<p>i do think the "z list" is sensible if it is what harvard administrators say it is. i do not think it is sensible, however, if it is what two crimson columnists have alleged, and in part shown, it to be: namely, a "de facto special admissions program" for rich legacies.</p>
<hr>
<p>I can think of at least two very legitimate uses for the Z-list. First, it could be used for students whose high school records show signs of improvement that seem likely to continue. The year off would allow such students to continue to improve, so that by the time they arrive at Harvard they are working at their full potential. A second very sensible use for the Z-list would be for academically sound but socially immature students, for whom a year of traveling or working might help them to meet the non-academic challenges of college life. </p>
<p>Now, how is the Z-list really used? </p>
<p>A story in the Crimson this past commencement, The Back Door to the Yard, sheds some light on the issue. In this article, Crimson reporter Dan Rosenheck ascertained the legacy status (i.e. whether or not one or both parents attended Harvard) of 36 of the approximately 80 Z-listed students enrolled at the college. Of the 36, Rosenheck reported, 26 were legacies72 percent, compared with approximately 12-14 percent of the general College population. </p>
<p>And there you have itnumbers tell the truth. Unfortunately, it appears that the same cannot be said of the practitioners of this policy in the admissions office. In the same story, Director of Admissions Marlyn McGrath Lewis 70-73 is quoted as saying that the Z-list is not a legacy list and that theres no formula to this and theres not much in common [between Z-list students].</p>
<p>That is just plain silly, and the Crimson writers were wrong-headed - as Crimson writers often are (with the exception of one current freshperson!) </p>
<p>Look, scottie, if a fraction of the Harvard legacies are run through the wringer - while at Princeton, where the legacy admit rate is just as high, this does not happen, how is Princeton more virtuous?</p>
<p>Dean Fitzsimmons (who, I realize, you have called "dishonest") passionately disputes the sophomoric reasoning and questionable conclusions made by these painfully earnest kids who oppose legacy admissions on principle and excitedly concluded that they had unearthed a "conspiracy" of sorts. The Crimson <em>loves</em> conspiracies.</p>
<p>(Did you add the modifier "rich" to the legacies yourself? I don't know if even the Crimson conspracy kids said they were all "rich".</p>
<p>evidence suggests that the non-legacy z listees tend to come from wealthy families. for example, "of 19 Z-listers The Crimson could not confirm to be legacies, all but four attended private high schools." private high schools costs a lot of money. as for legacy z listees (the bulk of all such folks), it is taken as given that they tend to come from wealthy families. the author of the second crimson piece calls the whole practice an "elitist money funnel."</p>
<p>finally, i have not called dean fitzsimmons dishonest - only you. and not blatantly so, only through the disingenuous use of statistics like, for example, citing harvard's GRADUATE engineering ranking when undergraduate rankings exist and are called for.</p>
<p>Well, that's not necessarily true. I did attend a private high school, but it was a small Christian high school from which no previous student had been admitted to Harvard. Most private schools in my area cost over double what mine do, and there were wait-listers from those schools that were not admitted.</p>
<p>I don't think it is logical to argue that if a school is private, it or its students are wealthy.</p>
<p>I'm waitlisted too. Jkabir86, I got my card with my letter. Policymaker (or others) - what did you do to get off the waitlist? Any suggestions? Thanks...</p>
<p>i was waitlisted also
does the applied major affect the likelihood of getting accepted from the waitlist?
i put engineering and engineering technologies as my major.
pleaseeeee help us out, the harvard insiders. PLEASE!</p>