WSJ article on your child's chances of getting into an IVY are slim

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I thought smart kids went to IVY. Now I know it has nothing to do with how smart they are.

It absolutely does, and also how hard they had to work to overcome really hard circumstances. As it should be.

Speaking of fantasies. Overcoming hard circumstances? For maybe 2% of them. The rest are privileged beyond comprehension for most Americans.

I hate to break it to you, but being first gen and/or a URM IS a hard circumstance.

I hate to break it to you, but my 1/4 black kids who look 100% white and have been raised in an upper middle class home are considered URMs for the purpose of college admissions. They definitely have not had unduly “hard circumstances” and yet it is kids like them who benefit most from affirmative action. I’m certainly not going to force them to not claim 1/4th of their ancestry and hence lower their admissions potential but objectively it is blatantly unfair that they are getting this huge advantage.

Troll.

I am 100% not a troll. What is it about my statement that you find hard to believe?

Most 1/4 black kids don’t look 100% white.

[Anonymous]

That's ridiculous. Skin comes in many different shades. Plenty of mixed race people have paler skin than that of white people. Go look at prince harry and meghans beautiful babies.

[Anonymous]

Unless you have Joe writing you a rec letter for Brown, nope, sorry

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I thought smart kids went to IVY. Now I know it has nothing to do with how smart they are.

It absolutely does, and also how hard they had to work to overcome really hard circumstances. As it should be.

Speaking of fantasies. Overcoming hard circumstances? For maybe 2% of them. The rest are privileged beyond comprehension for most Americans.

I hate to break it to you, but being first gen and/or a URM IS a hard circumstance.

I hate to break it to you, but my 1/4 black kids who look 100% white and have been raised in an upper middle class home are considered URMs for the purpose of college admissions. They definitely have not had unduly “hard circumstances” and yet it is kids like them who benefit most from affirmative action. I’m certainly not going to force them to not claim 1/4th of their ancestry and hence lower their admissions potential but objectively it is blatantly unfair that they are getting this huge advantage.

Troll.

I am 100% not a troll. What is it about my statement that you find hard to believe?

Most 1/4 black kids don’t look 100% white.

Genetics are funny- My father is African American (descendant of slaves so specific countries unknown) mother is mostly Scandinavian ancestry. My husband is Irish/German. One kid is blond/blue eyed the other is brunette and looks maybe vaguely Mediterranean but most assume Caucasian unless you saw us together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not the whole article, but here is the lede:

“ Kaitlyn Younger has been an academic standout since she started studying algebra in third grade.

She took her first advanced-placement course as a freshman, scored 1550 on her SATs as a junior at McKinney High School near Dallas and will graduate this spring with an unweighted 3.95 grade-point average and as the founder of the school’s accounting club. Along the way she performed in and directed about 30 plays, sang in the school choir, scored top marks on the tests she has so far taken for 11 advanced-placement classes, helped run a summer camp and held down a part-time job.

“She is extraordinary,” said Jeff Cranmore, her guidance counselor at McKinney High School.

Ms. Younger, 18 years old, was cautiously optimistic when she applied to top U.S. colleges last fall. Responses came this month: Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Brown, Cornell, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California, University of California, Berkeley, and Northwestern all rejected her.

“I expected a bunch wouldn’t accept me,” she said. “I didn’t expect it to be this bad.””

It says she’s going to Arizona State.

And here is where I stop reading. These schools are all so different. It's the shotgun approach. Glad she found a nice place to land.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not the whole article, but here is the lede:

“ Kaitlyn Younger has been an academic standout since she started studying algebra in third grade.

She took her first advanced-placement course as a freshman, scored 1550 on her SATs as a junior at McKinney High School near Dallas and will graduate this spring with an unweighted 3.95 grade-point average and as the founder of the school’s accounting club. Along the way she performed in and directed about 30 plays, sang in the school choir, scored top marks on the tests she has so far taken for 11 advanced-placement classes, helped run a summer camp and held down a part-time job.

“She is extraordinary,” said Jeff Cranmore, her guidance counselor at McKinney High School.

Ms. Younger, 18 years old, was cautiously optimistic when she applied to top U.S. colleges last fall. Responses came this month: Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Brown, Cornell, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California, University of California, Berkeley, and Northwestern all rejected her.

“I expected a bunch wouldn’t accept me,” she said. “I didn’t expect it to be this bad.””

It says she’s going to Arizona State.

And here is where I stop reading. These schools are all so different. It's the shotgun approach. Glad she found a nice place to land.

The average 12th grader in Texas doesn’t know that these schools are all “different.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not the whole article, but here is the lede:

“ Kaitlyn Younger has been an academic standout since she started studying algebra in third grade.

She took her first advanced-placement course as a freshman, scored 1550 on her SATs as a junior at McKinney High School near Dallas and will graduate this spring with an unweighted 3.95 grade-point average and as the founder of the school’s accounting club. Along the way she performed in and directed about 30 plays, sang in the school choir, scored top marks on the tests she has so far taken for 11 advanced-placement classes, helped run a summer camp and held down a part-time job.

“She is extraordinary,” said Jeff Cranmore, her guidance counselor at McKinney High School.

Ms. Younger, 18 years old, was cautiously optimistic when she applied to top U.S. colleges last fall. Responses came this month: Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Brown, Cornell, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California, University of California, Berkeley, and Northwestern all rejected her.

“I expected a bunch wouldn’t accept me,” she said. “I didn’t expect it to be this bad.””

It says she’s going to Arizona State.

And here is where I stop reading. These schools are all so different. It's the shotgun approach. Glad she found a nice place to land.

The average 12th grader in Texas doesn’t know that these schools are all “different.”

And that's the point. The applicant is average and someone should have set her straight before she consented to this story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not the whole article, but here is the lede:

“ Kaitlyn Younger has been an academic standout since she started studying algebra in third grade.

She took her first advanced-placement course as a freshman, scored 1550 on her SATs as a junior at McKinney High School near Dallas and will graduate this spring with an unweighted 3.95 grade-point average and as the founder of the school’s accounting club. Along the way she performed in and directed about 30 plays, sang in the school choir, scored top marks on the tests she has so far taken for 11 advanced-placement classes, helped run a summer camp and held down a part-time job.

“She is extraordinary,” said Jeff Cranmore, her guidance counselor at McKinney High School.

Ms. Younger, 18 years old, was cautiously optimistic when she applied to top U.S. colleges last fall. Responses came this month: Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Brown, Cornell, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California, University of California, Berkeley, and Northwestern all rejected her.

“I expected a bunch wouldn’t accept me,” she said. “I didn’t expect it to be this bad.””

It says she’s going to Arizona State.

And here is where I stop reading. These schools are all so different. It's the shotgun approach. Glad she found a nice place to land.

The average 12th grader in Texas doesn’t know that these schools are all “different.”

And that's the point. The applicant is average and someone should have set her straight before she consented to this story.

Very strange story. Why did the WSJ choose to profile this student who sounds great but hardly a shoe in for any of the schools she desired? I don't get why they used her as an example of what they are claiming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not the whole article, but here is the lede:

“ Kaitlyn Younger has been an academic standout since she started studying algebra in third grade.

She took her first advanced-placement course as a freshman, scored 1550 on her SATs as a junior at McKinney High School near Dallas and will graduate this spring with an unweighted 3.95 grade-point average and as the founder of the school’s accounting club. Along the way she performed in and directed about 30 plays, sang in the school choir, scored top marks on the tests she has so far taken for 11 advanced-placement classes, helped run a summer camp and held down a part-time job.

“She is extraordinary,” said Jeff Cranmore, her guidance counselor at McKinney High School.

Ms. Younger, 18 years old, was cautiously optimistic when she applied to top U.S. colleges last fall. Responses came this month: Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Brown, Cornell, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California, University of California, Berkeley, and Northwestern all rejected her.

“I expected a bunch wouldn’t accept me,” she said. “I didn’t expect it to be this bad.””

It says she’s going to Arizona State.

And here is where I stop reading. These schools are all so different. It's the shotgun approach. Glad she found a nice place to land.

The average 12th grader in Texas doesn’t know that these schools are all “different.”

And that's the point. The applicant is average and someone should have set her straight before she consented to this story.

Very strange story. Why did the WSJ choose to profile this student who sounds great but hardly a shoe in for any of the schools she desired? I don't get why they used her as an example of what they are claiming.

Duh, she’s white and most readers won’t question the implication a victim

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not the whole article, but here is the lede:

“ Kaitlyn Younger has been an academic standout since she started studying algebra in third grade.

She took her first advanced-placement course as a freshman, scored 1550 on her SATs as a junior at McKinney High School near Dallas and will graduate this spring with an unweighted 3.95 grade-point average and as the founder of the school’s accounting club. Along the way she performed in and directed about 30 plays, sang in the school choir, scored top marks on the tests she has so far taken for 11 advanced-placement classes, helped run a summer camp and held down a part-time job.

“She is extraordinary,” said Jeff Cranmore, her guidance counselor at McKinney High School.

Ms. Younger, 18 years old, was cautiously optimistic when she applied to top U.S. colleges last fall. Responses came this month: Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Brown, Cornell, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California, University of California, Berkeley, and Northwestern all rejected her.

“I expected a bunch wouldn’t accept me,” she said. “I didn’t expect it to be this bad.””

It says she’s going to Arizona State.

And here is where I stop reading. These schools are all so different. It's the shotgun approach. Glad she found a nice place to land.

The average 12th grader in Texas doesn’t know that these schools are all “different.”

And that's the point. The applicant is average and someone should have set her straight before she consented to this story.

Very strange story. Why did the WSJ choose to profile this student who sounds great but hardly a shoe in for any of the schools she desired? I don't get why they used her as an example of what they are claiming.

Duh, she’s white and most readers won’t question the implication a victim

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not the whole article, but here is the lede:

“ Kaitlyn Younger has been an academic standout since she started studying algebra in third grade.

She took her first advanced-placement course as a freshman, scored 1550 on her SATs as a junior at McKinney High School near Dallas and will graduate this spring with an unweighted 3.95 grade-point average and as the founder of the school’s accounting club. Along the way she performed in and directed about 30 plays, sang in the school choir, scored top marks on the tests she has so far taken for 11 advanced-placement classes, helped run a summer camp and held down a part-time job.

“She is extraordinary,” said Jeff Cranmore, her guidance counselor at McKinney High School.

Ms. Younger, 18 years old, was cautiously optimistic when she applied to top U.S. colleges last fall. Responses came this month: Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Brown, Cornell, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California, University of California, Berkeley, and Northwestern all rejected her.

“I expected a bunch wouldn’t accept me,” she said. “I didn’t expect it to be this bad.””

It says she’s going to Arizona State.

And here is where I stop reading. These schools are all so different. It's the shotgun approach. Glad she found a nice place to land.

The average 12th grader in Texas doesn’t know that these schools are all “different.”

And that's the point. The applicant is average and someone should have set her straight before she consented to this story.

Very strange story. Why did the WSJ choose to profile this student who sounds great but hardly a shoe in for any of the schools she desired? I don't get why they used her as an example of what they are claiming.

Duh, she’s white and most readers won’t question the implication a victim

Agree. The number of white parents who whine on FB college pages about how their 4.0 GPA child/niece/nephew/etc didn't get admitted, offered a full scholarship, etc blows my mind. Shrieks entitlement and an utter lack of awareness on how this achievement is not quite as novel as it used to be. Maybe it was a 4.0 in total grind classes or 4.0 in the least rigorous classes offered for each grade and purposefully selected to garner all As.

Writing about a depression in her essay to excuse her Bs was a serious no-no. Nearly every college admissions book, essay web sites, College Confidential strongly discourage students from doing so. It was a rookie move and HYPSM are not looking for rookies.

This all sounds harsh but shame on WSJ for choosing a student with no reason for sympathy save how she was failed by the adults in her life for allowing her to come up with an unrealistic college list, especially in this climate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not the whole article, but here is the lede:

“ Kaitlyn Younger has been an academic standout since she started studying algebra in third grade.

She took her first advanced-placement course as a freshman, scored 1550 on her SATs as a junior at McKinney High School near Dallas and will graduate this spring with an unweighted 3.95 grade-point average and as the founder of the school’s accounting club. Along the way she performed in and directed about 30 plays, sang in the school choir, scored top marks on the tests she has so far taken for 11 advanced-placement classes, helped run a summer camp and held down a part-time job.

“She is extraordinary,” said Jeff Cranmore, her guidance counselor at McKinney High School.

Ms. Younger, 18 years old, was cautiously optimistic when she applied to top U.S. colleges last fall. Responses came this month: Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Brown, Cornell, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California, University of California, Berkeley, and Northwestern all rejected her.

“I expected a bunch wouldn’t accept me,” she said. “I didn’t expect it to be this bad.””

It says she’s going to Arizona State.

And here is where I stop reading. These schools are all so different. It's the shotgun approach. Glad she found a nice place to land.

The average 12th grader in Texas doesn’t know that these schools are all “different.”

And that's the point. The applicant is average and someone should have set her straight before she consented to this story.

Very strange story. Why did the WSJ choose to profile this student who sounds great but hardly a shoe in for any of the schools she desired? I don't get why they used her as an example of what they are claiming.

Duh, she’s white and most readers won’t question the implication a victim

This.

Looks like plenty of people are questioning it, given the now 20+ page thread.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes “sympathetic” articles like this are low-key vehicles to shade the people naive enough to consent to them. I find it hard to believe that no one at the WSJ involved with this article didn’t realize that she was making fool of herelf. They know stories like this are irresistible catnip for upper-middle-class “Karens,” and the WSJ has bills to pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not the whole article, but here is the lede:

“ Kaitlyn Younger has been an academic standout since she started studying algebra in third grade.

She took her first advanced-placement course as a freshman, scored 1550 on her SATs as a junior at McKinney High School near Dallas and will graduate this spring with an unweighted 3.95 grade-point average and as the founder of the school’s accounting club. Along the way she performed in and directed about 30 plays, sang in the school choir, scored top marks on the tests she has so far taken for 11 advanced-placement classes, helped run a summer camp and held down a part-time job.

“She is extraordinary,” said Jeff Cranmore, her guidance counselor at McKinney High School.

Ms. Younger, 18 years old, was cautiously optimistic when she applied to top U.S. colleges last fall. Responses came this month: Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Brown, Cornell, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California, University of California, Berkeley, and Northwestern all rejected her.

“I expected a bunch wouldn’t accept me,” she said. “I didn’t expect it to be this bad.””

It says she’s going to Arizona State.

And here is where I stop reading. These schools are all so different. It's the shotgun approach. Glad she found a nice place to land.

The average 12th grader in Texas doesn’t know that these schools are all “different.”

And that's the point. The applicant is average and someone should have set her straight before she consented to this story.

Very strange story. Why did the WSJ choose to profile this student who sounds great but hardly a shoe in for any of the schools she desired? I don't get why they used her as an example of what they are claiming.

Exactly!!! The editor is out of touch of what is needed for ivy admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sometimes “sympathetic” articles like this are low-key vehicles to shade the people naive enough to consent to them. I find it hard to believe that no one at the WSJ involved with this article didn’t realize that she was making fool of herelf. They know stories like this are irresistible catnip for upper-middle-class “Karens,” and the WSJ has bills to pay.

So true! So sad. It really is not necessary to do this to this poor girl. It only shows that she has unrealistic expectations.