Anonymous wrote:[Shrugs] This conception of "leadership" does not reflect any values I understand or appreciate, and is really incompatible with the aims of undergraduate education as I see them.

well you're not Harvard admissions now are you? They get to decide the types they want to make up their incoming classes.

Anonymous wrote:[Shrugs] This conception of "leadership" does not reflect any values I understand or appreciate, and is really incompatible with the aims of undergraduate education as I see them.

Then I don’t understand your conception of leadership. You may be a lover of the proliferation of guns and have values inconsistent with David Hogg’s, but any teenager who creates a movement followed by millions of people is by definition a leader.

[Shrugs] This conception of "leadership" does not reflect any values I understand or appreciate, and is really incompatible with the aims of undergraduate education as I see them.

David Hogg would be an asset to any college. He organized a march for one million people within a month of the Parkland shootings. And he didn’t back down in the face of threats and slander. Harvard is lucky to have him lighting a fire under the other high achievers it accepts.

Anonymous wrote:What do Harvard professors (not administrators) say, off the record, about this policy of admitting students as conversation pieces rather than because they will contribute to the scholarly community?

I'm the poster who really isn't qualified to comment on Mr. Hogg in particular, so I won't. It's just that this seems like the way to select dinner party guests, not new members of a university.

You are also the poster who can't read the earlier posts.

Elite colleges always accept applicants of exceptional accomplishment and promise even if their statistics are below the statistical averages of the non-extraordinary students.

That's why they accept athletes, kid tv and movie stars, models, olympic medalists, competition winners, published authors, and kids who have become well known as spokespeople for certain issues.

If they think someone is exceptional now, they have a much higher-than-average chance of being exceptional later in life. It's also why they accept the children of the well connected (Bush, Kennedy, etc).

Not a "conversation piece" (as stupid suggestion as there is in this thread) or something for PR.

High stats are the most common thing for these colleges to find, and they know -- BECAUSE THEY HAVE BEEN DOING THIS FOR THREE HUNDRED YEARS OR MORE -- that high stats are not the best predictor of future exceptional achievement.

The sooner everyone understands this, the better they will know why their 36 didn't get into Yale.

What do Harvard professors (not administrators) say, off the record, about this policy of admitting students as conversation pieces rather than because they will contribute to the scholarly community?

I'm the poster who really isn't qualified to comment on Mr. Hogg in particular, so I won't. It's just that this seems like the way to select dinner party guests, not new members of a university.

Anonymous wrote:Sandra Fluke made a movement with the birth control issue and it didn’t translate into professional or political success for her. This kid is 18, so much can change by the time he finishes college. And nobody has attention spans anymore, we’ll forget about him. Very likely he ends up in the news for desperate attention seeking when he realizes he’ll never have that level of fame again.

prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.

This kid is going to have really high arrogance and a lack of self awareness about his low IQ. Not a good combo around highest IQ kids in the world. Wicked smart Harvard kids are going to quickly realize he’s a lightweight media creation.

Sandra Fluke made a movement with the birth control issue and it didn’t translate into professional or political success for her. This kid is 18, so much can change by the time he finishes college. And nobody has attention spans anymore, we’ll forget about him. Very likely he ends up in the news for desperate attention seeking when he realizes he’ll never have that level of fame again.

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Anonymous wrote:This is well said. Also let’s not forget that Harvard is currently fighting a very difficult law suit attacking their admissions practices which are suspect at best. What better way to get some positive PR by accepting a sub par (by Harvard’s own standards) that will almost certainly generate press. Hm.....

The fact that you post this shows you have no idea what "Harvard's own standards" are. He is the embodiment of exactly their most important standard for admission, which is why they reject so many 36/4.0. He is not sub-par, he is an extraordinary applicant.

It is astounding to me that people still don't get this.

An extraordinary applicant? Really? On the basis of what? Because he was able to get on TV and expose a view that many share especially in light of the terrible circumstances? No one of this board really knows this student’s intelligence and capabilities that would make home an “extraordinary applicant”. We’ve only read about the students scores and grades. Doubtful any one really knows one way or the other. This all about the studebt’s views and how they fit into a more liberal setting and the good PR Harvard gets from this.

YES! I keep telling you this. He started a movement (with others), it got national and global attention, and he got famous. He had experiences nearly no other student has had and is poised to take that media experience into future leadership. It is what makes him extraordinary and desirable to Harvard.

Why is this so hard to understand?

Ok ok we get it! My DC’s stats are Ivy material but we have no hooks....so we will have DC start a movement and DC will gain admission to Harvard! Hey posters, any is eas for the “movement”?

Promise that it won’t matter that the idea has been debated for years..we will just need to figure out how to get it on TV without a terrible tragedy happening.

I hope your kid is less entitled than you are.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:This is well said. Also let’s not forget that Harvard is currently fighting a very difficult law suit attacking their admissions practices which are suspect at best. What better way to get some positive PR by accepting a sub par (by Harvard’s own standards) that will almost certainly generate press. Hm.....

The fact that you post this shows you have no idea what "Harvard's own standards" are. He is the embodiment of exactly their most important standard for admission, which is why they reject so many 36/4.0. He is not sub-par, he is an extraordinary applicant.

It is astounding to me that people still don't get this.

An extraordinary applicant? Really? On the basis of what? Because he was able to get on TV and expose a view that many share especially in light of the terrible circumstances? No one of this board really knows this student’s intelligence and capabilities that would make home an “extraordinary applicant”. We’ve only read about the students scores and grades. Doubtful any one really knows one way or the other. This all about the studebt’s views and how they fit into a more liberal setting and the good PR Harvard gets from this.

YES! I keep telling you this. He started a movement (with others), it got national and global attention, and he got famous. He had experiences nearly no other student has had and is poised to take that media experience into future leadership. It is what makes him extraordinary and desirable to Harvard.

Why is this so hard to understand?

Ok ok we get it! My DC’s stats are Ivy material but we have no hooks....so we will have DC start a movement and DC will gain admission to Harvard! Hey posters, any is eas for the “movement”?

Promise that it won’t matter that the idea has been debated for years..we will just need to figure out how to get it on TV without a terrible tragedy happening.

Anonymous wrote:Lots of jealous parents here, it seems. I mean, it’s not like he’s going to an even better school—UVA—right, dcum?

+1

Actually it's quite entertaining to see how worked up people are. He is going to do great for Harvard.

He has a very punchable face.

Anonymous wrote:Because universities are academic institutions, not celebrity clubs.

You apparently have no idea what universities seek -- especially elite universities.

For the 10,000th time on this board, statistics are not the most important metric in helping a university achieve its institutional goals. No matter how many times you say they are. You might think they should be, but they aren't.

Anonymous wrote:Did he create that movement alone?

No man is an island. People who do extraordinary things -- such as help spearhead social change from a terrible tragedy -- deserve recognition for those achievements, even if the achievements are part of a team or an orchestra or a group of kids who witnessed a massacre. Once someone can explain to me why Jared Kushner got into Harvard, I'll start worrying about how this young man is purportedly violating our deep national commitment to meritocracy.