<p>cur, I know many kids in the program and didn't realize Plan II was THAT prestigious. Guess that's another one to cross off the list. :)</p>
<p>Why didn't your dd want to pursue it?</p>
<p>"Many admissions committee staffers did not attend the college where they currently work. Of those that did attend, many will freely admit that they themselves would not be admitted under today's more competitive conditions.</p>
<p>People on admissions committees are not "divinely annointed" or infallible. I really think it's unfair to unsuccessful candidates to speculate on flaws in their applications. I think the title of this thread, characterizing the young man as a "Stepford applicant" is extremely unfair to him. "</p>
<p>At H, all of the admissions officers except one are graduates of Harvard College. All of the alum interviewers graduated from Harvard College or University. </p>
<p>While it's true that if the current admissions officers and interviewers were applying to H with the same background they had in high school, they might not get in, at the same time, many of the opportunities that applicants have now didn't exist when the current adcoms and interviewers applied. This includes things that we take for granted like Google, high school students having their own cars (back in my day, middle class families of 6 shared one car), and boards like CC.</p>
<p>Achievements that now may seem "ho hum" may have been extraordinary when they applied, and if they were high school students now, they may have achieved things similar to what successful applicants now achieve.</p>
<p>That being said, yes admissions officers are human, have biases, and even make mistakes. From what I've read, however, I don't think that H made a mistake in this young man's situation.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Perhaps this student is not a U.S. citizen?
[/quote]
That would be my guess w/r/t PS candidate issue (permanent residents are not qualified)</p>
<p>My last word on this: in my opinion, the kid got accepted into fantastic schools and will no doubt have a great time at whichever school he chooses. It will no doubt take longer for his dad to get over his "disappointing" results because dad will not be at school having a great time. I hope dad finds a good hobby, and soon.</p>
<p>Why didn't your dd want to pursue it? </p>
<p>youdon'tsay, it was in Texas. ;) "Nothing in Texas. Nothing in a state touching Texas. I will probably attend med school in Texas then practice in Texas and for 4 years I want to be 'from Texas'" .</p>
<p>Midmo, and a good job too.</p>
<p>Father has posted the S's information on an Internet board. S is a U.S. citizen.</p>
<p>
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It's clear to me that he misjudged the competition this year. He should have retaken both tests again to prove he could do it twice in a row. Maybe he could take them now?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>LOL, cur. (10 char)</p>
<p>The Statesman article linked in the OP's post states that competition at Harvard has increased because the school has "increased scholarship" opportunities. The bad reporting continues....it wasn't too long ago that I thought ivy league schools gave scholarships.</p>
<p>Re: this kid's SAT history. Another article mentions he took the SAT three times. Once in 7th grade (1340/1600), once in Jan of Jr year (near perfect), and he only retook it after Stanford rejected him early. Perhaps a GC suggested this with the intention of contacting the schools still considering him in the months of deliberations leading up to the April admission/rejection letters coming out. Or perhaps his dad insisted. Who knows.</p>
<p>I just hate the fact that posters here are throwing around assumptions that the kid took the test 13 times. Or assuming he's a drone because he "only" was ranked 4th. His AP teacher stated he was one of the smartest kids he'd ever taught, adding that this says a lot at a school such as LBJ. The boy seems grounded & stated that the disappointment was brief because he has other great choices. Good for him. He didn't choose his father & had no control over any over-the-top behavior on dad's part.</p>
<p>I still do not understand why there's so much negativity towards this boy on this thread.</p>
<p>He did not get into HYPSM and Penn (and Plan II), but got into Caltech, Duke and Rice. </p>
<p>He is a high scoring ORM with over-involved parents and good-but-not-outstanding ECs. Overall, I'd say his results are very good, and he probably will do great wherever he decides to go.</p>
<p>The only weird thing about it is the publicity his story is getting.</p>
<p>I am joining a little late on the discussion but wanted to point out that the LBJ parents I've met have been very nice but all are very intense. So among the father's peer group of the other parents he wouldn't have seemed over the top. I am wondering what a PTA meeting there is like. Many of the parents are professors at UT or work in the hi-tech industry in Austin. My D hitched a ride with the LBJ folks to a math contest a while back (I was going to a basketball game instead-I'm sure they frowned on that but they were very polite to me) and my D said the parents watched the kids' every move and made sure they were eating exactly right and stuff like that. My D seemed to enjoy the attention and pampering. LBJ is considered one of the top math and science schools in Texas and the kids do get in at the most competitive schools. I am not sure on the Plan II denial although he would have gotten into UT under the top 10% rule. My husband and I both graduated from Plan II but that was back in 1984. The program is definitely liberal arts and emphasizes writing, reading the "great books," philosophy, economics, etc. The joke back then was Plan II What? since you pretty much had to go to graduate or professional school afterwards to get a job. Maybe they just thought he wasn't the right fit for the program if he was all about science. He sounds like a nice boy and I hope he does well at CalTech or whever he goes. Many of the families in this situation (rejected from Harvard) seem to go into hiding out of shame. So maybe it's therapeutic for them to be going public about it. I'm not really sure on that.</p>
<p>
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The boy seems grounded & stated that the disappointment was brief because he has other great choices. Good for him. He didn't choose his father & had no control over any over-the-top behavior on dad's part.
[/quote]
Amen... (10 char)</p>
<p>Well, we seem to be done tearing down Chelsea Link, so it's another teenager's turn.... :(</p>
<p>Marite: My thoughts exactly.</p>
<p>Folks, it appears that the dad posted that his son was rejected from EVERY Honors program at UT. If you apply to EVERY Honors program at UT, from Business to Plan II to Engineering , and all the rest I have zero doubt that you will be rejected by all of them. Again, bad counseling and I bet it wasn't from the applicant's school.</p>
<p>"The Statesman article linked in the OP's post states that competition at Harvard has increased because the school has "increased scholarship" opportunities. The bad reporting continues....it wasn't too long ago that I thought ivy league schools gave scholarships.:</p>
<p>But that's true. Once Harvard announced in Dec. that families with incomes as high as $160 k could qualify for scholarships, 5,000 more students applied for the class that enters this year than applied for the one that entered last year. </p>
<p>" this kid's SAT history. Another article mentions he took the SAT three times. Once in 7th grade (1340/1600), once in Jan of Jr year (near perfect), and he only retook it after Stanford rejected him early. Perhaps a GC suggested this with the intention of contacting the schools still considering him in the months of deliberations leading up to the April admission/rejection letters coming out. Or perhaps his dad insisted. Who knows."</p>
<p>The dad has posted detailed info about his son on an Internet board. This includes scores, dates, class rank, schools accepted to, hometown, and even why his son took the SAT and ACT this Jan. and Feb. </p>
<p>On an Internet board, the dad clearly stated that after being EA rejected by Stanford, the son decided to take the SAT and ACT over to raise the scores, which were the scores that I posted in an earlier post. The dad also has posted that his son took the SAT 4 times in high school, starting in 9th grade, when he also took a $900 SAT prep course.</p>
<p>It is true that the dad didn't choose his dad, but the problem is that having to or choosing to follow the dad's resume-polishing recommendations may have been what hurt the son's applications to places like Harvard.</p>
<p>The very best H applicant that I ever interviewed was an Asian student who also had immigrant parents who thought that things like having perfect scores, playing classical music, participating in math and science academic competitions were the way to gain success at places like Harvard.</p>
<p>The young man was incredibly socially adept, and managed to find ways of pleasing his parents while also following his own passions, things that included art, popular music, and mentoring. It was fascinating hearing his explanation of how he managed to do the things he loved while also pursuing things that his parents insisted that he do.</p>
<p>He got in Harvard EA.</p>
<p>"Re: this kid's SAT history. Another article mentions he took the SAT three times. Once in 7th grade (1340/1600), once in Jan of Jr year (near perfect), and he only retook it after Stanford rejected him early. "</p>
<p>It's worth noting that sometimes magnet high schools require the SAT for admission. Also, summer programs like CTD (the midwest version of CTY) also require the SAT. So that is why a junior high kid might need to take the SAT.</p>
<p>"I still do not understand why there's so much negativity towards this boy on this thread."</p>
<p>I don't think there's any negativity toward the boy. I do think there is negativity toward the father, who seems to have devoted his life to packaging his son for Harvard.</p>
<p>Frankly, I feel sorry for the boy, who seems like a nice person. I wonder what the boy would have pursued if he had been allowed to pursue his own interests. I'm guessing that everything he has participated in and all of the classes that he took were hand picked by his dad.</p>
<p>I know that his dad was trying to be helpful, and was sacrificing financially to do what he felt would best help his son. Probably what the dad was doing would have been extremely helpful in India, but what is considered extraordinarily good parenting in one country may be viewed here as being overly controlling and not allowing one's offspring's natural talents and inclinations to blossom.</p>
<p>The son clearly is very bright, and I am betting would have done very well in admissions even if his dad hadn't devoted his life to helping him. In fact, if the son had been allowed to follow his natural inclinations, those may have actually led him to Harvard.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, however, he has some nice choices anyway. The only thing I think may be unfortunate is that the young man may not ever have had a chance to learn what his natural interests are. He'll probably end up being a very good research scientist or doctor, but for all we know, if he had followed his natural interests, that may have led to his being a Nobel Prize winner in a nonscientific field.</p>
<p>Still, it's not at all as if his dad has wrecked his life.</p>
<p>"It's worth noting that sometimes magnet high schools require the SAT for admission. Also, summer programs like CTD (the midwest version of CTY) also require the SAT. So that is why a junior high kid might need to take the SAT."</p>
<p>The son took the SAT a total of 6 times according to what the dad has posted on an Internet board. S took the test twice in middle school, and qualified for a talent search program. The last time he took the SAT was this Jan. or Feb. after already achieving scores in the 99th percentile as a junior.</p>
<p>Well there's a sure fire way to keep from being torn down - don't call the newspaper or when the newspaper calls, decline the interview. What is the motivation to be the subject of an article like this?</p>