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- Feb 2, 2010
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They do it by reading the essays apparenlty. There is a running joke at MIT among some of the departments is the only thing hard about Harvard is getting in.
I wondered how this related to her comment that Harvard looked for original thinking. I couldn't see a connection.she told a mutual friend that Harvard also picks people based on their background.
I know that Oxford and Cambridge in the UK also value original thinking highly, and select strongly based on essay and interview. I remember a very bright friend of mine sitting the Oxford entrance exam. She said it was very different from any other exam she'd ever taken. One questions asked: "What is the difference between wit and humour?" She answered: "Wit is the inward smile; humour the belly-laugh." That was it. She got in.
I was slightly confused by that poster, Northern Light's comment:
I wondered how this related to her comment that Harvard looked for original thinking. I couldn't see a connection.
Honestly - they're over rated . . . a bunch of rich well off fratties and idiots who glided in by parental connections? I think students are better off when half of their classmates actually earned their way in with brain power.
Congrats on getting into Stanford - I hope she proves my negative opinion of ivy league schools wrong with intense success and makes me look like an ass
Ivy league admissions are de facto rigged to get rich kids form the suburbs into them, barring obvious affirmative action admittances, of course.
The crappy country school that I went to had two possible extra curricular activities -- Football or basketball.You needed a ride to and from school to go to either, which I couldn't even do if I wanted to. There were no AP classes. Zero. In fact, they didn't even have a physics class at all, AP or otherwise.
No matter how well I would have done at that school and no matter how high I'd score on the SAT/ACT, I'd never get accepted.
Sure the Ivy med schools might be interested, but only after getting double science major BS with a 4.0.
If you track down the admissions data for undergrad they typically reject more people with 4.0 gpa's and near perfect SAT/ACT scores than they accept and accept more people who were academically solid but not Mensa candidates than were nearly perfect. The process is ambiguous, but they accept based on spectrum--geographic, interests, backgrounds academic and otherwise to try to promote diversity. For instance if you put the smartest seniors in the universe all in the high school class, only a couple will be admitted because they do not want too many people from the same school no matter how smart they are. Having achievement outside of school altogether can be a big factor as well. As for grad, it is a different game
Ivy league admissions are de facto rigged to get rich kids form the suburbs into them, barring obvious affirmative action admittances, of course.
The crappy country school that I went to had two possible extra curricular activities -- Football or basketball.You needed a ride to and from school to go to either, which I couldn't even do if I wanted to. There were no AP classes. Zero. In fact, they didn't even have a physics class at all, AP or otherwise.
No matter how well I would have done at that school and no matter how high I'd score on the SAT/ACT, I'd never get accepted.
Sure the Ivy med schools might be interested, but only after getting double science major BS with a 4.0.
My niece was turned down for admissions by Harvard (but was admitted to Stanford
A guy from my town got into Harvard who wasn't rich. He was white too. He was however super smart.
How do you know he wasn't rich?
How do you even define rich?
How do you know he was "white" and applied as such?
I could qualify as native american, but look white.
define "super smart"
How do you know he was "super smart"?
All you need to do is look at the enrollment stats to find that it's nearly wealthy to ultra wealthy who get in, and it's not by accident nor dint of hard work.
Ivy league admissions are de facto rigged to get rich kids form the suburbs into them, barring obvious affirmative action admittances, of course.
The crappy country school that I went to had two possible extra curricular activities -- Football or basketball.You needed a ride to and from school to go to either, which I couldn't even do if I wanted to. There were no AP classes. Zero. In fact, they didn't even have a physics class at all, AP or otherwise.
No matter how well I would have done at that school and no matter how high I'd score on the SAT/ACT, I'd never get accepted.
Sure the Ivy med schools might be interested, but only after getting double science major BS with a 4.0.
My niece was turned down for admissions by Harvard (but was admitted to Stanford), despite a high IQ, top grades, etc. But GW Bush was admitted to Harvard under a special program despite the fact that the U. of Texas refused to admit him due to poor grades.So who does get into the Ivy League schools?
Honestly - they're over rated . . . a bunch of rich well off fratties and idiots who glided in by parental connections? I think students are better off when half of their classmates actually earned their way in with brain power.
Congrats on getting into Stanford - I hope she proves my negative opinion of ivy league schools wrong with intense success and makes me look like an ass
Hey Aunt Spiker, I just finished with the whole college admissions process and would like to address a few things you mentioned. Yes, there definitely students at these elite schools that got in because of a family connection or something of the sort, but many of the students who are admitted are extremely remarkable.
All of the students that I know who were admitted to the top schools this year (Stanford, Harvard, Berkeley, etc.) worked insanely hard to get in. They are genuinely intelligent, and even more important, hard working. They studied their asses off, did tons of volunteering/worked jobs, and were very proactive in the school/community. The students at the top schools are for the most part brilliant, and it is just a small minority which get in due to parent connections.
So what college did you pick?
Hey Aunt Spiker, I just finished with the whole college admissions process and would like to address a few things you mentioned. Yes, there definitely students at these elite schools that got in because of a family connection or something of the sort, but many of the students who are admitted are extremely remarkable.
All of the students that I know who were admitted to the top schools this year (Stanford, Harvard, Berkeley, etc.) worked insanely hard to get in. They are genuinely intelligent, and even more important, hard working. They studied their asses off, did tons of volunteering/worked jobs, and were very proactive in the school/community. The students at the top schools are for the most part brilliant, and it is just a small minority which get in due to parent connections.
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