<p>@bangkoknight - I agree. But, the problem may very well be the Dartmouth admissions and what they think their job is. </p>
<p>This concept of accepting people with the best adversity story etc. gets you exactly this; students who were accepted because they feel put on and hurt by someone or some entity. I bet you 3-to-1 a good bit of the essays of these students revolved around unfairness in society, occupy Wall Street stuff, and the white power structure etc. </p>
<p>If I am correct, admissions will not help the problem, they might think they need more voices like those because it must be a big issue that must be present equally. This is how backwards college admissions is becoming.</p>
<p>As a recent reject of Dartmouth, I must laugh at this whole thing. Strait A student,top 1% scores, stable house 4 siblings, no abuse, no bs, no story to tell other than doing what I was supposed to do. Most community service I provided is our Church houses homeless during bitter months (I help a bit but not much) and I drive friends home on weekends as I donât drink. Up around Buffalo I am like a free drunk taxi. I didnât make up some big thing about it, not on my app, seems like normal behavior to me to get my idiot friends home⊠</p>
<p>PS my parents are well off but not extremely, so it was their contribution plus loans for me up the wazu âŠno aid if I had gotten in.</p>
<p>Now I know why I clearly donât or wouldnât fit in at Dartmouth or similar, I would just show up and try and be productive collegial member of Dartmouth. How boring.</p>
<p>Better I should get admitted likely with lesser scores, take aid(maybe), then bioch about how unfair and discriminatory Dartmouth is. Wow! Iâll take the spot.</p>
<p>@easygoer - my sons are wonderfully boring too. Excellent citizens who do not complain about people and things that have done nothing them. That is what is surprising; Dartmouth has done zilch to them and yet the students slam the school. Good luck wherever you ended up attending. </p>
<p>@awcntdb - I agree that Dartmouth and other elite schools are sabotaging themselves by admitting malcontents and rejecting level-headed, normal students like @easygoer, who would be a credit to the school, rather than a sad distracting sideshow.</p>
<p>Holy moly. Let me put it this way. Many of their demands are beyond silly. </p>
<p>But I would prefer having a kid who passionately fought, even misguidedly, over something⊠Rather than the majority of extreme rule followers churned out by colleges these days. This is related to the kids these days who organize their activities to impress college admissions counselors. The ones who write the rules or rewrite the rules are the ones who change the world. Not the Ivy League cookie cutter student. </p>
<p>So go kids. The world needs more like you. </p>
<p>Yeah, but as people have said, âadvocatingâ for these social justice issues is an attractive hook for college. So are they really breaking the rules? Not in my view. </p>
<p>@psaical - Good point and I do have to agree in general. But, there could be something such as misguided passion as well. This, I think, is such a case.</p>
<p>@collegealum314 - Agreed, they are not breaking the rules. I just think the school is getting more than they bargained for. The school know who they accepted.</p>
<p>I thought living happily ever after was the goal, defined however one defines it. I have come understand my choices are not being respected yet somehow I have to have tolerance for all other choices. It is interesting after a brief word from me it is assumed Iâm cookie cutter and lack passion. I seriously doubt many that had gone through what I have would still be standing much less still achieving. I missed one third of my last two years of school, too busy trying to get well, maintain grades, maintain sanity to have the luxury of protesting anything. I was rejected from all schools except local state school. My scores/grades would place me in the top third of incoming freshmen at all schools. I am taking the year off to figure out what to do. I will not doubt travel some, volunteer some. It took me about 5 days to come to grips with it, Iâll be fine, last two years have made me hard as nails The comment about the bastion of the privileged male was too much to take, hence my two cents. I shouldnât have to explain the hypocrisy of how I am discriminated against as a person based on some sort of social justice nonsense. I canât understand how me having no chance at an elite school is any less offensive than a qualified (pick a group) not being admitted in the past because of their classification. I donât expect anyone to cry a river for me but understand, I am just a student trying to get by in an honest way. I am not responsible for the circumstance of how/where I was born. Good luck to the new freshman, may they be thoughtful in how they use their seats, it seems to be an under appreciated privilege. Hey Canada is only a few miles away, I can always go there!</p>
<p>Sorry for the wordy lament, itâs been a tough road to walk and end up shut out. </p>
<p>My takeaway from this: donât make 70 demands. You will look silly, especially if everybody gets to contribute their pet demands. And they are awfully naĂŻve. My eyes bugged out when I saw they were demanding more transparency in the admissions decisions for URMs.</p>
<p>@easygoer - I hear you loud and clear. You deserved to be admitted, but keep in mind, lifeâs not always fair. You got caught on the wrong end of the swinging pendulum. Keep the faith and stay strong. Youâll accomplish great things. Good luck! </p>
<p>I guess that is the difference. You can disagree with the methods of the occupy wall streeters, but I think they are right that we donât have equal opportunity. I think many of the occupy points were solid⊠and that mantle has been taken on by an increasing number of people including Robert Reich among many others. </p>
<p>So yes, I believe you are right. If Dartmouth would have only rejected those with hardship stories, they could have continued to live their superior lives in peace without malcontents who want to try and create a society where we have more equal opportunity for all. </p>
<p>I donât think college admissions are going backwards. I think this proves they are going in the right direction, and we need MORE people with passion to make the world a better place rather than wall street drones just trying to take as much as they can. </p>
<p>This country was created by malcontents with sob stories about their problems with a monarchy⊠remember?</p>
<p>@psalcal - Well-stated. I do disagree with your premise (no equal opportunity) and starting position (superior lives), but damn sure enjoy reading how you defend it. </p>
<p>It would have been nice if @easygoer had an equal opportunity to pursue an Ivy league education, but alas, others with supposedly less than equal opportunities were admitted instead.</p>
<p>@bangkoknight - ^^ This is why I believe it was a major error for colleges to think their mission is social engineering instead of academic education. There is a difference, and they are learning the hard way. </p>
<p>When I am paying $125,000 per year for two kids in college, inviting people who disrupt their learning and the environment is not what I am paying for. Why that has been lost on colleges is amazing; parents and alums will vote with their feet and pocketbooks.</p>
<p>so why donât we accept only kids of families that can pay the sticker price thereby eliminating all the mal adpated, malcontents that would feel threatened by the privilege around them. That way we wouldnât have to worry that our hard earned money might be used to promote the social engineering motives of the university and finance the education of less deserving students.</p>
<p>@Bayrunner - There is something called proper behavior and respecting that others around you do have a right not be disrupted by your grievance. My kids did nothing to those kids, ever. And my kids environment need not be disrupted. Rather rude, if you ask me. </p>
<p>I have no problem with them having grievances, but disturbing others who have nothing to do with it is out- of-bounds. </p>
<p>@awcntdb. sure, in a perfect world that is nice. My take on it is that everyone has value. I do not assume that I understand all the issues and life experiences of the students that are protesting. I suspect they have some legitimate concerns as these are common issues on many college campuses these days. I do think some of their demands are naive and could be stated differently, but some are not. However, I donât think that erasing their presence and their grievances from the college campus is constructive or helpful.</p>