Anonymous wrote:I think the biggest problem with her letter is that it is based on a straw man premise. Simply put, it doesn't sound like she qualified for admission at the elite schools based on her numbers alone. Writing this piece only reinforced that she's not exactly a brilliant mind.

Yup. Based on her SATs, she's in the bottom quartile at most elite schools. Further, although most of us suspect she understood the importance of ECs (the swipe at her parents notwithstanding), it looks like she did nothing to beef them up.

Nothing wrong with that, until you start blaming others for your own shortcomings.

Why does it seem like such a whinge? Specifically, she's blaming minorities for taking "her" spot -- but she didn't have a spot in the first place. She knows she can't blame affirmative action outright, so she does it by satire, and she does the satire fairly well. But read between the jokey references to headgear, ha ha, and she's still saying that someone else took "her" spot.

I think the biggest problem with her letter is that it is based on a straw man premise. Simply put, it doesn't sound like she qualified for admission at the elite schools based on her numbers alone. Writing this piece only reinforced that she's not exactly a brilliant mind.

She's brilliant!

Has this girl checked the math before applying to these top Ivy schools? Harvard had a record-low 5.8% acceptance rate this year, Yale 6.72% and Columbia 6.89%. That means well over 90% of those who apply aren't getting in and they are just as mad as she is. I went to Cornell and didn't get into Yale, Harvard or Stanford either. Back then, Cornell's acceptance rate was around 25-29%, this year it was only 15.2%. Not sure if I would have gotten in this year if I applied.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To 11:40 -- Of course she and her parents knew what it would take, but even when you know the rules, sometimes the game doesn't go your way. That's most likely to happen when you're the 4th kid, and you and your parents have gotten a little jaded to the whole college admissions roller-coaster. In this case, I'm sure she and her parents knew she was on the bubble -- that's why she applied to Michigan, Wisconsin and Penn State. They've been to the rodeo. So, her message isn't a whinge about why she didn't get in, but a way of moving forward with tongue planted firmly in cheek. The reality is she knows full well that she'll do just fine at Michigan, where there might not be quite so many interview spots for seniors looking to go to an investment bank or top consulting firm, but she's not going to be playing that game anyway. My bet is she's going to write for the Daily, parlay this op/ed into a social media internship and then either head to NYC to work in media or to LA to write for TV.

If she knew what it would take, then why the heck didn't she do it? If she knew she was on the bubble, like you say, then why didn't she beef up those extra curriculars? That's why she has no right to whinge about it. And it's the extended rant about affirmative action and being the fourth kid that makes this a whinge.

You know, maybe she regrets this, but OTOH -- she seems to really like "Real Housewives" (and we do all have our guilty pleasures don't we?), and she's been published in the WSJ, featured on Today Show, and will go to Michigan next fall. Not too shabby for a slacker. And, even if she'd beefed up the ECs as you suggest, we all know kids with terrific resumes, top scores and GPAs, and enthusiastic recommendations who don't get into their top choice schools. They, their parents, their teachers and school counselors, their neighbors and parents of their classmates are astounded . . . but it happens.

As for the "rant", let's be honest, there are kids who deserve an affirmative action boost and those who have had every advantage and really don't need it (I would put myself in this latter category). There are kids who are truly commited to the charity they raise funds for, and there are those who are jumping through the hoops. Admissions officers can't always tell the difference -- I know because I was one. Folks seems to be taking this far too seriously -- maybe because she's hit a nerve. We all want to believe that if our kids do all the right things, they'll waltz into that dream school . . . but it doesn't always work that way. And, you know, even when it does, sometimes the kid next door -- the slacker who watched Real Housewives and ended up at Michigan -- does just fine.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Welcome to the real world. You are not a special snowflake and everyone is not equal.

But it says so right there on the Declaration of Independence!

Anonymous wrote:To 11:40 -- Of course she and her parents knew what it would take, but even when you know the rules, sometimes the game doesn't go your way. That's most likely to happen when you're the 4th kid, and you and your parents have gotten a little jaded to the whole college admissions roller-coaster. In this case, I'm sure she and her parents knew she was on the bubble -- that's why she applied to Michigan, Wisconsin and Penn State. They've been to the rodeo. So, her message isn't a whinge about why she didn't get in, but a way of moving forward with tongue planted firmly in cheek. The reality is she knows full well that she'll do just fine at Michigan, where there might not be quite so many interview spots for seniors looking to go to an investment bank or top consulting firm, but she's not going to be playing that game anyway. My bet is she's going to write for the Daily, parlay this op/ed into a social media internship and then either head to NYC to work in media or to LA to write for TV.

If she knew what it would take, then why the heck didn't she do it? If she knew she was on the bubble, like you say, then why didn't she beef up those extra curriculars? That's why she has no right to whinge about it. And it's the extended rant about affirmative action and being the fourth kid that makes this a whinge.

Anonymous wrote:12:02 To me she's wishing she knew then what she knows now, and that her parents were more involved, so she would have gotten in on merit. I wonder if you're misreading her a bit there. As the mother of a high schooler, I can tell you that there are plenty of projects that are showcases rather than passions. Many students seem to care more about getting into college than they care about their community service or personal fundraising projects.

I call BS on this one. She wasn't raised in a family that had no idea what it takes to get accepted into an Ivy League; she's got 3 older sisters, for crying out,and one of them, supposedly, went to Columbia.

I suspect she did try the extracurriculars, but just wasn't good enough to stand out in any of them.

To 11:40 -- Of course she and her parents knew what it would take, but even when you know the rules, sometimes the game doesn't go your way. That's most likely to happen when you're the 4th kid, and you and your parents have gotten a little jaded to the whole college admissions roller-coaster. In this case, I'm sure she and her parents knew she was on the bubble -- that's why she applied to Michigan, Wisconsin and Penn State. They've been to the rodeo. So, her message isn't a whinge about why she didn't get in, but a way of moving forward with tongue planted firmly in cheek. The reality is she knows full well that she'll do just fine at Michigan, where there might not be quite so many interview spots for seniors looking to go to an investment bank or top consulting firm, but she's not going to be playing that game anyway. My bet is she's going to write for the Daily, parlay this op/ed into a social media internship and then either head to NYC to work in media or to LA to write for TV.

Anonymous wrote:Grades and SAT matter the most
you really don't need a bunch of extra-curriculars - but it does help to have one you are really good at and (hate to use this word) - passionate! about.
I do think the admissons people can spot the phony packaged applicant a mile away. Started a charity - if that worked then word would get out and next year half the applicant class would claim this accompplishment.
This young lady just didn't bring enough to the table. What? Nobody told her college admissions are extremely competitive these days. Wher the **** has she been?

Agree. Grades (3.9 unweighted) and SAT (2200+) are a sort of threshold at top univerisities. Maybe 3.8 and 2100 with some really special hooks. But with a decent GPA and SATs, you make the first cut. Then you need to distinguish yourself from the remaining 10,000 kids in the applications pile by your extra curriculars and the dreaded passion. Her problem was not affirmative action, despite what she says. Her problem was that she might not have made the first cut and, if she did squeak through, she didn't bring enough to the table to stand out from all the others with similar stats.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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. . . .

And her character will have an internship at the WSJ, write a piece about Marnie's tech-mogul boyfriend and seduce him.

And the sex tape will circulate on the internet and, once again, she'll be notorious for all the wrong reasons.

Look, you can have opinions on her writing ability that differ from your opinions on her message. I think she's a decent writer for 17. But her message stinks. Her message is basically, "affirmative action and my parents let me down." When in fact it's pretty clear she comes from a family that knows all about what it takes to get into a super-competitive university. Suzy just couldn't bother to do everything her older sister Bari did to make the Ivy acceptances happen.

She is a JAP who thought her family connections would get her lazy self in. Did not work and now she is pouting. The family will get her a nice ride somewhere. The elite colleges need real talent not whiners

Grades and SAT matter the most
you really don't need a bunch of extra-curriculars - but it does help to have one you are really good at and (hate to use this word) - passionate! about.
I do think the admissons people can spot the phony packaged applicant a mile away. Started a charity - if that worked then word would get out and next year half the applicant class would claim this accompplishment.
This young lady just didn't bring enough to the table. What? Nobody told her college admissions are extremely competitive these days. Wher the **** has she been?

Anonymous wrote:Welcome to the real world. You are not a special snowflake and everyone is not equal.

But it says so right there on the Declaration of Independence!

Anonymous wrote:

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. . . .

And her character will have an internship at the WSJ, write a piece about Marnie's tech-mogul boyfriend and seduce him.