<p>I'm not trying to rain on his 'dream.' I only get annoyed when his incessant posting of worthless threads causes worthwhile and legitimate threads to be lost in the shuffle, affecting other people, and perhaps even their 'dreams.' Furthermore, one has to wonder if he has quite the intellect to be at Harvard, if he doesn't have basic common sense. Better it go to a more deserving person, no?</p>
<p>you guys are tools</p>
<p>" Anyways he applied early to Brown and was accepted, but what was shocking is that he didnt get accepted to Harvard. "</p>
<p>Nothing shocking about his Harvard rejection. His stats were very weak, and he also had had a tough time at MIT'S program.</p>
<p>I read his story in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Wall Street Journal series on him, and I read the book about him, Susskind's "Hope in the Unseen." Cedrick Jennings was a hard working, obviously bright young man, but his inadequate education in a ghetto school still hurt him in terms of his performance on standardized testing and his general knowledge about the world.</p>
<p>What was surprising was not that Harvard rejected him, but that Brown accepted him. He had quite a struggle at Brown -- due not to inferior intelligence, but having been educated in an inferior school system.</p>
<p>My pre-summer self would have said "Screw him," however, I have changed a lot during this short amount of time. </p>
<p>I have always been a proud individual, albeit a bit arrogant. I guess it stems from the fact that I have overcome so many things you people can't imagine, and can relate to that Jennings guy. Although my situation isn't so drastic as his (kids in my school don't kill each other, but people in my surrounding home do), it is to some extent very similar. Gangs, drugs, and high crime are very common here. The police, therefore, cracks down on it pretty hard. So you have this discrimination fermenting in the cops (mostly white) and the people who commit the crime (mostly Haitian) and people just get caught in the crossfire (literally). Furthermore, my old self would have argued that this kid is not so intelligent and he should not be admitted to Harvard. My contentions being:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>His SAT scores corroborate his grades. Sure he is #1, but how hard is it to get all As when your teachers are also commiting crimes and everyone in the whole school is a delinquent.</p></li>
<li><p>His performance at MITES also hurts his merit. Just because he is poor, doesnt mean he can't do well. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>I guess what I am trying to say is that I am similarly in his situation, however, I go to a much tougher school (Newsweek, Blue Ribbon) and I have to deal with teachers who only care about drilling work out of you and every other one of your classmates is rich. I mean, it's very difficult to become top 10 (which i am not) when all of your competition can comfortably go home and do their HW without worrying about putting food on the table, paying rent, and dealing with discrimination.</p>
<p>Well, that was my former self.</p>
<p>Who knew a bunch of rich kids could teach you a thing or two this summer? I met so many kids who had so much (materially) but their lacked the most important thing: Love. Their parents didn't care to spend time, and just threw money at them. It is sad really, when confronted with these situations. You think that you are disadvantaged, poor if you will, but when you have your entire family backing you, theres is nothing you can't do. And now I consider myself very blessed and wealthy to have so many supporting and caring individuals around me. This kid not only had to deal with material lack, but he probably came from a broken home where the parents didn't even care about education and did drugs. Therefore, I admire his perseverance and bravery to overcome so much. Even though he struggled at Brown, I still believe Harvard made a mistake in not accepting him. As we all know, learning at Harvard not only takes place in the classroom. There is so much his fellow counterparts could have learned from him and vice versa. It is not all about doing well on your math test and crunching numbers. And that's why I believe, to a certain extent, that Harvard, and the rest of the Ivy/Top Tier institutions are not who they really claim to be. </p>
<p>But what do I know? I'll find out whether what they say is true on the 14th. Whether they will follow their ethics and take a better qualified minority who is poor, rather than a full-pay one who would merit the same PR. I am really hoping to see whether Harvard, as the leader not only in academia, but in initiative to help the less fortunate is really egalitarian.</p>
<p>DHA, that is the most heartfelt thing you've written on here <em>tear</em>.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Whether they will follow their ethics and take a better qualified minority who is poor, rather than a full-pay one who would merit the same PR.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Poor persons do not have a unique claim to acceptance. Harvard is under no ethical obligation to accept students who occupy the lower socio-economic class, and to impose such a duty on them is unwarranted and reflects far too stringent an ethical standard.</p>
<p>Edit: In addition, though they might claim to admit a diverse student body, the notion of 'diversity' is ambiguous: it is open to interpretation as to what exactly it constitutes. That Harvard is generous to disadvantaged students does not impose an obligation of any sort on them. It certainly would be nice if they admitted more of such students, but I respect the strides they have made thus far.</p>
<p>"Harvard is under no ethical obligation to accept students who occupy the lower socio-economic class, and to impose such a duty on them is unwarranted and reflects far too stringent an ethical standard."</p>
<p>I love how people try to hide the truth with their political correctness. It's so entertaining because I love how the phrase "low income" and "lower socio economic class" hide the real truth. It another way of the "man's" way of covering over the situation: POOR. We are POOR. Say it like it is, and don't try to cover it up like the liberals. Low-income sure as hell doesn't mean the same as POOR in real life. Middle Class families are "low income" in reality's context. They are on a fixed budjet.</p>
<p>Now enough about politics. My presumption was under the fact, that other things equal (test scores, ECs, recs, ect), a poor minority candidate has more merit to a spot of the entering class than a rich/middle class minority. It only makes sense. (THIS IS HYPOTHETICALLY OTHER THINGS EQUAL OF COURSE).</p>
<p>
[quote]
I love how people try to hide the truth with their political correctness. It's so entertaining because I love how the phrase "low income" and "lower socio economic class" hide the real truth. It another way of the "man's" way of covering over the situation: POOR. We are POOR. Say it like it is, and don't try to cover it up like the liberals. Low-income sure as hell doesn't mean the same as POOR in real life. Middle Class families are "low income" in reality's context. They are on a fixed budjet.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I do not care about 'political correctness'; I simply do not think 'poor' accurately describes the situation of the candidate.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Now enough about politics.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Politics? I thought you were complaining about semantics.</p>
<p>
[quote]
My presumption was under the fact, that other things equal (test scores, ECs, recs, ect), a poor minority candidate has more merit to a spot of the entering class than a rich/middle class minority.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That is no fact, unless you endorse a sort of moral realism, which is a normatively inconsistent ethical theory.</p>
<p>
[quote]
It only makes sense.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>What is intuitive to you is not objectively so. Think about that for a while.</p>
<p>Using "big" words is you compensating for something, isn't it? </p>
<p>"I do not care about 'political correctness'; I simply do not think 'poor' accurately describes the situation of the candidate."</p>
<p>Oh really? Living among criminals and murderers and being evicted doesn't qualify as 'poor'. Wow, you have a strange perception of intuition.</p>
<p>Now, why don't you go sleep in your little dorm, prep school ****.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Oh really? Living among criminals and murderers and being evicted doesn't qualify as 'poor'. Wow, you have a strange perception of intuition.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>No, such situations are not excluded, but many other situations are included within the definition of poor.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Now, why don't you go sleep in your little dorm, prep school ****.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I am a college student. You know nothing of me or my life, so stop assuming my character from the fact that I disagree with you. You can attack my arguments, but do not attack me.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Using "big" words is you compensating for something, isn't it?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You think that normative is a big word? This explains much.</p>
<p>" I am a college student. You know nothing of me or my life, so stop assuming my character from the fact that I disagree with you. You can attack my arguments, but do not attack me."</p>
<p>You are attacking my use of figurative language and imagery in my argument, which doesn't even address the content at all. You are attacking the way I place emphasis on my arguments, rather than the arguments themselves.</p>
<p>"That is no fact, unless you endorse a sort of moral realism, which is a normatively inconsistent ethical theory."</p>
<p>nice, you use elevated diction and complex sentence structure to state a phrase that makes no sense at all. Ethical theory? Ethics are moral beliefs. There are no 'guidelines' to follow in the approach of obtaining ethics. Ethics deal with what is right and what is wrong. If you could reiterate your phrase in ENGLISH, without trying to come off as condescending, you would enlighten me. Just because you are smart, doesn't mean you have to overshadow a statement with overbearing words and incongruent sentences.</p>
<p>
[quote]
nice, you use elevated diction and complex sentence structure to state a phrase that makes no sense at all.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>It was actually intended to demonstrate the complexity of the issue upon which you are touching. I consider myself a philosopher of ethics, so such issues are the core of my discipline.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Ethics are moral beliefs.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That is incorrect.</p>
<p>
[quote]
There are no 'guidelines' to follow in the approach of obtaining ethics. Ethics
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That notion is under dispute.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Ethics deal with what is right and what is wrong.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That is also incorrect.</p>
<p>
[quote]
You are attacking my use of figurative language and imagery in my argument, which doesn't even address the content at all. You are attacking the way I place emphasis on my arguments, rather than the arguments themselves.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I am not. I simply used a more nuanced term for a certain class of persons. You can continue to use 'poor,' I could not care less. My argument still stands.</p>
<p>Right, because the nuanced term actually depicts the intended individual's situation fairly well. As opposed to "lower socioeconomic level", which is such an understatement. I mean really, look at it emphatically.</p>
<p>Which one bears the real truth?</p>
<p>"The War on Terror"</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>"The war on a bunch of muslim fundamentalists to prevent them from blowing themselves up and killing our citizens"</p>
<p>It's the effect, not the cover up.</p>
<p>I have a cookie here...It is here, and I have decided to ask you whether you want it...</p>
<p>Therefore, my good ethics man:</p>
<p>'Do you want a cookie?'</p>
<p>
[quote]
emphatically
[/quote]
</p>
<p>So now you are appealing to emotions rather than rationality? You would make for a good Harvard student.</p>
<p>I am not going to argue about this. It is your decision that comes in a few days, not mine. I just hope you react maturely and reasonably whatever that decision is.</p>
<p>The cookie is waiting...</p>
<p>I laude your arguments which understate the poor. It's ok though, why don't you go fight for "civil liberties" and "the environment". I am sure it will make you feel better. </p>
<p>Do you want a cookie?</p>
<p>Love the way you use the semi-colon and higher level words... You deserve another cookie! ^_^</p>
<p>I hope you dont get into harvard DHA, they dont need you. In fact you should start selling cookies, u seem to love them! Here, i'll buy one!!</p>