UMC suburban college student lied about background to become prestigious Rhodes Scholar

[Anonymous]

She was asked by the Rhodes Committee if she was the first in her family to attend college and she said "yes." I think everyone agrees that was not true. And, as has been stated multiple times, the hospital records showed her injuries were not nearly as severe as she claimed they were.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21174416-penn-answer
Begin reading at page 59 of this document. The narrative is quite interesting. It has to take some mental gymnastics to read the facts and find her worthy of defending.

The father is named Billy Terrell, an actor, accused, among other things, of pathological lying when he and the mom divorced. Hmm..

You do realize that the document you’re linking s not an objective report but the university’s attempt to defend itself. It not only is slanted but it whitewashes Penn’s role in all of this and acknowledges no wrongdoing on their part - as would be expected of an institution defending itself against serious allegations

My guess is that the truth in this matter lies somewhere between the positions that the 2 sides have staked out.

DP. Sure, it isn't objective. But the positions taken in it are detailed and supported by facts. When Penn refers to the lack of police records to support a statement Fierceton made about receiving threatening packages and letters, that is likely to be true. Therefore it is reasonable to conclude that the underlying facts described by Penn have supporting evidence.

It is always telling in a civil dispute when one side has a lot of detail and alleged facts, and the other does not. Fierceton's filing is filled with a bunch of very grand allegations, but comparatively little in the way of citable facts. That is the opposite of the Penn filing.

Lack of police records is not Relevant. It does not disprove her claim.

Sigh, yes, it’s relevant. Honestly the weird Fierceton supporters in this thread are so obtuse.

Here is a primer for you: Fierceton filed suit against the university and certain administrators. She is alleging retaliation, claiming that Penn caused the loss of her Rhodes scholarship because they were unjustly retaliating against her for her involvement in the Driver suit, and seeking damages for that as well as for not granting her Master’s. To defend against the charge of retaliation, the university needs to show that it had good cause for its actions that were not retaliatory in nature. Therefore, the university needs to show that it had ample reason to distrust Fierceton, and to have gone down the path it did with respect to Rhodes. What the answer does is lay out all the facts that demonstrate that Fierceton was untruthful and misrepresented herself in her applications. The police records are relevant because it is a provable fact that shows that something Fierceton said was untrue. It’s just one fact in a constellation of facts that built up to a non-retaliatory justification of Penn’s actions.

The problem for Fierceton is that her credibility is at the very heart of this entire lawsuit. And her credibility does not look good now.

I don’t support Fierceton, I just point out obfuscation.

The rest is to;dr Blah , blah, blah

No police report is NOT proof that it did not happen and irrelevant. A police report that she falsely reported a threat is Perot, no police report is irrelevant.

They have NO PROOF, period.

You seem fundamentally and profoundly unclear on how litigation works. To help you with basics: it is up to Fierceton to prove that she was retaliated against in a court of law. Your ranting here is what is irrelevant.

Oh there is another lawsuit coming for the slander. You think it stops here. You really don’t know how litigation works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She was asked by the Rhodes Committee if she was the first in her family to attend college and she said "yes." I think everyone agrees that was not true. And, as has been stated multiple times, the hospital records showed her injuries were not nearly as severe as she claimed they were.

It is true for emancipated minors. Technically her mom is not her mom. So she, by their definition, is the 1st to attend college.

It’s not true that the hospital records show she was not injured. The fact she was in 22 days precisely shows her injuries were severe.

The only facts are on the students side.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe this incident will prompt the Rhodes Scholar selection committee and others like them to reevaluate the essay process?

I know someone affiliated with the process who says each essay is better than the last when it comes to a personal sob story followed by extremely noble volunteerism. Academics aren’t the focus. Ethics aren’t considered. It’s poverty porn followed by overcoming adversity and giving back.

In short: none of the privileged or even average kids from Dcumlandia have a chance.

why would an average kid have a chance at a Rhodes scholarship?

I didn’t mean average in the academic sense. Rather: financially.

I literally know people who have served on the Rhodes selection committee among other similar prestigious scholarship/fellowship programs domestically and abroad. The essays are literally creative writing exercises meant to convey how hard you’ve had it and how selfless you have been after pulling yourself up by your bootstraps to do something amazing. Much of it is embellished. I mean, everyone can’t have been born on a battlefield to a one-armed teenager and raised in a barn yet somehow earn perfect test scores while inventing the cure for cancer.

The American approach to such essays is to demonstrate you’ve had it hard so the review committee feels pity followed by interest.

FTR, this sort of essay doesn’t work for such scholarships/fellowships abroad. Stiff upper lip and all that. They simply look at what you’ve achieved academically followed by what you’ve done. And, if your story sounds far fetched, it is recognized as creative writing.

Bottom line: none of your kids in Dcumlandia have a chance when selection committees prioritize kids born in abject poverty reared by terrible parents.

No, it is not meant to be a creative writing essay and it is not supposed to be embellished.

Pg 70:

According to Rhodes: “Institutions or students who submit work that isn’t an honest reflection of the applicant will damage their credibility and undermine their chance (or that of their applicants) to receive a Scholarship. We disqualify applicants when we discover inaccurate or materially exaggerated claims; we will do the same if we learn of violations of our personal statement rules.”

And from the application itself:
https://www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/media/46018/information-for-candidates-usa.pdf

"Your personal statement should be wholly accurate and a fair representation of your story, written in your own
words from your own perspective. Material misrepresentation will result in disqualification of an application
and, where appropriate, the rescinding of a scholarship. It should be entirely your own work, with no assistance
received. Through the online application form you will be asked to confirm that the entered / uploaded personal
statement is accurate, is your own work and that no external help was given in its creation or editing."

Oy vey.

Of course it isn’t meant to be a creative writing exercise!

But that is effectively what it has become. Everyone tries to impress by painting a bleak picture of their upbringing followed by heroic efforts to overcome adversity and do something noble.

That’s a fact based on what I’ve heard from someone who has served on the Rhodes selection committee: the essays are absurd and mostly unbelievable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She was asked by the Rhodes Committee if she was the first in her family to attend college and she said "yes." I think everyone agrees that was not true. And, as has been stated multiple times, the hospital records showed her injuries were not nearly as severe as she claimed they were.

It is true for emancipated minors. Technically her mom is not her mom. So she, by their definition, is the 1st to attend college.

It’s not true that the hospital records show she was not injured. The fact she was in 22 days precisely shows her injuries were severe.

The only facts are on the students side.

Who's they? The Rhodes Committee? Are you telling me they don't know the definition of the term they use to determine if someone is "first generation?" They determined she did not meet their definition.
BTW, I notice she's not suing them and they were the ones who rescinded the Rhodes Scholarship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She was asked by the Rhodes Committee if she was the first in her family to attend college and she said "yes." I think everyone agrees that was not true. And, as has been stated multiple times, the hospital records showed her injuries were not nearly as severe as she claimed they were.

It is true for emancipated minors. Technically her mom is not her mom. So she, by their definition, is the 1st to attend college.

It’s not true that the hospital records show she was not injured. The fact she was in 22 days precisely shows her injuries were severe.

The only facts are on the students side.

Who's they? The Rhodes Committee? Are you telling me they don't know the definition of the term they use to determine if someone is "first generation?" They determined she did not meet their definition.
BTW, I notice she's not suing them and they were the ones who rescinded the Rhodes Scholarship.

Yes by their definition and Penn’s definition. It’s been posted here many times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She was asked by the Rhodes Committee if she was the first in her family to attend college and she said "yes." I think everyone agrees that was not true. And, as has been stated multiple times, the hospital records showed her injuries were not nearly as severe as she claimed they were.

It is true for emancipated minors. Technically her mom is not her mom. So she, by their definition, is the 1st to attend college.

It’s not true that the hospital records show she was not injured. The fact she was in 22 days precisely shows her injuries were severe.

The only facts are on the students side.

Who's they? The Rhodes Committee? Are you telling me they don't know the definition of the term they use to determine if someone is "first generation?" They determined she did not meet their definition.
BTW, I notice she's not suing them and they were the ones who rescinded the Rhodes Scholarship.

Yes by their definition and Penn’s definition. It’s been posted here many times.

Penn's definition does not control the Rhodes Committee, who found she did not meet their definition. So take it up with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She was asked by the Rhodes Committee if she was the first in her family to attend college and she said "yes." I think everyone agrees that was not true. And, as has been stated multiple times, the hospital records showed her injuries were not nearly as severe as she claimed they were.

It is true for emancipated minors. Technically her mom is not her mom. So she, by their definition, is the 1st to attend college.

It’s not true that the hospital records show she was not injured. The fact she was in 22 days precisely shows her injuries were severe.

The only facts are on the students side.

Who's they? The Rhodes Committee? Are you telling me they don't know the definition of the term they use to determine if someone is "first generation?" They determined she did not meet their definition.
BTW, I notice she's not suing them and they were the ones who rescinded the Rhodes Scholarship.

Yes by their definition and Penn’s definition. It’s been posted here many times.

Penn's definition does not control the Rhodes Committee, who found she did not meet their definition. So take it up with them.

I’m just stating facts.

If you don’t like the facts take it up with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the case is sad. As brilliant as she is, I really think she would have landed at a top school had she been honest about her background. Most kids at those schools come from privileged backgrounds anyway, but even saying that she came from privilege but found out how the other side lived when, after a dispute with her mom, she ended up in foster care for a year, would have been powerful.

What exactly did she say other that she was in foster care and aged out of foster care and had no guardian? You have not read her essay so you can’t say she was being untruthful. Neither Penn nor Rhodes has show that she wrote anything untruthful.

Did you read the filing? There are a number of quotes from her essay that are not truthful: that her bones were broken, that she knew all the police from the time she was 6yo. Quoting from page 69:

"Fierceton also provided this false narrative to gain acceptance into two different Penn Summer Abroad programs and a related fellowship program. In her essays, Fierceton wrote about “bouncing around the foster care system throughout my life.” She described herself as being a “child of the system.”

While I understand that the document is Penn's assertion, I highly doubt their quotes from her essays are inaccurate.

Neither of those statements are false. She was in duster care, she was a child of system and she was bounced around throughout her life.

Because the reader used their confirmed bias to read things that are not there does not make the statements false.

No, the confirmation bias is yours.

"Bouncing around throughout my life" does not mean one year at 17yo.

Saying you have multiple broken bones when you didn't is a lie.

Yes a year can be throughout my life.

And she did not say “broken bones” she said “I was broken”.

Keep trying to twist her words.

Whoever you are, contrarian poster, you are being either willfully obtuse, or you haven't actually read the document, or your reading comprehension skills are at the remedial level-perhaps all three.

Page 60, #7 & top of page 61.
" In her 2015 National College Match Application (“QuestBridge”), Fierceton wrote: “By the time I was six, I knew all of the police officers in my county by first name. By the time I was eight, my biological parents had finally divorced, and I became estranged from my father. By the time I was eleven, Child Protective Services had been called over 14 times regarding various concerns for my safety. At age 13, I had broken more bones than years I’d been alive.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the case is sad. As brilliant as she is, I really think she would have landed at a top school had she been honest about her background. Most kids at those schools come from privileged backgrounds anyway, but even saying that she came from privilege but found out how the other side lived when, after a dispute with her mom, she ended up in foster care for a year, would have been powerful.

What exactly did she say other that she was in foster care and aged out of foster care and had no guardian? You have not read her essay so you can’t say she was being untruthful. Neither Penn nor Rhodes has show that she wrote anything untruthful.

Did you read the filing? There are a number of quotes from her essay that are not truthful: that her bones were broken, that she knew all the police from the time she was 6yo. Quoting from page 69:

"Fierceton also provided this false narrative to gain acceptance into two different Penn Summer Abroad programs and a related fellowship program. In her essays, Fierceton wrote about “bouncing around the foster care system throughout my life.” She described herself as being a “child of the system.”

While I understand that the document is Penn's assertion, I highly doubt their quotes from her essays are inaccurate.

Neither of those statements are false. She was in duster care, she was a child of system and she was bounced around throughout her life.

Because the reader used their confirmed bias to read things that are not there does not make the statements false.

No, the confirmation bias is yours.

"Bouncing around throughout my life" does not mean one year at 17yo.

Saying you have multiple broken bones when you didn't is a lie.

Yes a year can be throughout my life.

And she did not say “broken bones” she said “I was broken”.

Keep trying to twist her words.

Whoever you are, contrarian poster, you are being either willfully obtuse, or you haven't actually read the document, or your reading comprehension skills are at the remedial level-perhaps all three.

Page 60, #7 & top of page 61.
" In her 2015 National College Match Application (“QuestBridge”), Fierceton wrote: “By the time I was six, I knew all of the police officers in my county by first name. By the time I was eight, my biological parents had finally divorced, and I became estranged from my father. By the time I was eleven, Child Protective Services had been called over 14 times regarding various concerns for my safety. At age 13, I had broken more bones than years I’d been alive.”

That has nothing to do with her 22 day stay in the hospital. Those are the only medical records the colleges have obtained.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the case is sad. As brilliant as she is, I really think she would have landed at a top school had she been honest about her background. Most kids at those schools come from privileged backgrounds anyway, but even saying that she came from privilege but found out how the other side lived when, after a dispute with her mom, she ended up in foster care for a year, would have been powerful.

What exactly did she say other that she was in foster care and aged out of foster care and had no guardian? You have not read her essay so you can’t say she was being untruthful. Neither Penn nor Rhodes has show that she wrote anything untruthful.

Did you read the filing? There are a number of quotes from her essay that are not truthful: that her bones were broken, that she knew all the police from the time she was 6yo. Quoting from page 69:

"Fierceton also provided this false narrative to gain acceptance into two different Penn Summer Abroad programs and a related fellowship program. In her essays, Fierceton wrote about “bouncing around the foster care system throughout my life.” She described herself as being a “child of the system.”

While I understand that the document is Penn's assertion, I highly doubt their quotes from her essays are inaccurate.

Neither of those statements are false. She was in duster care, she was a child of system and she was bounced around throughout her life.

Because the reader used their confirmed bias to read things that are not there does not make the statements false.

No, the confirmation bias is yours.

"Bouncing around throughout my life" does not mean one year at 17yo.

Saying you have multiple broken bones when you didn't is a lie.

Yes a year can be throughout my life.

And she did not say “broken bones” she said “I was broken”.

Keep trying to twist her words.

Please refer to pg 92 where they quote her Questbridge application:

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21174416-penn-answer

In her 2015 Questbridge application, MF writes in the additional information section: "Before entering the foster care system in September of 2014, my life was never a fairy tale.. by the time I was six, I knew all of the police officers in my county by first name. By the time I was eleven, Child Protective Services had been called over 14 times regarding various concerns for my safety. At age 13, I had broken more bones than years I had been alive."

Again, from her Questbridge application:
"I was placed in foster care after spending a month in the hospital trying to survive extensive injuries due to physical abuse"
"I do not recognize the person looking back at me... my facial features are so distorted and swollen that I cannot tell them apart. My blonde hair is caked with dried blood. I can't breathe: my ribs won't allow me. I can't sit up: the braces stabilizing most of my body constrain me. I can't smile: my face is too swollen. My body is broken. I force my eye open - the one that isn't swollen shut. Heart rate monitor, iv pump, crash cart. They're all there to make sure I don't stop breathing again... The reporters circle like vultures: I'm their prey. They want to talk about the person who did this to me. The one who almost killed me. The one who is in jail. The one who is my mother. She broke me."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the case is sad. As brilliant as she is, I really think she would have landed at a top school had she been honest about her background. Most kids at those schools come from privileged backgrounds anyway, but even saying that she came from privilege but found out how the other side lived when, after a dispute with her mom, she ended up in foster care for a year, would have been powerful.

What exactly did she say other that she was in foster care and aged out of foster care and had no guardian? You have not read her essay so you can’t say she was being untruthful. Neither Penn nor Rhodes has show that she wrote anything untruthful.

Did you read the filing? There are a number of quotes from her essay that are not truthful: that her bones were broken, that she knew all the police from the time she was 6yo. Quoting from page 69:

"Fierceton also provided this false narrative to gain acceptance into two different Penn Summer Abroad programs and a related fellowship program. In her essays, Fierceton wrote about “bouncing around the foster care system throughout my life.” She described herself as being a “child of the system.”

While I understand that the document is Penn's assertion, I highly doubt their quotes from her essays are inaccurate.

Neither of those statements are false. She was in duster care, she was a child of system and she was bounced around throughout her life.

Because the reader used their confirmed bias to read things that are not there does not make the statements false.

No, the confirmation bias is yours.

"Bouncing around throughout my life" does not mean one year at 17yo.

Saying you have multiple broken bones when you didn't is a lie.

Yes a year can be throughout my life.

And she did not say “broken bones” she said “I was broken”.

Keep trying to twist her words.

Whoever you are, contrarian poster, you are being either willfully obtuse, or you haven't actually read the document, or your reading comprehension skills are at the remedial level-perhaps all three.

Page 60, #7 & top of page 61.
" In her 2015 National College Match Application (“QuestBridge”), Fierceton wrote: “By the time I was six, I knew all of the police officers in my county by first name. By the time I was eight, my biological parents had finally divorced, and I became estranged from my father. By the time I was eleven, Child Protective Services had been called over 14 times regarding various concerns for my safety. At age 13, I had broken more bones than years I’d been alive.”

That has nothing to do with her 22 day stay in the hospital. Those are the only medical records the colleges have obtained.

According to page 92, "The hospital records for MF's September 2014 hospital admission indicates no prior medical or surgical history."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the case is sad. As brilliant as she is, I really think she would have landed at a top school had she been honest about her background. Most kids at those schools come from privileged backgrounds anyway, but even saying that she came from privilege but found out how the other side lived when, after a dispute with her mom, she ended up in foster care for a year, would have been powerful.

What exactly did she say other that she was in foster care and aged out of foster care and had no guardian? You have not read her essay so you can’t say she was being untruthful. Neither Penn nor Rhodes has show that she wrote anything untruthful.

Did you read the filing? There are a number of quotes from her essay that are not truthful: that her bones were broken, that she knew all the police from the time she was 6yo. Quoting from page 69:

"Fierceton also provided this false narrative to gain acceptance into two different Penn Summer Abroad programs and a related fellowship program. In her essays, Fierceton wrote about “bouncing around the foster care system throughout my life.” She described herself as being a “child of the system.”

While I understand that the document is Penn's assertion, I highly doubt their quotes from her essays are inaccurate.

Neither of those statements are false. She was in duster care, she was a child of system and she was bounced around throughout her life.

Because the reader used their confirmed bias to read things that are not there does not make the statements false.

No, the confirmation bias is yours.

"Bouncing around throughout my life" does not mean one year at 17yo.

Saying you have multiple broken bones when you didn't is a lie.

Yes a year can be throughout my life.

And she did not say “broken bones” she said “I was broken”.

Keep trying to twist her words.

Please refer to pg 92 where they quote her Questbridge application:

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21174416-penn-answer

In her 2015 Questbridge application, MF writes in the additional information section: "Before entering the foster care system in September of 2014, my life was never a fairy tale.. by the time I was six, I knew all of the police officers in my county by first name. By the time I was eleven, Child Protective Services had been called over 14 times regarding various concerns for my safety. At age 13, I had broken more bones than years I had been alive."

Again, from her Questbridge application:
"I was placed in foster care after spending a month in the hospital trying to survive extensive injuries due to physical abuse"
"I do not recognize the person looking back at me... my facial features are so distorted and swollen that I cannot tell them apart. My blonde hair is caked with dried blood. I can't breathe: my ribs won't allow me. I can't sit up: the braces stabilizing most of my body constrain me. I can't smile: my face is too swollen. My body is broken. I force my eye open - the one that isn't swollen shut. Heart rate monitor, iv pump, crash cart. They're all there to make sure I don't stop breathing again... The reporters circle like vultures: I'm their prey. They want to talk about the person who did this to me. The one who almost killed me. The one who is in jail. The one who is my mother. She broke me."

Exactly that is where she clearly says she is broken but never states broken bones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the case is sad. As brilliant as she is, I really think she would have landed at a top school had she been honest about her background. Most kids at those schools come from privileged backgrounds anyway, but even saying that she came from privilege but found out how the other side lived when, after a dispute with her mom, she ended up in foster care for a year, would have been powerful.

What exactly did she say other that she was in foster care and aged out of foster care and had no guardian? You have not read her essay so you can’t say she was being untruthful. Neither Penn nor Rhodes has show that she wrote anything untruthful.

Did you read the filing? There are a number of quotes from her essay that are not truthful: that her bones were broken, that she knew all the police from the time she was 6yo. Quoting from page 69:

"Fierceton also provided this false narrative to gain acceptance into two different Penn Summer Abroad programs and a related fellowship program. In her essays, Fierceton wrote about “bouncing around the foster care system throughout my life.” She described herself as being a “child of the system.”

While I understand that the document is Penn's assertion, I highly doubt their quotes from her essays are inaccurate.

Neither of those statements are false. She was in duster care, she was a child of system and she was bounced around throughout her life.

Because the reader used their confirmed bias to read things that are not there does not make the statements false.

No, the confirmation bias is yours.

"Bouncing around throughout my life" does not mean one year at 17yo.

Saying you have multiple broken bones when you didn't is a lie.

Yes a year can be throughout my life.

And she did not say “broken bones” she said “I was broken”.

Keep trying to twist her words.

Please refer to pg 92 where they quote her Questbridge application:

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21174416-penn-answer

In her 2015 Questbridge application, MF writes in the additional information section: "Before entering the foster care system in September of 2014, my life was never a fairy tale.. by the time I was six, I knew all of the police officers in my county by first name. By the time I was eleven, Child Protective Services had been called over 14 times regarding various concerns for my safety. At age 13, I had broken more bones than years I had been alive."

Again, from her Questbridge application:
"I was placed in foster care after spending a month in the hospital trying to survive extensive injuries due to physical abuse"
"I do not recognize the person looking back at me... my facial features are so distorted and swollen that I cannot tell them apart. My blonde hair is caked with dried blood. I can't breathe: my ribs won't allow me. I can't sit up: the braces stabilizing most of my body constrain me. I can't smile: my face is too swollen. My body is broken. I force my eye open - the one that isn't swollen shut. Heart rate monitor, iv pump, crash cart. They're all there to make sure I don't stop breathing again... The reporters circle like vultures: I'm their prey. They want to talk about the person who did this to me. The one who almost killed me. The one who is in jail. The one who is my mother. She broke me."

Exactly that is where she clearly says she is broken but never states broken bones.

I included both references so you could see that you are wrong.

Read again.

"At age 13, I had broken more bones than years I had been alive."

That doesn't even get into her comments about stopping breathing "again" ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the case is sad. As brilliant as she is, I really think she would have landed at a top school had she been honest about her background. Most kids at those schools come from privileged backgrounds anyway, but even saying that she came from privilege but found out how the other side lived when, after a dispute with her mom, she ended up in foster care for a year, would have been powerful.

What exactly did she say other that she was in foster care and aged out of foster care and had no guardian? You have not read her essay so you can’t say she was being untruthful. Neither Penn nor Rhodes has show that she wrote anything untruthful.

Did you read the filing? There are a number of quotes from her essay that are not truthful: that her bones were broken, that she knew all the police from the time she was 6yo. Quoting from page 69:

"Fierceton also provided this false narrative to gain acceptance into two different Penn Summer Abroad programs and a related fellowship program. In her essays, Fierceton wrote about “bouncing around the foster care system throughout my life.” She described herself as being a “child of the system.”

While I understand that the document is Penn's assertion, I highly doubt their quotes from her essays are inaccurate.

Neither of those statements are false. She was in duster care, she was a child of system and she was bounced around throughout her life.

Because the reader used their confirmed bias to read things that are not there does not make the statements false.

No, the confirmation bias is yours.

"Bouncing around throughout my life" does not mean one year at 17yo.

Saying you have multiple broken bones when you didn't is a lie.

Yes a year can be throughout my life.

And she did not say “broken bones” she said “I was broken”.

Keep trying to twist her words.

Please refer to pg 92 where they quote her Questbridge application:

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21174416-penn-answer

In her 2015 Questbridge application, MF writes in the additional information section: "Before entering the foster care system in September of 2014, my life was never a fairy tale.. by the time I was six, I knew all of the police officers in my county by first name. By the time I was eleven, Child Protective Services had been called over 14 times regarding various concerns for my safety. At age 13, I had broken more bones than years I had been alive."

Again, from her Questbridge application:
"I was placed in foster care after spending a month in the hospital trying to survive extensive injuries due to physical abuse"
"I do not recognize the person looking back at me... my facial features are so distorted and swollen that I cannot tell them apart. My blonde hair is caked with dried blood. I can't breathe: my ribs won't allow me. I can't sit up: the braces stabilizing most of my body constrain me. I can't smile: my face is too swollen. My body is broken. I force my eye open - the one that isn't swollen shut. Heart rate monitor, iv pump, crash cart. They're all there to make sure I don't stop breathing again... The reporters circle like vultures: I'm their prey. They want to talk about the person who did this to me. The one who almost killed me. The one who is in jail. The one who is my mother. She broke me."

Exactly that is where she clearly says she is broken but never states broken bones.

I included both references so you could see that you are wrong.

Read again.

"At age 13, I had broken more bones than years I had been alive."

That doesn't even get into her comments about stopping breathing "again" ...

There is no evidence she did not have broken bones as a child. Most children of abuse don’t go to the dr when they break bones.

She said she couldn’t breath… I don’t see where their is evidence she didn’t have problems breathing… sound like she is describing a panic attack.