever, i.e. Harvard "material," and accomplished more than 99% of other Harvard grads.

That is probably about 90% because Summers guided her path.

She went to McKinsey, then worked in ad sales at Google in the highest growth phase. She has been the queen of right place right time.

She is quite capable, but coming from a wealthy family and attending Ivy League she is not earth shattering. I appreciate her efforts on women in workforce.

Largely agree, though I think her "Lean In" book lacks any perspective on women in the workforce save those coming from wealthy families, are married, and now also have a high HHI.

DH worked with her when she was at treasury and he was on the Hill. Described her as being as charming as her boss.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The last 2 kids from our public who got in to Harvard weren’t even in the top 10% (of a class of about 130). No obvious hooks (maybe legacy, I don’t know, but not athletes or URM or geography. And not from particularly wealthy families so didn’t Jared Kushner their way in.) They were however kids deeply engaged in some activities that showed them to be leaders.

Interesting. But kids who are deeply engaged in some activities that show them to be leaders are a dime a dozen among Harvard applicants. You certainly need more than that to have a realistic shot, and even then it's just a crapshoot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The last 2 kids from our public who got in to Harvard weren’t even in the top 10% (of a class of about 130). No obvious hooks (maybe legacy, I don’t know, but not athletes or URM or geography. And not from particularly wealthy families so didn’t Jared Kushner their way in.) They were however kids deeply engaged in some activities that showed them to be leaders.

Interesting. But kids who are deeply engaged in some activities that show them to be leaders are a dime a dozen among Harvard applicants. You certainly need more than that to have a realistic shot, and even then it's just a crapshoot.

Oh for sure. And I have no real insight on why either of these kids got admitted except that I think this speaks to the reality of elite admissions that once you pass the threshold of acceptably high stats All the other “holistic” criteria become more important. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this, but I really feel for the kids who sacrifice happiness, time in other activities, going to prom etc. because they are studying with the intent of perfection grades/AP tests/SAT. Perfect stats aren’t the key to having a shot at these top schools. Doing other things with your time at a deep level does seem to be from what I have observed.

[Anonymous]

Above a certain point re: grades and test scores, many students will be academically qualified. Students who get admitted will have curiosity, enthusiasms, commitments and accomplishments that allow them to stand out from the pack of other students with excellent grades and test scores. Sandburg’s post college accomplishments strongly suggest that she was a good pick who used the opportunities available to her quite well.

I say this as someone who’s not a fan of her book, which, I think, overgeneralized from her own experiences as a privileged white women with an elite education and access to powerful mentors and supporters to the rest of us. In fairness though, perhaps I should blame marketing.

[Anonymous]

Maybe they used UW GPA to rank?

[Anonymous]

How many people were in her high school graduating class? Probably a lot. Get some perspective. 9th is very good. I went to New Trier in the Chicago suburbs and I am a few years older than her. There were almost 1,000 kids in my class and the difference between 1 and 9 was probably miniscule. Likely the same at at most affluent public high schools. Plus, at some point people need to understand that schools look at more than GPA’s and test scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Was it really that easy back then? Sandburg was 9th in her public high school class and got accepted to Harvard. Did she do something extraordinary like ranked tennis player??

Her dad went to Hopkins and was an Ophthalmologist, so they were full pay I’m sure that helped.

Well, clearly she turned out to be quite the achiever, i.e. Harvard "material," and accomplished more than 99% of other Harvard grads.

That is probably about 90% because Summers guided her path.

She went to McKinsey, then worked in ad sales at Google in the highest growth phase. She has been the queen of right place right time.

She is quite capable, but coming from a wealthy family and attending Ivy League she is not earth shattering. I appreciate her efforts on women in workforce.

Well, except for asking the Daily Mail not to share that her boyfriend had a restraining order in him from an ex gf. I dunno. If that’s true, I’m not that impressed with her.

Lean In. Easy to do with wealth and a gilded path laid before you.