<p>I know you guys will probably think I'm ridiculous, but seriously. My whole life I've always been known as the pretty one and it can bother me at times since some people just can't get past looks, but maybe I could use it to my advantage in some way in the college admissions process (don't worry, I'm not talking about seducing anyone). If there were two people who were practically equal and one was beautiful and one was ugly (or even just average) I think they would probably take the former for the sake of diversity. Too bad Harvard, unlike Brown, doesn't ask for a picture to along with their application, so my theory doesn't really work very well. By the way, I'm partly joking, but mostly serious, so what do you guys think?</p>
<p>It is ridiculous but I guess the college process has gotten so bad that now we're looking for "hooks" in the level of "hotness" a person has. </p>
<p>No. It does not. Obviously, not looking like a slob at your interview is better than wearing a ripped pair of jeans and a tie-dye white Hanes t-shirt.</p>
<p>Seempand, I was just about to start a thread with the same exact question.</p>
<p>You must be bulimic...you can read minds. :)</p>
<p>For any college that has an interview, yes.</p>
<p>I hope that you really posted your question as a joke. </p>
<p>I haven't seen any evidence that Harvard uses beauty as a way of figuring out who should be admitted. Keep in mind that in general, the person connected to admissions who'll see you is an alum interviewer who may very well be female -- straight and female. Why should they care what you look like?</p>
<p>Your question has made me think hard about the looks of people whom I've seen accepted and rejected. This is the first time that I've ever characterized applicants this way. I have seen some very attractive females and males rejected. I even heard of a state beauty queen with 1600 (old) SAT scores who was rejected. The interviewer was not impressed when the young woman wore high heels to an interview that had happened after a heavy snow. According to the interviewer, the applicant acted as if her pageant win and scores would be her automatic tickets in. The interviewer -- a highly experience one who chaired the committee of alum interviewers for her region -- viewed the applicant as shallow and used quotes from the interview to back up that opinion.</p>
<p>Incidentally, the female members of the Harvard admissions team whom I've met have been very thoughtful, down to earth women who aren't into looking glamourous. It's very hard for me to imagine that they'd decide to diversify a class by making sure there were some hot women in it. The male members of the Harvard admission team strike me the same way: Far more interested in filling a class with people with extraordinary brains, talent and leadership than making sure there's eye candy on campus.</p>
<p>One last thing: Harvard's dean of undergraduate admissions is a woman who is very no nonsense, Marilyn McGrath Lewis. Does you really think that bodes well for selecting applicants based on their looks? Perhaps at lower ranked schools known for having hot cheerleaders, but that's not what Harvard wants to be noted for.</p>
<p>northstarmom, I get everything your saying and never really expected the way someone looks to get them into Harvard, but thought that maybe it could unconciously sway someone's opinion if they also came across as a good person with other excellent attributes to recommend her (or him). But I guess really there is no point in thinking about it since it's somewhat out of our control. I was partly joking and hope I may have at least given someone a laugh!</p>
<p>well... from a lot of these responses.. it seems almost as if looking "hot" is a disadvantage for getting into Harvard.
It seems like dressing girly, etc. gives off the impression that one is shallow or too into looks... the opposite of Legally Blonde. Maybe since that movie, admissions officers wanted to get the opposite message across?
Though I hope not, because a. the school needs diversity, and you really don't see many Elle Woods around, and b. someone who acts or dresses girly does not necessarily mean he/she is dumb.</p>
<p>Maybe the admissions afficers don't care about how one looks, but I feel that a "hot" girl or a guy has a better chance of doing what he or she want in school. For example, when people choose the class counsel, most of them choose the so-called popular girls or guys. And when those people write their applications, alas! Leadership! A game of popularity or "hotness" can, although not always, bring some advantages to you, in my opinion.</p>
<p>OK, I won a male beauty padgent at my school, is that a hook?</p>
<p>YA, but not being able to spell pageant is a counter-hook. :P</p>
<p>I'm sure that Northstarmom's response is, in theory, the right one. But in reality, I can't imagine any aspect of life in which an appealing physical appearance is not an asset. Even the most jaded of interviewers can be drawn in by someone whose depth and genuineness are augmented by a positive physical appearance. It may be however, that at particularly selective schools, a strong physical appearance might lead an interviewer to a hasty negative judgement if it's not clearly supplemented by depth. And, to be quite honest, in our society women are probably more susceptible to a quick "bimbo" labelling than males.</p>
<p>I doubt being good-looking can ever hurt you in life.</p>
<p>I think that appearance can indirectly influence one's admissions, because of the alum interview. For instance, if I were an alum interviewer, I would not want a disheveled slob to get into my school, because this would be a poor reflection on me. I would prefer to have society think that my school is not one filled with reclusive "bug creatures" (a quote a Harvard rep used), but with people who are smart leaders, have a broad outlook on the world, and are refined.</p>
<p>There are lots of stylish, pretty girls at Harvard. It does not hurt you.</p>
<p>I wonder, in a slightly different nuance here, if there are any seriously obese people who get into Harvard. Most of the local Harvard alums I know are moderately active amateur athletes, and look fit. I have had professional school classmates from other undergraduate schools who were quite fat, but I can't think of any Harvard alum I've ever met anywhere who is fat. How about that?</p>
<p>better educated people tend to be thinner...</p>
<p>I would cite that.</p>
<p>Larry Summers, the ex Harvard president, is obese and also did graduate work at Harvard.</p>
<p>In general, I do agree that it's hard to find obese Harvard alums,including middle aged and elderly ones, but I think that's a class issue, not an issue about whether Harvard wants to admit obese people. In general, affluent people are more likely to be nonobese because they have the funds to eat healthfully, to pursue sports, and to exercise at places like health clubs. They also are more likely to be literate enough to comprehend the health consequences of obesity.</p>
<p>I think that there are similar paralells to smokers vs. nonsmokers. Smokers tend to be less educated and less affluent.</p>
<p>And think about the type of people who are admitted to Harvard. They are all very active in clubs and sometimes sports and don't have time to lay around all day watching tv eating potato chips. I might be wrong but I bet people who are eating as they're studying won't gain as much weight as people who are eating while watching tv. And as a whole, people who are more driven about school and other things, are probably not as likely to let them self go and get fat.</p>
<p>So there is still a place for undergraduate schools that don't interview applicants, in a system in which some obese people are smart, bookish, nonathletes. Such applicants can go to schools other than Harvard if they don't manage to make a good impression in a Harvard interview (but I won't name any examples). </p>
<p>P.S. This is just a just-wondering question for me, as I wonder whether there are any systematic differences between undergraduate schools that interview applicants and those that do not. My children are physically active and slim--I'll leave it to less biased observers to decide whether they are good-looking or smart.</p>
<p>LOL a thread about looks at harvard, thats a good one (JK you guys can look like elephant man youre still gonna be making six figures and sending my dumbass on errands like getting coffee and copies). Hot Mama if you're worried about looks come over to UCLA i'm sure you won't be anything special</p>