Anonymous
10/02/2025 07:18
Subject: Re:Common app essay and identity
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Bumping this because I saw Sara Harberson doubling down in a recent reel about not mentioning race or ethnicity in essays. Her tone is dire.
How does one do this when one of the supplementals asks questions about culture, personal background, and community? Here is one from a T20 school:
What is distinctive about your personal experiences and development (eg, family support, culture, disability, personal background, community, etc)? Why are these experiences important to you and how will you enrich our campus community?
My kid already answered this question and revealed ethnic heritage. He's VERY competitive for this school for various reasons, including grades and test scores. Should we be concerned or perhaps not even answer this question?
I wouldn't take the risk. If you're questioning it, then I'd find a different topic that you would be at peace with.
But why would a school ask about culture if they are going to disqualify someone for revealing culture. The response was about foods eaten during family gatherings that reference country of origin at grandparents' home.
Anonymous
10/02/2025 07:10
Subject: Re:Common app essay and identity
Anonymous wrote:Bumping this because I saw Sara Harberson doubling down in a recent reel about not mentioning race or ethnicity in essays. Her tone is dire.
How does one do this when one of the supplementals asks questions about culture, personal background, and community? Here is one from a T20 school:
What is distinctive about your personal experiences and development (eg, family support, culture, disability, personal background, community, etc)? Why are these experiences important to you and how will you enrich our campus community?
My kid already answered this question and revealed ethnic heritage. He's VERY competitive for this school for various reasons, including grades and test scores. Should we be concerned or perhaps not even answer this question?
I wouldn't take the risk. If you're questioning it, then I'd find a different topic that you would be at peace with.
Anonymous
10/02/2025 06:56
Subject: Re:Common app essay and identity
Bumping this because I saw Sara Harberson doubling down in a recent reel about not mentioning race or ethnicity in essays. Her tone is dire.
How does one do this when one of the supplementals asks questions about culture, personal background, and community? Here is one from a T20 school:
My kid already answered this question and revealed ethnic heritage. He's VERY competitive for this school for various reasons, including grades and test scores. Should we be concerned or perhaps not even answer this question?
How does one do this when one of the supplementals asks questions about culture, personal background, and community? Here is one from a T20 school:
What is distinctive about your personal experiences and development (eg, family support, culture, disability, personal background, community, etc)? Why are these experiences important to you and how will you enrich our campus community?
My kid already answered this question and revealed ethnic heritage. He's VERY competitive for this school for various reasons, including grades and test scores. Should we be concerned or perhaps not even answer this question?
Anonymous
08/31/2025 13:27
Subject: Re:Common app essay and identity
Bumping this up
Anonymous
08/25/2025 16:41
Subject: Common app essay and identity
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:this makes zero sense to me.
Stephen millier's minions are not reading essays or looking at activities sections.
They are simple minded.
They are interested in seeing
White - avg GPA. avg SAT
Black - avg GPA .. avg SAT
and if the black admits have SATs lower than whites, they'll say it's anti-white somehow.
colleges will LOVE kids who signal black or hispanic race in essay or affinity membership AND deliver a 1530.
that's my feeling.
Mine did with a 1500.
Trump can kick rocks.
last year. world is different this year.
A URM with a 1500 and a 4.0 GPA will get into many of the top schools.
Yes, this year too. π
Nope. Cousin's kid with the expensive 1500 was rejected by all the top schools. Started a school just barely in the top 100... and still dropped out.
Some of you really believe that UMC black kids with 1500 get to go wherever they want. They do not. These are my friends, neighbors and relatives. They get rejected from the Ivy+ just like everyone else
Did you say dropped out?
Wasn't that sharp to begin with.
Yes. Dropped out. Her mother (who is a real brain) molded and prepared her from day one. But as soon as she was out on her own the wheels fell off.
This is not uncommon. So when people demand that I treat their super high stats kids as though they were actually better than than regular high stats kids I really couldn't care less.
And I used to work near one of those test prep places in Rockville. I saw those kids stream in for years and I know the demographics of who was prepping.
I'm certain many of those kids are super smart. I am also certain that not all of them are no matter what their papers say.
Certain demographics lol
It's a stereotype. No all Asians are smart. The ones (Asian or white) need prep are not all that smart.
The problem is that your haven't seen many smart ones who got high stats and didn't need prep.
So your biased view paints (or trying hard to paint) a picture that the majority of Asians are bots, and their high stats are results of test prep.
This is just far from the truth.
Anonymous
08/25/2025 16:32
Subject: Common app essay and identity
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:this makes zero sense to me.
Stephen millier's minions are not reading essays or looking at activities sections.
They are simple minded.
They are interested in seeing
White - avg GPA. avg SAT
Black - avg GPA .. avg SAT
and if the black admits have SATs lower than whites, they'll say it's anti-white somehow.
colleges will LOVE kids who signal black or hispanic race in essay or affinity membership AND deliver a 1530.
that's my feeling.
Mine did with a 1500.
Trump can kick rocks.
last year. world is different this year.
A URM with a 1500 and a 4.0 GPA will get into many of the top schools.
Yes, this year too. π
Nope. Cousin's kid with the expensive 1500 was rejected by all the top schools. Started a school just barely in the top 100... and still dropped out.
Some of you really believe that UMC black kids with 1500 get to go wherever they want. They do not. These are my friends, neighbors and relatives. They get rejected from the Ivy+ just like everyone else
Did you say dropped out?
Wasn't that sharp to begin with.
Yes. Dropped out. Her mother (who is a real brain) molded and prepared her from day one. But as soon as she was out on her own the wheels fell off.
This is not uncommon. So when people demand that I treat their super high stats kids as though they were actually better than than regular high stats kids I really couldn't care less.
And I used to work near one of those test prep places in Rockville. I saw those kids stream in for years and I know the demographics of who was prepping.
I'm certain many of those kids are super smart. I am also certain that not all of them are no matter what their papers say.
Anonymous
08/25/2025 16:21
Subject: Common app essay and identity
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:this makes zero sense to me.
Stephen millier's minions are not reading essays or looking at activities sections.
They are simple minded.
They are interested in seeing
White - avg GPA. avg SAT
Black - avg GPA .. avg SAT
and if the black admits have SATs lower than whites, they'll say it's anti-white somehow.
colleges will LOVE kids who signal black or hispanic race in essay or affinity membership AND deliver a 1530.
that's my feeling.
Mine did with a 1500.
Trump can kick rocks.
last year. world is different this year.
A URM with a 1500 and a 4.0 GPA will get into many of the top schools.
Yes, this year too. π
Nope. Cousin's kid with the expensive 1500 was rejected by all the top schools. Started a school just barely in the top 100... and still dropped out.
Some of you really believe that UMC black kids with 1500 get to go wherever they want. They do not. These are my friends, neighbors and relatives. They get rejected from the Ivy+ just like everyone else
Did you say dropped out?
Wasn't that sharp to begin with.
Anonymous
08/25/2025 16:21
Subject: Common app essay and identity
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:this makes zero sense to me.
Stephen millier's minions are not reading essays or looking at activities sections.
They are simple minded.
They are interested in seeing
White - avg GPA. avg SAT
Black - avg GPA .. avg SAT
and if the black admits have SATs lower than whites, they'll say it's anti-white somehow.
colleges will LOVE kids who signal black or hispanic race in essay or affinity membership AND deliver a 1530.
that's my feeling.
Mine did with a 1500.
Trump can kick rocks.
last year. world is different this year.
A URM with a 1500 and a 4.0 GPA will get into many of the top schools.
Yes, this year too. π
Nope. Cousin's kid with the expensive 1500 was rejected by all the top schools. Started a school just barely in the top 100... and still dropped out.
Some of you really believe that UMC black kids with 1500 get to go wherever they want. They do not. These are my friends, neighbors and relatives. They get rejected from the Ivy+ just like everyone else[/quote
And still dropped out...
There you go.
Cousins kid must be pretty lackluster in other areas.
Exactly. Which is exactlt what I think when other lackluster kids donβt get in.
Anonymous
08/25/2025 16:17
Subject: Common app essay and identity
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:this makes zero sense to me.
Stephen millier's minions are not reading essays or looking at activities sections.
They are simple minded.
They are interested in seeing
White - avg GPA. avg SAT
Black - avg GPA .. avg SAT
and if the black admits have SATs lower than whites, they'll say it's anti-white somehow.
colleges will LOVE kids who signal black or hispanic race in essay or affinity membership AND deliver a 1530.
that's my feeling.
Mine did with a 1500.
Trump can kick rocks.
last year. world is different this year.
A URM with a 1500 and a 4.0 GPA will get into many of the top schools.
Yes, this year too. π
Nope. Cousin's kid with the expensive 1500 was rejected by all the top schools. Started a school just barely in the top 100... and still dropped out.
Some of you really believe that UMC black kids with 1500 get to go wherever they want. They do not. These are my friends, neighbors and relatives. They get rejected from the Ivy+ just like everyone else[/quote
And still dropped out...
There you go.
Cousins kid must be pretty lackluster in other areas.
Anonymous
08/25/2025 16:14
Subject: Common app essay and identity
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:this makes zero sense to me.
Stephen millier's minions are not reading essays or looking at activities sections.
They are simple minded.
They are interested in seeing
White - avg GPA. avg SAT
Black - avg GPA .. avg SAT
and if the black admits have SATs lower than whites, they'll say it's anti-white somehow.
colleges will LOVE kids who signal black or hispanic race in essay or affinity membership AND deliver a 1530.
that's my feeling.
Mine did with a 1500.
Trump can kick rocks.
Or maybe they will love kids who are Asian or White this year with slightly lower stats to show all groups have a similar distribution.
And rejecting 1580+ Asian kids?
Gosh, can you have some common sense?
The highest score doesn't get the prize though. Wy haven't you learned that yet?
Insanely naive. You really don't think they will scrutinize rejected pool to see who got rejected and what race.
But if they admit lower scoring white and asian kids, who cares if the rejected pool is ..... wait for it.... white and asian????
here's the thing:
they don't want "bots". Ask your kid what that means. They actually try and filter for that characteristic. Sadly, most prevalent in east asian and south asian males (but also some females). A growing number of white males in STEM fields, too have "bot" attributes.
So - make your application as non-bot-like as possible.
You are getting this wrong. Your suggestion is a good one, but this is not what we are talking about here.
The orange man will only look at the big picture. They will look at the rejection pool, they will ask why certain race with high stats got rejected all the time. They will say this is a proxy for race-based admission. You really don't see that? Really really safe practice?
they didn't look at the rejection pool last time. they looked at who was admitted..... which gave them what they needed.
now schools know what to do.
Hope so.
But if I ("not very smart" per another thread) thought about that, why wouldn't they.
Anonymous
08/25/2025 16:12
Subject: Common app essay and identity
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:this makes zero sense to me.
Stephen millier's minions are not reading essays or looking at activities sections.
They are simple minded.
They are interested in seeing
White - avg GPA. avg SAT
Black - avg GPA .. avg SAT
and if the black admits have SATs lower than whites, they'll say it's anti-white somehow.
colleges will LOVE kids who signal black or hispanic race in essay or affinity membership AND deliver a 1530.
that's my feeling.
Mine did with a 1500.
Trump can kick rocks.
last year. world is different this year.
A URM with a 1500 and a 4.0 GPA will get into many of the top schools.
Yes, this year too. π
Nope. Cousin's kid with the expensive 1500 was rejected by all the top schools. Started a school just barely in the top 100... and still dropped out.
Some of you really believe that UMC black kids with 1500 get to go wherever they want. They do not. These are my friends, neighbors and relatives. They get rejected from the Ivy+ just like everyone else
Anonymous
08/25/2025 16:10
Subject: Common app essay and identity
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:this makes zero sense to me.
Stephen millier's minions are not reading essays or looking at activities sections.
They are simple minded.
They are interested in seeing
White - avg GPA. avg SAT
Black - avg GPA .. avg SAT
and if the black admits have SATs lower than whites, they'll say it's anti-white somehow.
colleges will LOVE kids who signal black or hispanic race in essay or affinity membership AND deliver a 1530.
that's my feeling.
Mine did with a 1500.
Trump can kick rocks.
Or maybe they will love kids who are Asian or White this year with slightly lower stats to show all groups have a similar distribution.
And rejecting 1580+ Asian kids?
Gosh, can you have some common sense?
The highest score doesn't get the prize though. Wy haven't you learned that yet?
Insanely naive. You really don't think they will scrutinize rejected pool to see who got rejected and what race.
But if they admit lower scoring white and asian kids, who cares if the rejected pool is ..... wait for it.... white and asian????
here's the thing:
they don't want "bots". Ask your kid what that means. They actually try and filter for that characteristic. Sadly, most prevalent in east asian and south asian males (but also some females). A growing number of white males in STEM fields, too have "bot" attributes.
So - make your application as non-bot-like as possible.
You are getting this wrong. Your suggestion is a good one, but this is not what we are talking about here.
The orange man will only look at the big picture. They will look at the rejection pool, they will ask why certain race with high stats got rejected all the time. They will say this is a proxy for race-based admission. You really don't see that? Really really safe practice?
they didn't look at the rejection pool last time. they looked at who was admitted..... which gave them what they needed.
now schools know what to do.
Anonymous
08/25/2025 16:10
Subject: Common app essay and identity
Anonymous wrote:My cousin's kid got the magic 1500 after thousands of dollars of prep classes. Dropped out after first year.
I am NOT impressed by high scores from kids whose parents have bulldozed a clear path for them.
Schools have stats on who drops out. There are a surprising number of "high stats" kids who aren't actually ready for college.
Give me a 1400 from a poor zip code any day. I KNOW that kid did it on their own
yes they do. right in the CDS. published every year
Anonymous
08/25/2025 16:08
Subject: Common app essay and identity
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:this makes zero sense to me.
Stephen millier's minions are not reading essays or looking at activities sections.
They are simple minded.
They are interested in seeing
White - avg GPA. avg SAT
Black - avg GPA .. avg SAT
and if the black admits have SATs lower than whites, they'll say it's anti-white somehow.
colleges will LOVE kids who signal black or hispanic race in essay or affinity membership AND deliver a 1530.
that's my feeling.
Mine did with a 1500.
Trump can kick rocks.
Or maybe they will love kids who are Asian or White this year with slightly lower stats to show all groups have a similar distribution.
And rejecting 1580+ Asian kids?
Gosh, can you have some common sense?
The highest score doesn't get the prize though. Wy haven't you learned that yet?
Insanely naive. You really don't think they will scrutinize rejected pool to see who got rejected and what race.
But if they admit lower scoring white and asian kids, who cares if the rejected pool is ..... wait for it.... white and asian????
here's the thing:
they don't want "bots". Ask your kid what that means. They actually try and filter for that characteristic. Sadly, most prevalent in east asian and south asian males (but also some females). A growing number of white males in STEM fields, too have "bot" attributes.
So - make your application as non-bot-like as possible.
You are getting this wrong. Your suggestion is a good one, but this is not what we are talking about here.
The orange man will only look at the big picture. They will look at the rejection pool, they will ask why certain race with high stats got rejected all the time. They will say this is a proxy for race-based admission. You really don't see that? Really really safe practice?
Schools have a right to yield protect. They can use that as the reasoning whether it is true or not.
Anonymous
08/25/2025 16:03
Subject: Common app essay and identity
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:this makes zero sense to me.
Stephen millier's minions are not reading essays or looking at activities sections.
They are simple minded.
They are interested in seeing
White - avg GPA. avg SAT
Black - avg GPA .. avg SAT
and if the black admits have SATs lower than whites, they'll say it's anti-white somehow.
colleges will LOVE kids who signal black or hispanic race in essay or affinity membership AND deliver a 1530.
that's my feeling.
Mine did with a 1500.
Trump can kick rocks.
last year. world is different this year.
A URM with a 1500 and a 4.0 GPA will get into many of the top schools.
Yes, this year too. π