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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I don't get the desire to discount students' successes. Do you think their college admissions success somehow doesn't count if you can classify them as legacies, athletes, minorities, or children of important parents? There are plenty of kids in each of those categories throughout DC who were not admitted to top colleges. I think it's kind of low to diminish these kids' accomplishment by suggesting they did not earn it. [/quote]

No one is suggesting that these ten exceptional students did not earn their admissions.  They obviously did earn their admissions, but an important part of admissions is an evaluation of what a particular student can contribute to a university's community.

Obviously, not everyone admitted to a top university brings an unweighted 3.96-4.0, 2350-2400 SAT/36 ACT, and eight or more AP exams with a score of 5, and four SAT subject tests in the 740-800 range.  There are certainly enough of those "perfect" academic students that all of the top universities could fill their classes with just that sort of paper-perfect student, but that is not the only thing that these colleges want.  Moreover, I would venture to guess that that is not the only thing that [i]all[/i] of the ten admitted students provide.

All must be very strong students, yes, but "perfect" students - some yes, and some no.  What admitted students may bring, which also contributes greatly to the make-up of the class, is a talent in the creative or performing arts; an athletic talent that contributes to the university's teams; a recognized commitment to something outside themselves; regional or national accomplishments in their area of interest; some strong and meaningful family history with the particular college; a family or personal story and perspective which is unique; a background which is otherwise underrepresented in the higher educational environment; or an interesting connection that - if part of the university's family - will undoubtedly make that community a richer place.  [/quote]

So I would like to think that previous posters are not trying to denigrate this accomplishment, after all, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.  Rather, the posters are likely attempting to derive and ascertain helpful information from these cases about what other types of intangibles and attributes go into college admissions - besides perfect grades and scores - so that they can help their own children evaluate their chances, and perhaps attain such success.  I write this as a parent whose own child - a "perfect" student as described above - attends my college, and who often got asked if my child was legacy when they were first admitted - "yes" they are.  I always assumed the best, that people were asking me the question to gather more information to help them with their own child's admissions.  I also was asked at various times about their gpa and sat score.[/quote]

+1[/quote]

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