Wow...so you disagree with a young persons viewpoint and your reaction is to have her sterilized? Pretty harsh wouldn't you say? This is a very young person. I think maybe she does have more to learn about how the world works, in reality. But to label her as a "moral coward" and "self-deluded loser" is also IMO extremely harsh. In fact her response and writing the article she would demonstrate to me that she is NOT a moral coward and has fiber to fight back against things she perceives as unfair, which is a foundation for bravery. Being a coward would of been for her to give up and NOT write a reactionary piece. I think she very well may learn that NOT getting into an ivy league university isn't the end of the world for her, that she can build herself a very good career and life anyway. Infact again, I don't read her saying she has given up or doesn't understand that lesson. Nowhere in her piece does she suggest she has given up or is now applying at the local beauty college. Her First and about ONLY premise is that the admissions process for Ivy league colleges is flawed and unfair. You can agree, disagree, or tell her to grow up and get use to life being unfair, but I think she has a right to be disappointed, and admittedly bitter- without being labeled a coward and a loser and being threatened with life long sterilization. But come on? Pretty early to label what I perceive as a perceptive, intelligent young woman a moral coward and self-deluded loser, and even in a sarcastic light the suggestion of sterilization of those we do not agree with is in poor taste.
I agree with this. What I have seen, is that kids from families in which EVERYONE does attend college don't need to be taught how to reach college. The problem is that kids from different back-grounds come from environments where college is not necessarily expected, and exactly what steps they should take to get themselves into college are never imparted to them. They don't know the value of extra-curricular activities and outside resume building. I've always thought that High Schools should offer classes in "How To Get Into College". If you come from a family in which nobody attends college or that is rare, the goal often starts and ends with High School regardless of the intelligence and potential of the young person. I also think some people are being way too hard on this very young woman. I think her main goal was to point out some flaws she perceived in the admission process, vent some disappointment, and to be "funny". I think she did this well. Her piece is NOT an indictment against colleges or getting a college education, quite the opposite.
I have no problem with helping her control her fertility because 'she' reads like one more,"I'm so helpless" whiner . . . I've just had enough. Life is full of hard knocks but the answer is to 'make a new plan.' We can find lots of folks willing to blame their lack of success on others. There is a real difference between those who 'were robbed' and those who choose not to make a new plan. A real education is not just the school but an attitude, a life-long commitment. It takes time and some money and self-discipline. But that 'letter' is like dozens, hundreds, thousands, and more who wear their resentment on their sleeves. I just don't have any patience with them . . . regardless of age or social position. There are people who have had a fair opportunity denied. I'm not one but I'm married to one . My wife persevered and that is one reason why I came to love her. This young child may grow up someday but not if she holds true to the attitudes in that letter. Bob Wilson
Problem with this girl is she goes against the mold of what people like bob want a woman to be. She exercised her right to free speech and independent thought and criticized the establishment and she is being demonized for it. I would venture that this letter was not intended to be a lash at ivy league schools but a very well thought out publicity stunt meant to cast the spotlight on her. If colleges want kids with resumes full of useless publicity stunts like "feeding orphans in Africa" then I suspect she will be just fine. If bob wants all " 'my failure is not my fault' moral cowards and self deluded losers" to be sterilized then he should set up a surgical suite at the next occupy protest and the next democratic national convention. Stay classy bob
Young people today are a little different and maybe for the better. Today with Social Media people will tell you how they feel and it goes viral. Years ago that girl may tell a group of close friends over a glass of wine she did not get accepted everyone said it's rigged for legacy and the underclass and genius she would cry and life goes on. But she's going to a Big 10 school and if she shows that MOXY in the real world she will be exceptional. Today with the Internet those private thoughts become very public and that's young people today.
Wrong again! Stupid speech is protected just as is the well deserved answer in kind. It is like Sara Palin complaining 'her free speech' was infringed when folks point out she is an idiot. If someone wants to whine in public, they'd better 'buck up' and grow a pair. Dumb speech invites the reply, some none to kind, and "she" sounds way too 'helpless' to be helped. Toxic, future parasite comes to mind. Bob Wilson
Easy Bob, she is probably 17 years old. Give her the benefit of the doubt Right wrong or indifferent she put it out there big time and yes maybe she grew a pair and said what many are afraid to say in public that she is not in a protected class and did not get preferential treatment.
This girl "bucked up" and spoke the truth about what happens during most college admissions processes. Because she wrote this letter she has already been offered admission to at least a half dozen other good schools. Truth hurts and some people handle it better than others apparently. I say bravo. She had the stones to speak her mind and got rewarded with a half dozen other admissions offers.
There are two separate issues. The attention getting issue is the rejection of a specific girl and her response. I'm not in a position (and nearly all other posters are not either) to judge if she was treated fairly or unfairly. I did enjoy her satire piece since it pointed out both real and perceived shortcomings of the high end admissions process. (Note-Vanderbilt is not an Ivy League school, so her aim went outside of just the Ivy League.) The more interesting issue is how the college admission process has become intensely gamed. Unfortunately it's gamed by both the high schools and colleges. Look at the following interesting aspects: 1) She had a GPA of 4.5. OK, what is the frigging scale? Grade inflation has run rampant. Is this the best the world has ever seen or merely commonplace? Lot of gaming action here since some of the GPA is what you take and not how you do. 2) SAT of 2120. OK, what is the frigging scale here? That was 520 point beyond impossible many years ago and the reader has no idea what the max is today....or how many more points will be available next year. 3) She was a US Senate Page. What does that mean and why should it matter? 4) Many states now have college reimbursement programs (called Bright Futures Scholarships in FL) that require a student engage in some volunteer program to get reimbursement money. My son had to work at a Hospice thrift store and my daughter had to work at the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary. This is a really big problem because the number of FL students needing volunteer hours far outstrips the spots that can make good use of a high school student. Keep in mind all kinds of legal limitations prevent students out of anything that could be considered risky (e.g. hospitals). The vast majority of this is to provide college application "extra curricular" activity input for a College Application. I cannot stress enough that the gal's point about extra curricular activities had little to do with very few true activities done for pure reasons vs. the creative embellishments performed entirely for college application submittals. "Padding the Resume" is common since colleges have essentially no way to independently verify the real situation. A whole lot of students take full advantage of that weakness.
A couple of years ago a 3rd test of writing was added to the reading and math you took, so the total is 2400. A score of 700 per test is mediocre for Ivy; I suspect that only students with other 'hooks' (e.g. alumnus or disadvantaged race or athlete) would gain admittance. That said, writing is often not weighted as strongly as math or reading so the information is incomplete.
Also, students can take the SAT multiple times and cherry-pick the individual subject scores from any of the test sessions to present to colleges. Keeping that in mind- your highest math score may be from your Sept. SAT, your highest reading score may come from your Dec. test, and so on.... In my daughters case- she took her first SAT last Sept when she first entered 11th grade- thing is, during the test she found a good bit of the math on the SAT is 11th grade material- which she had not seen yet because she just started 11th grade three weeks before the test. Overall she still did very well for her first SAT, she got a 1910, but the math wasn't as good as it could be so she's planning on a second SAT just before 11th grade is over this summer to boost her math scores. BTW- her rank last year (10th grade) was #16 out of 470 students.
you can also get tutored in the sat if your parents have a few bucks. this can be very helpful in raising scores.
Also, $$ solves a great many problems! We have an acquaintance who's son had a 2.2 GPA (77 average) graduating High School. He had no problem getting into a prestigious private college as long as his dad was willing to cough up the full $40k+ per year tuition. According to that college's own admission stats- the average freshmen entrance GPA is 3.51, only 1% of freshmen have a 2.00-2.49 GPA upon entrance.... but this guy's son had absolutely no problems getting in with his 2.2 GPA.... as long as they paid full boat!
That's how it works, money talks, bull walks. Both my wife and I are State University Grads and we do very well Our neighbors occasionally have that discussion USC or UCLA. Which opens the most doors. I find that hard work, a little luck, some risk taking, and being in the right place at the right time helps. Ivy League or Private Prestige Universities doesn't hurt. The real question is does Private School ever pay back? Graduating at most private schools can set you back $200,000 +
Cost our friend $160K, and his son in now tending bar at a local restaurant... FWIW- he graduated that $40K/year school with a 2.2 GPA too, just as he did from High School.
Or if the student's parents can cough up ~ $3, a lightly used review book can be bought. This can be very helpful in raising scores. The students who do not have $3 have to go to the library to gain the same advantage. <<horrors/>>
Yep but that may be out of that Gentlemans C's control. I don't care what anyone says since about 2008 to present the economy is in the toilet compared to any time I can remember. Unemployemnt rate is very high now and many young kids are under employed. As far as your friends son, sometimes kids come around, but there needs to be a ecomony producing jobs to help these kids and frankly some adults also. Breaking out the Violin and on the soap box now.
That is the really critically important question! It makes no sense to go to a expensive private institution for so many individuals. Ego (parents or applicants) and the idea of "buying" high end connections certainly accounts for a really large percentage of applications. Once in, so many students take the easiest path once in the hardest schools. It's really hard to believe that all the extra money spent results in a significantly better education for a large fraction of those students. However, for those students that are serious, industrious, and determined take advantage of the intellectual capital at a private school, there is a big payoff.
Absolutely. However, the same can be said for large public schools. E.g. I am familiar with the U of New Mexico since I was a Prof there for a couple years and my son attends that school now for undergrad. While the average student body is somewhere between mediocre and poor, it is big enough so that smart and motivated students find each other, and like any large place, it has its share of brilliant faculty. There is a lot of truth in saying that the student matters a whole lot more than the college.
