Anonymous
04/02/2014 21:42
Subject: Sat score of 2250 for NY student that was admitted to 8 ivies. Sat average of DC privates??
Anonymous wrote:The student had a very respectable applicant profile, but not earth-shattering. Being AA didn't hurt, plus he's first generation (his parents are from Ghana) and first in his family to attend college. Selective college admission offices eat that stuff up.
Not first in his family to attend and graduate from college. His parents are nurses.
Anonymous
04/02/2014 21:35
Subject: Sat score of 2250 for NY student that was admitted to 8 ivies. Sat average of DC privates??
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I was talking to my husband about this kid last night. Our kid went to an Ivy. 2250 would not get most white kids into an Ivy (w/o a hook that is). 2250 would get the average white kid into Middlebury or Bowdoin.
The black kid's parents are from Ghana. The Ivies like minorities with direct Afrian roots and less so for African American kids. This kid's EQs were not stellar..but fine.
Simply put, w/o being black, he would not have gotten into 8 Ivies...maybe 2...Cornell and Brown.
Which reminds me of these facts that everybody knows:
1. If you're black, and you get into a fancy school, it's because you are black, and you didn't deserve to get in.
2. If you're not black, and you get into a fancy school, you deserved to get in! Congratulations!
2a. If you're not black, and you get into a fancy school because your parent(s) went, and/or you're an athlete, that doesn't count as affirmative action.
I would hope that no one says this kid doesn't "deserve" to get in to top schools.
But I hope you are myopic rather than disingenuous if you contend that selective college admission offices don't give points or preferences for minority applicants, all things being equal.
Selective college admission offices give points or preferences for all kinds of things. But people only ever talk about one of them. (Hint: it's the "you're black" one.)
Because that's the only preference that's racist.
"Racist" doesn't mean what you think it means. But even if it did, is racism the only "ism" to talk about?
Anonymous
04/02/2014 21:20
Subject: Sat score of 2250 for NY student that was admitted to 8 ivies. Sat average of DC privates??
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:LOL. But I know a number of kids with 2400 in SAT. Yup, in MCPS schools.
How is this ground breaking?
I know a kid with perfect SAT, 4.0 GPA, 12 AP classes.... rejected by all ivies. Thank god for Berkeley.
It's probably because these perfect scoring kids are a dime a dozen for these ivy leagues. There needs to be something about them that needs to stand out. I read an article by someone who sat on the Admissions Board at a prestigious univ that they are looking for students that will bring different experiences and perspectives to their institutions, not cookie-cutters. For example, one year at an Ivy League, a male white student from Utah applied. His scores were below par but they didn't have any applicants from Utah that year so they thought he would contribute to a good mix. So he got in. Some other person, maybe even a minority, with a higher score didn't get in because of this guy.
Affirmative action for people from Utah!
What are they really looking for? Seems like the kids with the money can all manufacture the "right" experiences to get them into the "right" college, along with all the other privileged kids doing the same things. Spending $$$$$$ to go to prep school, hire tutors, hire test prep experts, hire a team to help with their college applications, going to third world countries during the summers to do their humanitarian charity work, starting charities to help poor people, be involved in tons of extra curricula activities, etc. What have we not seen before?
Maybe that's it...maybe the univ see past all the manufactured stuff and look at the "real" person and the "real" experiences. So many parents now a days are trying to give their kids a competitive edge by sending their kids to prep class and tutors. It's becoming common, at least around here. Maybe they can tell between who's really intelligent and will make great leaders vs those that are because of the tutors and prep classes. Maybe some of the kids that seem to have the right "resume" (test scores, AP/IB, what have you) aren't that smart on their own and cant' hack it in top Univ when left to their own devices. Just a thought.
You are spot on. I would put my bets on a kid who never studied more than 3 hours a night and lived on a farm in Texas with a 2250 than a kid whose parents are doctors in Bethesda who got prepped and sent to NCS with a score of 2350 any day.
Anonymous
04/02/2014 21:10
Subject: Sat score of 2250 for NY student that was admitted to 8 ivies. Sat average of DC privates??
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:LOL. But I know a number of kids with 2400 in SAT. Yup, in MCPS schools.
How is this ground breaking?
I know a kid with perfect SAT, 4.0 GPA, 12 AP classes.... rejected by all ivies. Thank god for Berkeley.
It's probably because these perfect scoring kids are a dime a dozen for these ivy leagues. There needs to be something about them that needs to stand out. I read an article by someone who sat on the Admissions Board at a prestigious univ that they are looking for students that will bring different experiences and perspectives to their institutions, not cookie-cutters. For example, one year at an Ivy League, a male white student from Utah applied. His scores were below par but they didn't have any applicants from Utah that year so they thought he would contribute to a good mix. So he got in. Some other person, maybe even a minority, with a higher score didn't get in because of this guy.
Affirmative action for people from Utah!
What are they really looking for? Seems like the kids with the money can all manufacture the "right" experiences to get them into the "right" college, along with all the other privileged kids doing the same things. Spending $$$$$$ to go to prep school, hire tutors, hire test prep experts, hire a team to help with their college applications, going to third world countries during the summers to do their humanitarian charity work, starting charities to help poor people, be involved in tons of extra curricula activities, etc. What have we not seen before?
Maybe that's it...maybe the univ see past all the manufactured stuff and look at the "real" person and the "real" experiences. So many parents now a days are trying to give their kids a competitive edge by sending their kids to prep class and tutors. It's becoming common, at least around here. Maybe they can tell between who's really intelligent and will make great leaders vs those that are because of the tutors and prep classes. Maybe some of the kids that seem to have the right "resume" (test scores, AP/IB, what have you) aren't that smart on their own and cant' hack it in top Univ when left to their own devices. Just a thought.
Anonymous
04/02/2014 21:04
Subject: Sat score of 2250 for NY student that was admitted to 8 ivies. Sat average of DC privates??
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:LOL. But I know a number of kids with 2400 in SAT. Yup, in MCPS schools.
How is this ground breaking?
I know a kid with perfect SAT, 4.0 GPA, 12 AP classes.... rejected by all ivies. Thank god for Berkeley.
It's probably because these perfect scoring kids are a dime a dozen for these ivy leagues. There needs to be something about them that needs to stand out. I read an article by someone who sat on the Admissions Board at a prestigious univ that they are looking for students that will bring different experiences and perspectives to their institutions, not cookie-cutters. For example, one year at an Ivy League, a male white student from Utah applied. His scores were below par but they didn't have any applicants from Utah that year so they thought he would contribute to a good mix. So he got in. Some other person, maybe even a minority, with a higher score didn't get in because of this guy.
Affirmative action for people from Utah!
Yes, maybe even!
I was the pp who wrote about the Stanford applicants. The one who got in with the low scores who played sports was from UTAH!!
Also, I met a Harvard student from this area who said that at Harvard, there were many students who struggled with courses that he found to be easy. Most were white and from remote areas of the country in the South and Midwest.
Saw a program where a white girl from a poor, rural background graduated as the class valedictorian and went to a good school. Think she dropped out because she couldn't handle the workload. She got great grades in high school and was doing competitive and rigorous work compared to her classmates but it wasn't on the level it needed to be for her to be on the same level as when she went to college.
Anonymous
04/02/2014 21:03
Subject: Sat score of 2250 for NY student that was admitted to 8 ivies. Sat average of DC privates??
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:LOL. But I know a number of kids with 2400 in SAT. Yup, in MCPS schools.
How is this ground breaking?
I know a kid with perfect SAT, 4.0 GPA, 12 AP classes.... rejected by all ivies. Thank god for Berkeley.
It's probably because these perfect scoring kids are a dime a dozen for these ivy leagues. There needs to be something about them that needs to stand out. I read an article by someone who sat on the Admissions Board at a prestigious univ that they are looking for students that will bring different experiences and perspectives to their institutions, not cookie-cutters. For example, one year at an Ivy League, a male white student from Utah applied. His scores were below par but they didn't have any applicants from Utah that year so they thought he would contribute to a good mix. So he got in. Some other person, maybe even a minority, with a higher score didn't get in because of this guy.
I find that very hard to believe.
Maybe they did have other applicants from Utah but they were largely female or upper class Mormons, and this guy that got in was middle class.
Anonymous
04/02/2014 21:00
Subject: Re:Sat score of 2250 for NY student that was admitted to 8 ivies. Sat average of DC privates??
Hey PP and the other two reasons are bullshit. I came from a working class family, so I never would've have had the options for 2 and 3. But that's okay because it is not racist? Why can't you folks cop to how legacy admits are discriminatory to folks who have not had those opportunities.
Anonymous
04/02/2014 20:57
Subject: Sat score of 2250 for NY student that was admitted to 8 ivies. Sat average of DC privates??
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:LOL. But I know a number of kids with 2400 in SAT. Yup, in MCPS schools.
How is this ground breaking?
I know a kid with perfect SAT, 4.0 GPA, 12 AP classes.... rejected by all ivies. Thank god for Berkeley.
It's probably because these perfect scoring kids are a dime a dozen for these ivy leagues. There needs to be something about them that needs to stand out. I read an article by someone who sat on the Admissions Board at a prestigious univ that they are looking for students that will bring different experiences and perspectives to their institutions, not cookie-cutters. For example, one year at an Ivy League, a male white student from Utah applied. His scores were below par but they didn't have any applicants from Utah that year so they thought he would contribute to a good mix. So he got in. Some other person, maybe even a minority, with a higher score didn't get in because of this guy.
Affirmative action for people from Utah!
Yes, maybe even!
I was the pp who wrote about the Stanford applicants. The one who got in with the low scores who played sports was from UTAH!!
Also, I met a Harvard student from this area who said that at Harvard, there were many students who struggled with courses that he found to be easy. Most were white and from remote areas of the country in the South and Midwest.
Anonymous
04/02/2014 20:55
Subject: Sat score of 2250 for NY student that was admitted to 8 ivies. Sat average of DC privates??
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I was talking to my husband about this kid last night. Our kid went to an Ivy. 2250 would not get most white kids into an Ivy (w/o a hook that is). 2250 would get the average white kid into Middlebury or Bowdoin.
The black kid's parents are from Ghana. The Ivies like minorities with direct Afrian roots and less so for African American kids. This kid's EQs were not stellar..but fine.
Simply put, w/o being black, he would not have gotten into 8 Ivies...maybe 2...Cornell and Brown.
Which reminds me of these facts that everybody knows:
1. If you're black, and you get into a fancy school, it's because you are black, and you didn't deserve to get in.
2. If you're not black, and you get into a fancy school, you deserved to get in! Congratulations!
2a. If you're not black, and you get into a fancy school because your parent(s) went, and/or you're an athlete, that doesn't count as affirmative action.
I would hope that no one says this kid doesn't "deserve" to get in to top schools.
But I hope you are myopic rather than disingenuous if you contend that selective college admission offices don't give points or preferences for minority applicants, all things being equal.
Selective college admission offices give points or preferences for all kinds of things. But people only ever talk about one of them. (Hint: it's the "you're black" one.)
Because that's the only preference that's racist.
Anonymous
04/02/2014 20:53
Subject: Sat score of 2250 for NY student that was admitted to 8 ivies. Sat average of DC privates??
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:LOL. But I know a number of kids with 2400 in SAT. Yup, in MCPS schools.
How is this ground breaking?
I know a kid with perfect SAT, 4.0 GPA, 12 AP classes.... rejected by all ivies. Thank god for Berkeley.
It's probably because these perfect scoring kids are a dime a dozen for these ivy leagues. There needs to be something about them that needs to stand out. I read an article by someone who sat on the Admissions Board at a prestigious univ that they are looking for students that will bring different experiences and perspectives to their institutions, not cookie-cutters. For example, one year at an Ivy League, a male white student from Utah applied. His scores were below par but they didn't have any applicants from Utah that year so they thought he would contribute to a good mix. So he got in. Some other person, maybe even a minority, with a higher score didn't get in because of this guy.
Affirmative action for people from Utah!
What are they really looking for? Seems like the kids with the money can all manufacture the "right" experiences to get them into the "right" college, along with all the other privileged kids doing the same things. Spending $$$$$$ to go to prep school, hire tutors, hire test prep experts, hire a team to help with their college applications, going to third world countries during the summers to do their humanitarian charity work, starting charities to help poor people, be involved in tons of extra curricula activities, etc. What have we not seen before?
Anonymous
04/02/2014 20:50
Subject: Sat score of 2250 for NY student that was admitted to 8 ivies. Sat average of DC privates??
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:LOL. But I know a number of kids with 2400 in SAT. Yup, in MCPS schools.
How is this ground breaking?
I know a kid with perfect SAT, 4.0 GPA, 12 AP classes.... rejected by all ivies. Thank god for Berkeley.
It's probably because these perfect scoring kids are a dime a dozen for these ivy leagues. There needs to be something about them that needs to stand out. I read an article by someone who sat on the Admissions Board at a prestigious univ that they are looking for students that will bring different experiences and perspectives to their institutions, not cookie-cutters. For example, one year at an Ivy League, a male white student from Utah applied. His scores were below par but they didn't have any applicants from Utah that year so they thought he would contribute to a good mix. So he got in. Some other person, maybe even a minority, with a higher score didn't get in because of this guy.
I find that very hard to believe.
Anonymous
04/02/2014 20:48
Subject: Sat score of 2250 for NY student that was admitted to 8 ivies. Sat average of DC privates??
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:LOL. But I know a number of kids with 2400 in SAT. Yup, in MCPS schools.
How is this ground breaking?
I know a kid with perfect SAT, 4.0 GPA, 12 AP classes.... rejected by all ivies. Thank god for Berkeley.
It's probably because these perfect scoring kids are a dime a dozen for these ivy leagues. There needs to be something about them that needs to stand out. I read an article by someone who sat on the Admissions Board at a prestigious univ that they are looking for students that will bring different experiences and perspectives to their institutions, not cookie-cutters. For example, one year at an Ivy League, a male white student from Utah applied. His scores were below par but they didn't have any applicants from Utah that year so they thought he would contribute to a good mix. So he got in. Some other person, maybe even a minority, with a higher score didn't get in because of this guy.
Affirmative action for people from Utah!
Anonymous
04/02/2014 20:45
Subject: Sat score of 2250 for NY student that was admitted to 8 ivies. Sat average of DC privates??
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:But William Floyd High School is a tough spot.
An earlier Pp said that this young man was #11 in his class. Do we know the outcomes of #1-10 at the same schools?
I'm very impressed by the young man's sat scores, personal story and class rank. That said, his application essay was reprinted in a newspaper this morning and it was not good. It was poorly written and would not impress an admissions officer - particularly those at 8 Ivy league schools. For some the essay makes or breaks-clearly not in this case.
Still think he sounds great and has earned his spot. Everyone gets in based on their particular mix of talents and qualities.
And yet admissions officers at those 8 Ivy League schools were apparently impressed.
I seriously doubt that. Clearly he has plenty of other strengths, because writing is not his strong suit.
Does anyone have the breakdown of the scores? Did he lose most of his points in the writing section? If so, that might be why they did not care.
Anonymous
04/02/2014 20:43
Subject: Sat score of 2250 for NY student that was admitted to 8 ivies. Sat average of DC privates??
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I was talking to my husband about this kid last night. Our kid went to an Ivy. 2250 would not get most white kids into an Ivy (w/o a hook that is). 2250 would get the average white kid into Middlebury or Bowdoin.
The black kid's parents are from Ghana. The Ivies like minorities with direct Afrian roots and less so for African American kids. This kid's EQs were not stellar..but fine.
Simply put, w/o being black, he would not have gotten into 8 Ivies...maybe 2...Cornell and Brown.
A white kid born in GHANA with two parents who are nurses very well might have been accepted at all 8.
Which brings something to mind...um, a Bulgarian white boy got into Harvard from Howard Co...poverty, "war", immigration, the works.
I agree with your basic point, that white kids with interesting stories also get an admissions bump. But, Bulgaria isn't Serbia and there hasn't been a war there in decades. Poverty maybe, immigration definitely.
Um, that is why it was in quotation marks. His father had a way of bringing up some vague skirmish (lie) to make his like seem more interesting.
Anonymous
04/02/2014 20:38
Subject: Sat score of 2250 for NY student that was admitted to 8 ivies. Sat average of DC privates??
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:LOL. But I know a number of kids with 2400 in SAT. Yup, in MCPS schools.
How is this ground breaking?
I know a kid with perfect SAT, 4.0 GPA, 12 AP classes.... rejected by all ivies. Thank god for Berkeley.
It's probably because these perfect scoring kids are a dime a dozen for these ivy leagues. There needs to be something about them that needs to stand out. I read an article by someone who sat on the Admissions Board at a prestigious univ that they are looking for students that will bring different experiences and perspectives to their institutions, not cookie-cutters. For example, one year at an Ivy League, a male white student from Utah applied. His scores were below par but they didn't have any applicants from Utah that year so they thought he would contribute to a good mix. So he got in. Some other person, maybe even a minority, with a higher score didn't get in because of this guy.