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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Probably a large high school.

And, most people then would not have even applied to the Ivy leagues, either assuming they couldn't get in or couldn't afford it.

True. Loans weren't really an option when she graduated high school. I'm her age. I went to Cornell, as my father literally got an inheritance from a rich uncle that paid for it, but many of my peers who were as smart or smarter than me went to SUNY schools because private schools were not affordable. Without that money, I'd probably be a proud SUNY Binghamton grad.

Really? I'm 43 and loans were absolutely widely available when I went to college in 1996. Did it change that much from the mid 80s to the mid 90s?

Even if loans we’re available, ophthalmologist dad’s income would’ve made her ineligible.

[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.

Idk what she had or not but being full pay is peanuts for these wealthy schools with multibillion endowments, unless you can donate above millions, you get no bump in admissions.

Wasn’t Harvard needs blind back then?

[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.

Idk what she had or not but being full pay is peanuts for these wealthy schools with multibillion endowments, unless you can donate above millions, you get no bump in admissions.

Wasn’t Harvard needs blind back then?

Need blind for admission I think, but didn’t offer aid. I have a friend who graduated high school around 1982. He was valedictorian of his tiny high school in Nowhere, TX. He got into Harvard but his family had no money and he got no aid, so he couldn’t go. He went to UT Austin instead.

I think the original point is that competition for admission was lower back then, and presumably Harvard’s yield was lower as well, as a significant number of admits simply wouldn’t have been able to afford the tuition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Idk what she had or not but being full pay is peanuts for these wealthy schools with multibillion endowments, unless you can donate above millions, you get no bump in admissions.

Wasn’t Harvard needs blind back then?

Need blind for admission I think, but didn’t offer aid. I have a friend who graduated high school around 1982. He was valedictorian of his tiny high school in Nowhere, TX. He got into Harvard but his family had no money and he got no aid, so he couldn’t go. He went to UT Austin instead.

I think the original point is that competition for admission was lower back then, and presumably Harvard’s yield was lower as well, as a significant number of admits simply wouldn’t have been able to afford the tuition.

Harvard offered aid then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Idk what she had or not but being full pay is peanuts for these wealthy schools with multibillion endowments, unless you can donate above millions, you get no bump in admissions.

Wasn’t Harvard needs blind back then?

Need blind for admission I think, but didn’t offer aid. I have a friend who graduated high school around 1982. He was valedictorian of his tiny high school in Nowhere, TX. He got into Harvard but his family had no money and he got no aid, so he couldn’t go. He went to UT Austin instead.

I think the original point is that competition for admission was lower back then, and presumably Harvard’s yield was lower as well, as a significant number of admits simply wouldn’t have been able to afford the tuition.

Harvard offered aid then.

+1

If they really had no money he would have been offered pell grants, loans, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Idk what she had or not but being full pay is peanuts for these wealthy schools with multibillion endowments, unless you can donate above millions, you get no bump in admissions.

Wasn’t Harvard needs blind back then?

Need blind for admission I think, but didn’t offer aid. I have a friend who graduated high school around 1982. He was valedictorian of his tiny high school in Nowhere, TX. He got into Harvard but his family had no money and he got no aid, so he couldn’t go. He went to UT Austin instead.

I think the original point is that competition for admission was lower back then, and presumably Harvard’s yield was lower as well, as a significant number of admits simply wouldn’t have been able to afford the tuition.

Harvard offered aid then.

Yep, they offered aid. They offered pretty substantial scholarships from the school's own endowment/funds, plus you could take out federal loans. They made sure you didn't have to take out private loans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Idk what she had or not but being full pay is peanuts for these wealthy schools with multibillion endowments, unless you can donate above millions, you get no bump in admissions.

Wasn’t Harvard needs blind back then?

Need blind for admission I think, but didn’t offer aid. I have a friend who graduated high school around 1982. He was valedictorian of his tiny high school in Nowhere, TX. He got into Harvard but his family had no money and he got no aid, so he couldn’t go. He went to UT Austin instead.

I think the original point is that competition for admission was lower back then, and presumably Harvard’s yield was lower as well, as a significant number of admits simply wouldn’t have been able to afford the tuition.

This doesn't check out. My cousin went there and got almost everything paid for in financial aid.

[Anonymous]

I think the top 10 kids in my HS class of almost 400 were separated by a less than a tenth of a percentage point. Is class rank at that point really meaningful? Is the difference between 1 and 10 really meaningful?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Probably a large high school.

And, most people then would not have even applied to the Ivy leagues, either assuming they couldn't get in or couldn't afford it.

True. Loans weren't really an option when she graduated high school. I'm her age. I went to Cornell, as my father literally got an inheritance from a rich uncle that paid for it, but many of my peers who were as smart or smarter than me went to SUNY schools because private schools were not affordable. Without that money, I'd probably be a proud SUNY Binghamton grad.

I don’t understand what you mean. I went to Harvard and Harvard law in the late 70s and early 80s and was paying down federal loans on both until my late 30s

[Anonymous]

You all are seriously scrutinizing the HS record of one of the most successful business women in America, asking if she deserved to go to Harvard???

She helped build from the ground up one of the world’s most successful, influential companies with a $1 trillion valuation and someone else on here is saying that’s just “average” for someone who went to Harvard??

[Anonymous]

IMHO this is the most ridiculous thread of all times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IMHO this is the most ridiculous thread of all times.

There have been far more ridiculous threads on this forum (it is DCUM after all). But the OP didn’t even spell her name correctly.

[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.

Here parents knew the value of a top education and made sure she got in. She's a woman and that came/comes with a lot of benefits in the working world as well.

[Anonymous]

1. Number one is basically valedictorian.

2. My sibling is her age and got a 3.5 gpa and 1280 on sats and no hooks and got into hyps. Yes, it was waaaay easier in the eighties. Fewer applicants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1. Number one is basically valedictorian.

2. My sibling is her age and got a 3.5 gpa and 1280 on sats and no hooks and got into hyps. Yes, it was waaaay easier in the eighties. Fewer applicants.

Meant to say - my sister went to a top private.