Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess in this day and age, I would be concerned about any HS student that couldn't share their own experience or perspective on question #2, or who wouldn't be comfortable going to an educational institution that acknowledges the value of various perspectives and life experiences. I see the answer as simple as "I know it when I see it kind of thing and here's what I think."

Another minority parent

As i read the question, they are not asking about their perspectives. But rather, their experiences. And if they have not experienced it, how are they to answer it?

Look, I get that kids struggling with that are privileged. That includes my own child (who is not in HS yet). And I don't have an issue with wanting a diverse student population. But, I don't know that we should be dinging kids who have had the benefit of not experiencing discrimination. We should also hope that NO ONE experiences discrimination. I realize that is not the case. But, I'm not sure how this questions contributes to that goal.

Your child has never seen anyone discriminated against because of color, gender, age, disabilities, LGBT status, political views, socioeconomic status...?

NP. My kid spends all his free time in front of a computer.. So, no. Not IRL. On Youtube? of course!

Online comments are FULL of misogyny and racial comments. Shouldn't be to hard to come up with something.

Note to white kids - spend a few days here in DCUM to witness racism and misogyny on display. Write about it.

If I were applying to college, I would write my essay on the misogyny of the reopen school debate, and how keeping school buildings closed for more than a year and the dismissal of parental complaints about it is grounded in hatred for women and mindset that judges all women who work outside of the home (except for teachers) as shirking their parental responsibilities.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Son’s classmate got into Cornell and UVA. Waitlisted at Tech.

Why is this surprising? This is why sometimes people get turned down for being overqualified for a job. The schools try to accept kids they think will actually attend the school. If they admit all high stats kids, they'll be under enrolled. Waitlist allows them to see how many of the high stats kids withdraw and use that to judge which ones are really interested.

Except this year, VT will have probably zero high stats kids to choose from. Now their ranking (whatever your source) will plummet, and fewer high ranking students will bother applying in the future. Is that what VT wants?

Also, is the VA public college/uni system looking to give white kids NO options - because if that happens, there will be big lawsuits. You can't say "we want 90% first generation". It doesn't work that way. Look at what happened to TJ.

Do you really think white kids have no options? Chances are your high stats kid got waitlist because of a lower stats white kid who VT thinks will actually go there. A white kid who wrote his essay about being discriminated against for being conservative got in. Clearly they aren't excluding white kids. Also, you do know there are first generation white kids also, right? And yes, they can just say they want x percent first generation kids. Having parents who went to college isn't a protected class. I know first generation white kids and Asian kids. First generation isn't race based.

I expect we'll see the caliber of students going to the next tier of VA colleges continue to go up -- JMU, GMU, VCU, CNU depending on major choice. If your budget only works with in-state schools there are still great options. DS got into VT but GMU was also a strong option for his major, although he'd have been disappointed to stay so close to home for college.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess in this day and age, I would be concerned about any HS student that couldn't share their own experience or perspective on question #2, or who wouldn't be comfortable going to an educational institution that acknowledges the value of various perspectives and life experiences. I see the answer as simple as "I know it when I see it kind of thing and here's what I think."

Another minority parent

As i read the question, they are not asking about their perspectives. But rather, their experiences. And if they have not experienced it, how are they to answer it?

Look, I get that kids struggling with that are privileged. That includes my own child (who is not in HS yet). And I don't have an issue with wanting a diverse student population. But, I don't know that we should be dinging kids who have had the benefit of not experiencing discrimination. We should also hope that NO ONE experiences discrimination. I realize that is not the case. But, I'm not sure how this questions contributes to that goal.

Your child has never seen anyone discriminated against because of color, gender, age, disabilities, LGBT status, political views, socioeconomic status...?

NP. My kid spends all his free time in front of a computer.. So, no. Not IRL. On Youtube? of course!

Online comments are FULL of misogyny and racial comments. Shouldn't be to hard to come up with something.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess in this day and age, I would be concerned about any HS student that couldn't share their own experience or perspective on question #2, or who wouldn't be comfortable going to an educational institution that acknowledges the value of various perspectives and life experiences. I see the answer as simple as "I know it when I see it kind of thing and here's what I think."

Another minority parent

As i read the question, they are not asking about their perspectives. But rather, their experiences. And if they have not experienced it, how are they to answer it?

Look, I get that kids struggling with that are privileged. That includes my own child (who is not in HS yet). And I don't have an issue with wanting a diverse student population. But, I don't know that we should be dinging kids who have had the benefit of not experiencing discrimination. We should also hope that NO ONE experiences discrimination. I realize that is not the case. But, I'm not sure how this questions contributes to that goal.

Your child has never seen anyone discriminated against because of color, gender, age, disabilities, LGBT status, political views, socioeconomic status...?

NP. My kid spends all his free time in front of a computer.. So, no. Not IRL. On Youtube? of course!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess in this day and age, I would be concerned about any HS student that couldn't share their own experience or perspective on question #2, or who wouldn't be comfortable going to an educational institution that acknowledges the value of various perspectives and life experiences. I see the answer as simple as "I know it when I see it kind of thing and here's what I think."

Another minority parent

As i read the question, they are not asking about their perspectives. But rather, their experiences. And if they have not experienced it, how are they to answer it?

Look, I get that kids struggling with that are privileged. That includes my own child (who is not in HS yet). And I don't have an issue with wanting a diverse student population. But, I don't know that we should be dinging kids who have had the benefit of not experiencing discrimination. We should also hope that NO ONE experiences discrimination. I realize that is not the case. But, I'm not sure how this questions contributes to that goal.

Your child has never seen anyone discriminated against because of color, gender, age, disabilities, LGBT status, political views, socioeconomic status...?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Son’s classmate got into Cornell and UVA. Waitlisted at Tech.

Why is this surprising? This is why sometimes people get turned down for being overqualified for a job. The schools try to accept kids they think will actually attend the school. If they admit all high stats kids, they'll be under enrolled. Waitlist allows them to see how many of the high stats kids withdraw and use that to judge which ones are really interested.

Except this year, VT will have probably zero high stats kids to choose from. Now their ranking (whatever your source) will plummet, and fewer high ranking students will bother applying in the future. Is that what VT wants?

Also, is the VA public college/uni system looking to give white kids NO options - because if that happens, there will be big lawsuits. You can't say "we want 90% first generation". It doesn't work that way. Look at what happened to TJ.

Do you really think white kids have no options? Chances are your high stats kid got waitlist because of a lower stats white kid who VT thinks will actually go there. A white kid who wrote his essay about being discriminated against for being conservative got in. Clearly they aren't excluding white kids. Also, you do know there are first generation white kids also, right? And yes, they can just say they want x percent first generation kids. Having parents who went to college isn't a protected class. I know first generation white kids and Asian kids. First generation isn't race based.

Anonymous wrote:I always thought essays were about just showing you could write fairly well. Fact or fiction.

Different genre from "writing well." Supposedly about showing how the student thinks, not about forming a concise logical argument nor about using flowery descriptions.

Anonymous wrote:I always thought essays were about just showing you could write fairly well. Fact or fiction.

I'd say it's a bit of both but the personal essay style of writing for a college application is really different from academic writing. I like when colleges asked to see a graded paper you did for school, seems like a more accurate representation of a student's writing ability as it applies to the academic setting.

I always thought essays were about just showing you could write fairly well. Fact or fiction.

I think it's important to understand the difference between discrimination, prejudice and racism. The question asks how have you experienced or witnessed discrimination, not racism. Since it isn't race based, every kid should be able to answer this question honestly, based on their own experience. Paraphrasing the College Essay Guy, your answers and actions don't have to be transformative, they just need to be well thought out and written from the student's voice and perspective. The biggest challenge is writing concisely given the 120 word limit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Son’s classmate got into Cornell and UVA. Waitlisted at Tech.

Why is this surprising? This is why sometimes people get turned down for being overqualified for a job. The schools try to accept kids they think will actually attend the school. If they admit all high stats kids, they'll be under enrolled. Waitlist allows them to see how many of the high stats kids withdraw and use that to judge which ones are really interested.

Except this year, VT will have probably zero high stats kids to choose from. Now their ranking (whatever your source) will plummet, and fewer high ranking students will bother applying in the future. Is that what VT wants?

Also, is the VA public college/uni system looking to give white kids NO options - because if that happens, there will be big lawsuits. You can't say "we want 90% first generation". It doesn't work that way. Look at what happened to TJ.

Plenty of high-stats kids did get accepted, just not as high a % as probably should have. My DS is above the 75th %ile in GPA and SAT (1500) and was accepted (in-state, white, Northern VA) and will be going to VT as it is the best value of the schools he was accepted to (not accepted to UVA).

I don't think that plenty of high stats kids were accepted. Your son was the exception.

A scroll through the admissions discussion on College Confidential shows lots of high-stats kids were accepted. Yes, a lot waitlisted too. I don't know why my DS was accepted vs. others except that he applied to a major that is fairly new and perhaps still trying to grow the program. I get that it's frustrating and seems to be no rhyme or reason why one gets in vs. another, especially within one major, probably comes down to the essays since they are the most subjective part of the process.

NP >> My white high stats kid was accepted (get over it!) and the hand-wringing harpies on this thread are ridiculous. He had no trouble answering the prompt; no kid should. I will be sending messages to the universe that the spot he is declining goes to a POC.

Anonymous wrote:Son’s classmate got into Cornell and UVA. Waitlisted at Tech.

Not possible. If Cornell ED, they would have had to pull the other school's apps. Cornell RD is not out yet.

Yes, the way the question is phrased is a problem. Witnessed or experienced? I am not sure what kind of Thunderdome hellscape the academics that drew up that question think the average teenager experiences in high school in America, but most kids (at least in public school settings) have a multiracial friend group, socialize together, play sports together etc.

America has a lot of problems with discrimination but a far better question would be asking kids what they think are potential solutions and then, you know, actually giving them enough of a word limit to say something meaningful and thoughtful.

The way it was phrased especially given the word limit comes off as trite and posturing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Son’s classmate got into Cornell and UVA. Waitlisted at Tech.

Why is this surprising? This is why sometimes people get turned down for being overqualified for a job. The schools try to accept kids they think will actually attend the school. If they admit all high stats kids, they'll be under enrolled. Waitlist allows them to see how many of the high stats kids withdraw and use that to judge which ones are really interested.

Except this year, VT will have probably zero high stats kids to choose from. Now their ranking (whatever your source) will plummet, and fewer high ranking students will bother applying in the future. Is that what VT wants?

Also, is the VA public college/uni system looking to give white kids NO options - because if that happens, there will be big lawsuits. You can't say "we want 90% first generation". It doesn't work that way. Look at what happened to TJ.

Plenty of high-stats kids did get accepted, just not as high a % as probably should have. My DS is above the 75th %ile in GPA and SAT (1500) and was accepted (in-state, white, Northern VA) and will be going to VT as it is the best value of the schools he was accepted to (not accepted to UVA).

I don't think that plenty of high stats kids were accepted. Your son was the exception.