Lessons Learned - The College Application Process

[Anonymous]

Average total SAT for a black college bound high school senior in 2011 is only 1272. See:

http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=171

A score of 1710 for a black college bound senior is obviously well above the mean, and it would open many college doors that would be closed to someone who identifies their self as white.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Average total SAT for a black college bound high school senior in 2011 is only 1272. See:

http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=171

A score of 1710 for a black college bound senior is obviously well above the mean, and it would open many college doors that would be closed to someone who identifies their self as white.

What's your point? You can say the same for all other racial groups except Asians.

I suppose you could have had your DD pose as Latina though her last name would have revealed the lie.

[Anonymous]

Since you don't understand the point, there's no point in trying to explain further.

[Anonymous]

That's not true. The last name doesn't have to sound Latina for a child to have one Hispanic parent. Could be the mother.

[Anonymous]

Silly to try to game the system this way though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's not true. The last name doesn't have to sound Latina for a child to have one Hispanic parent. Could be the mother.

You're right. I doubt if PP would have considered this detail. Probably assumed posing as black wouldn't have been questioned at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some people might consider this unethical, but the easiest way to get at least a 100 point SAT advantage is to specify that you are black when you fill out the SAT demographic questions. In other words, a 500 for a black student is equivalent to at least a 600 for a white student.

We're white, but my daughter marked black for race. (There's no genetic test for race, by the way.) Her total SAT was 1710 and her high school GPA is 2.93. She got into every highly competitive school to which she applied (she didn't apply to any Ivys, though) and she is getting merit scholarship offers out the kazoo.

This post doesn't ring true. I think you're itching to start a fight. Get back under your bridge troll.

[Anonymous]

^^^and BTW there is a genetic test for race. What do you think the Finding Your Roots show on PBS is based on?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people might consider this unethical, but the easiest way to get at least a 100 point SAT advantage is to specify that you are black when you fill out the SAT demographic questions. In other words, a 500 for a black student is equivalent to at least a 600 for a white student.

We're white, but my daughter marked black for race. (There's no genetic test for race, by the way.) Her total SAT was 1710 and her high school GPA is 2.93. She got into every highly competitive school to which she applied (she didn't apply to any Ivys, though) and she is getting merit scholarship offers out the kazoo.

This post doesn't ring true. I think you're itching to start a fight. Get back under your bridge troll.

I'd also be worried that with such low scores and grades that your DD won't be able to keep up with the workload at a selective college. A lot of merit aid is based on maintaining an adequate GPA. So if this is a real post I'd really think twice before putting this kid in a competitive college. There are likely way better fits for her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some people might consider this unethical, but the easiest way to get at least a 100 point SAT advantage is to specify that you are black when you fill out the SAT demographic questions. In other words, a 500 for a black student is equivalent to at least a 600 for a white student.

We're white, but my daughter marked black for race. (There's no genetic test for race, by the way.) Her total SAT was 1710 and her high school GPA is 2.93. She got into every highly competitive school to which she applied (she didn't apply to any Ivys, though) and she is getting merit scholarship offers out the kazoo.

This is just a big lie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people might consider this unethical, but the easiest way to get at least a 100 point SAT advantage is to specify that you are black when you fill out the SAT demographic questions. In other words, a 500 for a black student is equivalent to at least a 600 for a white student.

We're white, but my daughter marked black for race. (There's no genetic test for race, by the way.) Her total SAT was 1710 and her high school GPA is 2.93. She got into every highly competitive school to which she applied (she didn't apply to any Ivys, though) and she is getting merit scholarship offers out the kazoo.

This is just a big lie.

Honestly, don't you feel guilty for misrepresenting your race this way? I could never live with myself, and I sure wouldn't want my kid to think this sort of trickery is okay.

[Anonymous]

I am pretty sure your daughter could get kicked out of college when the fraud is discovered. It will be hard to get in another one after that. I wouldn't rely on your genetic test BS, because if something sounds too cute by half, it probably is. BTW, my 12 year old 7th grader is taking the SAT on January 26 and did significantly better than your daughter on his first timed practice test. So I guess we won't be needing to commit fraud to eke out extra points 4-5 years from now. But in any event, even if he bumps his head or forgets how to fill out SAT bubble blocks, we won't need a scholarship anyway, have tuition prepaid for any VA public college, and years prepaid at e.g., Stanford, through the independent 529. Good luck and remember when she may go on to cheat later in life based on what she has learned so far... The people who plead and turn state's evidence early usually get the best deal. See,e.g., Andy & Leah Fastow.

[Anonymous]

What do people think about the ACT vs the SAT. My DC did better on a sample ACT than on the PSAT so I figured he should take the ACT. Is it equally accepted?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am pretty sure your daughter could get kicked out of college when the fraud is discovered. It will be hard to get in another one after that. I wouldn't rely on your genetic test BS, because if something sounds too cute by half, it probably is. BTW, my 12 year old 7th grader is taking the SAT on January 26 and did significantly better than your daughter on his first timed practice test. So I guess we won't be needing to commit fraud to eke out extra points 4-5 years from now. But in any event, even if he bumps his head or forgets how to fill out SAT bubble blocks, we won't need a scholarship anyway, have tuition prepaid for any VA public college, and years prepaid at e.g., Stanford, through the independent 529. Good luck and remember when she may go on to cheat later in life based on what she has learned so far... The people who plead and turn state's evidence early usually get the best deal. See,e.g., Andy & Leah Fastow.

While I sympathize with your anger at the lying PP, was all this boasting really necessary?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do people think about the ACT vs the SAT. My DC did better on a sample ACT than on the PSAT so I figured he should take the ACT. Is it equally accepted?

If you go to College Confidential, the ivies seem to take the ACT as readily as the SAT (with the caveat that you need to look really closely to try to distinguish the ACT kid who built a reactor in his garage from the SAT kid who had no ECs, and even then you can never really tell why different kids got accepted or rejected). Almost all the ACt kids at least took the PSAT, though, to try to qualify for NMSSF. Some kids took both.