Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like she is going to Univ. of Michigan. I'm an alum and it is full of east coast Ivy League rejects. But they love it there because they are in good company.

Go Blue!!! Final 4!!!

My DS's BFF is at Michigan after being rejected by Ivies. DS, who is at an Ivy. felt terrible for him -- what an injustice! Until he visited the BFF at Michigan. Now he says, "why didn't I apply here?"

Is this satire again? Please say yes.

No, it's not satire, though, of course, it's not literally true either. My son felt empathy toward a friend who got hosed from his 1st and 2nd choice schools, even though his friend is wicked smart. This is not just my opinion or my son's; several teachers at their school were also shocked that this kid didn't get in. (And yes, he had plenty of ECs too -- though not too many.)

Here's the thing: as adults we know that the world can be unfair -- even cosmically so at times. We also know that what matters much more than where you went to college is what you do with the opportunities presented to you there. But, teens are just learning this and they feel things deeply -- perhaps too deeply. On the upside, they're resilient, so within a few weeks of arriving in Ann Arbor, the friend was quite happy to be a Wolverine. Now, at the ripe old age of 21, both my son and his friend have figured out that there are bright, interesting people on every campus in this country, just as there are some total bores at even the most prestigious schools.

Anonymous wrote:
This a good response

http://gawker.com/5993140/attention-students-just-...-earn-you-admission-to-college


Indeed! My favorite quote:

"Being yourself is not a talent. If you worked two full-time jobs all the way through high school and one of them was "being yourself" and the other was "trying your best," you actually worked zero full-time jobs."

Bwahahahahaha! Exactly. Some of us actually worked hard at our academics, got killer test scores AND worked, you know, actual jobs. At your age. You little snot.

Where did it get you?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like she is going to Univ. of Michigan. I'm an alum and it is full of east coast Ivy League rejects. But they love it there because they are in good company.

Go Blue!!! Final 4!!!

My DS's BFF is at Michigan after being rejected by Ivies. DS, who is at an Ivy. felt terrible for him -- what an injustice! Until he visited the BFF at Michigan. Now he says, "why didn't I apply here?"

Is this satire again? Please say yes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...and nobody here understands the gift of satire...what were you doing in your english classes anyways???

Rock on girl, go to state universities that really want you! ! ! ! !

Please. I was a literature major - this girl is no Voltaire or Swift.

Your post reminds me of the scene in Sex and the City where Carrie gets caught making out with some boyfriend in a dressing room at Banana Republic. The salesdude who catches her sneers "Please -- this is not the Gap."

Oh, back to the thread -- I worked in college admissions and have gone through the college process with 2 kids. I read the letter and watched Weiss on Today. She's dealing with rejection in a healthy way and seems pretty down-to-earth about her 15 minutes. My prediction: Lena Dunham will scoop her up to play her younger, more successful, adorable and perky cousin on Season 3 of "Girls".

LOL.
These people who don't get it. . . .

It seems clear to me that it was meant to be satire.* With that said, its publication career should have ended at the school newspaper -- she isn't quite clever enough to pull this off (I'm not sure anyone below the Calvin Trillin would be) and I think her parents should have talked her out of publishing this (or talked the older sister out of helping her). She is now notorious. And whether or not it is genuine, there is an air of "in vino veritas" to this -- if you are around teenagers, many of even the most politically liberal/progressive are almost overwhelmingly against affirmative action in college admissions, as they feel like someone is getting "their" spot unfairly. (Yes, hypocrisy duly noted.)

*Which, it's always interesting to see, has been misunderstood throughout the ages, and is routinely missed on DCUM too (anybody remember Jonathan Swift and "A Modest Proposal").

Loved the Gawker article. One of the responses hit home, though.

Colleges DO tell you to "just be yourself" because, they claim, they can instantly distinguish between those coveted kids with strong "passions" and the kids who are just going through the necessary motions to pad their college resumes. These are 17-year-olds we're talking about, who may not be able to find their english binders let alone their passions, but never mind, let's move on. At least there is more solid evidence (contrary to what Weiss writes) that colleges are not impressed when your parents fork out $4,000 to send you on a well-organized group tour of some 3rd World hell-hole. In any case, the repeated message from colleges is that following your bliss is the surest route to dazzling achievements in your "passion."

None of which excuses Suzy Weiss, who with three siblings who had gone through this before her, undoubtedly knew about the need to pad your college resume, passion or no passion. Like others here, I too saw veiled attacks on diversity.

I am personally going to send thank-you emails to the colleges that rejected her. What a hate-mongering little attention seeker she is.

Anonymous wrote:I just found it very cynical and sad all around. I would like to think that a lot of students pursue their extracurricular activities and their trips abroad and their charities, etc. because they find them meaningful and valuable. From her perspective, these students are just running a scam to get into college. I suppose no one is as cynical as a teenager.

Agreed. I grew up in the age where normal kids volunteered through their church, did some extracurriculars through school, got good grades and scores, and that was enough. I very much dislike the girl's attitude, but I will concede the point that we expect too much of kids these days. I want my child to be smart, and involved, and pursue his interests, but I don't want to push him to be some super duper overachiever just to get into an elite college. I'm not sure it's worth it when you meet 20yo's who say they are "burnt out."

I just found it very cynical and sad all around. I would like to think that a lot of students pursue their extracurricular activities and their trips abroad and their charities, etc. because they find them meaningful and valuable. From her perspective, these students are just running a scam to get into college. I suppose no one is as cynical as a teenager.

Anonymous wrote:Today she says the article was satire.

The fact that the satire was not obvious to, well anyone, is pretty much the final word on whether the schools made the right decision on her application.

Once I reread it, I caught what I gathered was supposed to be irony. I think it's a hard call. Nice that at the end she made fun of herself (going off to watch Real Housewives) but some of the so-called satire plays into ethnic stereotypes. I don't see her making fun of herself for throwing around stereotypes. Although I have said some harsh things on this thread, I suppose we should cut her a break. She's very young.

But I also see no need to praise her. She is a young woman who apparently has had a lot of advantages in life and is going to attend an elite public university. I know lots of kids who would be delighted to be in her position. She is not owed a spot in the Ivy League and she still needs to work on her writing skills.

Anonymous wrote:This a good response

http://gawker.com/5993140/attention-students-just-being-yourself-isnt-a-skill-that-should-earn-you-admission-to-college

Indeed! My favorite quote:

"Being yourself is not a talent. If you worked two full-time jobs all the way through high school and one of them was "being yourself" and the other was "trying your best," you actually worked zero full-time jobs."

Bwahahahahaha! Exactly. Some of us actually worked hard at our academics, got killer test scores AND worked, you know, actual jobs. At your age. You little snot.

This a good response

http://gawker.com/5993140/attention-students-just-being-yourself-isnt-a-skill-that-should-earn-you-admission-to-college

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...and nobody here understands the gift of satire...what were you doing in your english classes anyways???

Rock on girl, go to state universities that really want you! ! ! ! !

Please. I was a literature major - this girl is no Voltaire or Swift.

Your post reminds me of the scene in Sex and the City where Carrie gets caught making out with some boyfriend in a dressing room at Banana Republic. The salesdude who catches her sneers "Please -- this is not the Gap."

Oh, back to the thread -- I worked in college admissions and have gone through the college process with 2 kids. I read the letter and watched Weiss on Today. She's dealing with rejection in a healthy way and seems pretty down-to-earth about her 15 minutes. My prediction: Lena Dunham will scoop her up to play her younger, more successful, adorable and perky cousin on Season 3 of "Girls".

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like she is going to Univ. of Michigan. I'm an alum and it is full of east coast Ivy League rejects. But they love it there because they are in good company.

Go Blue!!! Final 4!!!

My DS's BFF is at Michigan after being rejected by Ivies. DS, who is at an Ivy. felt terrible for him -- what an injustice! Until he visited the BFF at Michigan. Now he says, "why didn't I apply here?"

Anonymous wrote:14:05 I am not teaching my teen to be mendacious and wrote nothing that could begin to suggest as much. I'm describing what I've observed and discussed with other parents and high school teachers I know socially. Some of these projects are genuine, some less so. The larger point is that there is from a very young age a self-awareness of how to build your resume/portfolio. (Why this letter writer didn't get the message is beyond me. I think she heard it but didn't believe it.) I first encountered this when I volunteered when my now teen was in Sixth Grade.

\


She got the message, but didn't want to play the game. Not all kids do. And, believe me, admissions offices will soon tire of reading essays about your special snoflake's Mitzvah project to raise money for the disease-of-the-week by hitting up all your friends. That's already so 2000-and-late, babe.