NY Times on new application essays dabbling in so-called "identities"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Our tribalistic group identities are something to overcome, not encourage.“

Yes! It’s so weird that the people who claim they don’t want race to be an issue are always making race an issue.

This country was founded on the principle of group identities (race) so it will never just 'not be an issue'.

That’s a quasi-religious argument. We aren’t living a biblical narrative; America is not bound by original sin. As race and racism are social constructs, they can be undone.

DP: Sure, they can be undone. But we're nowhere near that, and it's not going to be "not an issue" for a very long time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Our tribalistic group identities are something to overcome, not encourage.“

Yes! It’s so weird that the people who claim they don’t want race to be an issue are always making race an issue.

This country was founded on the principle of group identities (race) so it will never just 'not be an issue'.

That’s a quasi-religious argument. We aren’t living a biblical narrative; America is not bound by original sin. As race and racism are social constructs, they can be undone.

DP: Sure, they can be undone. But we're nowhere near that, and it's not going to be "not an issue" for a very long time.

Adding: Just because something is a social construct doesn't mean it doesn't have historical material impact.

[Anonymous]

These essays only matter at highly sought after universities where the school needs to choose among qualified applicants.

I really do not see the essays as much different that before the lawsuit, they already asked questions that were not obviously connected to academic merit and went to what else a student may bring to a college or university.

Why is one students having overcome obstacles that are related to qualities of identity less relevant that another student having been president of three clubs and an award winning debater. And just being a POC is not getting anyone into a competitive college without both academic achievement and substantial objective accomplishments such as debating awards or whatever.

It is a compilation of a bunch of info that helps a school create a class from the oversized pile of qualified students.

Everybody loves to whine, but there is plenty of great education to go around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Afro-Latino kid. 1490 SAT. 4.4 GPA. Essay about flippong cars that he refurbishes.

And you think he was accepted to college because he has curly hair?

That guy will be happy when he and everyone else knows he is in because of his merits and not because of his curly hair.

-He knows he is in on merit
-The school knows he is in on merit
-Hopefully most of his classmates just assume that - and the ones he does chemlab with for darn sure know

Anyone who spends a minute of their day wondering over that has a personal problem that doesn't affect him unless that person goes out of their way to impede or undermine him. Which is what some DCUM folks are illustrating for him very well.

I almost want to say thank-you

[Anonymous]

A personal problem for noticing the elephant in the room? More like the person who expects everyone to pretend they don’t see the elephant has a problem.

[Anonymous]

This isn’t racial. It has to do with things being slanted in favor of a person or group. For a long time, the head of Ford Motor Co. tended to be a guy named Ford. Do you think anybody in Detroit thought, “Wow, those Fords sure are smart—they keep getting picked to run Ford Motor Co.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Our tribalistic group identities are something to overcome, not encourage.“

Yes! It’s so weird that the people who claim they don’t want race to be an issue are always making race an issue.

This country was founded on the principle of group identities (race) so it will never just 'not be an issue'.

That’s a quasi-religious argument. We aren’t living a biblical narrative; America is not bound by original sin. As race and racism are social constructs, they can be undone.

DP: Sure, they can be undone. But we're nowhere near that, and it's not going to be "not an issue" for a very long time.

“Nowhere near” is very different from “never.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A personal problem for noticing the elephant in the room? More like the person who expects everyone to pretend they don’t see the elephant has a problem.

Precisely.

[Anonymous]

Pink elephants = a personal problem

I have known "urm" students with the same high stats as everyone else on campus. And others woth lower stats.

But I have also know white and Asian with low stats. After making a huge fool of myself in a public space I have learned to not make assumptions. Or, to be really honest, I keep them to myself and learned that sometimes I'm just wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Afro-Latino kid. 1490 SAT. 4.4 GPA. Essay about flippong cars that he refurbishes.

And you think he was accepted to college because he has curly hair?

That guy will be happy when he and everyone else knows he is in because of his merits and not because of his curly hair.

Well some of us know that already. Can't help bigotry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These essays only matter at highly sought after universities where the school needs to choose among qualified applicants.

I really do not see the essays as much different that before the lawsuit, they already asked questions that were not obviously connected to academic merit and went to what else a student may bring to a college or university.

Why is one students having overcome obstacles that are related to qualities of identity less relevant that another student having been president of three clubs and an award winning debater. And just being a POC is not getting anyone into a competitive college without both academic achievement and substantial objective accomplishments such as debating awards or whatever.

It is a compilation of a bunch of info that helps a school create a class from the oversized pile of qualified students.

Everybody loves to whine, but there is plenty of great education to go around.

This. So tired of the pot stirrers and the anti-urm political slings here. There are many kids that are highly qualified with various types of merits.

[Anonymous]

I was around in the 1960s when cities were burning because people were pissed off that what color you were determined how you were treated. If you disagreed with that movement you were a racist.

Fast-forward 60 years. Now people are pissed because they can’t be treated differently due to skin color. And if you disagree with them you are a racist.

I like irony as much as anybody, but this is just a little too thick.

[Anonymous]

Question for those that think life experience should not matter.

How should elite colleges select among students that meet thei admissions criteria.

For example, 100,000 students apply to Harvard and Harvard can admit 3,000 students total. How should it select the 1 in 10 that will receive a yes? What is the right criteria?

Can it care about gender ratio? Can it want broad geographic representation? Can it care about different life experiences? How should it consider the different opportunities to excel that it’s applicants experienced? Is this just a numbers game?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was around in the 1960s when cities were burning because people were pissed off that what color you were determined how you were treated. If you disagreed with that movement you were a racist.

Fast-forward 60 years. Now people are pissed because they can’t be treated differently due to skin color. And if you disagree with them you are a racist.

I like irony as much as anybody, but this is just a little too thick.

When you swing the pendulum too far it’s not just going to peacefully return to a neutral state.

[Anonymous]

Why did you shift race to “life experience”?