<p>"oh, right, and Princeton's 11% acceptance rate is just a fluke. "</p>
<p>Ummmm, that's kind of the whole point of this discussion. Princeton's 11% acceptance rate is not an accurate measure of how "desirable" it is because Princeton practices strategic admissions. That is, Princeton deliberately avoids admitting students whom it will be competing with HYS for, thereby increasing it's matriculation rate, and decreasing its acceptance rate.</p>
<p>pure speculation, and in any event no longer relevant now that princeton has a new admissions director in janet rapelye.</p>
<p>Not AS relevant, perhaps, but the old ways have not died out completely. </p>
<p>The "Eating Clubs" still have their defenders, and half the class is still filled via a binding early decision process that prevents applicants from considering, or applying to, other schools, and thus limits head to head competition with HYSM - all of whom utilize a non-binding frm of early admission.</p>
<p>"pure speculation"</p>
<p>Wow, have you even read the damn report??</p>
<p>yes, "eyez," i <em>have</em> read it. it's perfectly plausible that princeton accepts a greater percentage of, say, 1300-1350 scorers than 1400-1450 scorers, however, not because it's afraid that its admits in the higher range will go elsewhere, but because the lower scoring applicants are more often "hooked" with something like varsity-level athletic ability. surely you can appreciate that many unhooked would-be applicants in that lower range would be scared from ever applying. an alternative explanation.</p>
<p>"but because the lower scoring applicants are more often "hooked" with something like varsity-level athletic ability. surely you can appreciate that many unhooked would-be applicants in that lower range would be scared from ever applying."</p>
<p>I don't think so. What you're suggesting here is that Princeton is somehow able to attract these "hooked" lower scorers at a higher rate than HYS. There's absolutely no evidence to suggest that this is the case. As a result, we operate on what the data <em>does</em> tell us. What it tells is that Princeton - unlike HYS - admits those in the 93-98th percentiles at a much higher rate than those between 98-99th percentiles. Guess what that's called? Strategic admissions!!</p>
<p>lol! Since when are eating clubs related to admissions?! :p</p>
<p>There is considerable anecdotal evidence of concern to Princeton admissions officials that the school loses certain applicants it would otherwise like to have because they are uncomfortable with the Eating Club/"bicker" process.</p>
<p>But that's just like saying Harvard loses some kids who don't like Cambridge, or Swarthmore loses some kids who don't like its size...</p>
<p>what is "Eating club"?</p>
<p>perhaps harvard officials should be concerned with their own "final clubs." evidently, not everyone in cambridge is comfortable with these "bastions of snobbery" that "embody the wealth and prestige of gentlemans Harvard, its (historically white and male) elitism" and thus "perpetuate artificial social distinctions and gender inequality." still, the editors call on students, not adminstrators, to reverse the "unfortunate nature of Harvards elite social scene" ("a sorry state of affairs").</p>
<p>There is little similarity between the miniscule membership of the widely ridiculed "final clubs" at Harvard or "secret societies" at Yale and the so-called "Eating Clubs" at Princeton, with their pecking order and "bickering", which totally dominate the social scene, with 70% of the undergrads feeling they have to join to have social options, in small-town Princeton. The Harvard administration does not kow-tow to the clubbies the way the Princeton administration shamefully does. </p>
<p>The Harvard Crimson doesn't hesitate to say that "these clubs institutionalize a brand of distinction that is altogether unimpressive." Would that the Daily Princetonian could show similar backbone.</p>
<p>actually, the final clubs sound no less dominant:</p>
<p>"Though no longer endorsed by the College, these select institutions [<em>]still dominate, in the view of many, much of Harvards social life[</em>], and in doing so perpetuate artificial social distinctions and gender inequality."</p>
<p>"The burden of erasing this unfounded distinction and undermining this skewed power dynamic rests with Harvard studentsonly if we stop treating the clubs as prestigious, stop eagerly waiting outside their doors, and stop anxiously punching, will the clubs cease to [<em>]dominate the Colleges social landscape[</em>]."</p>
<p>The Crimson loves to sneer at them. </p>
<p>The bovine crowd at the Daily Princetonian, on the other hand, is afraid to say a word ... indeed, many of them very likely belong to "Eating Clubs" themselves, as did their predecessors back 10-15 years ago when the rotten system was deemed discriminatory in the courts.</p>
<p>oh, please. the eating clubs "discriminated" only in the sense that they, quite transparently, only accepted men. just like fraternities at every campus in the country did and do, and just like final clubs at harvard did and still do today, now decades after the last eating clubs went co-ed. stop the sensationalism.</p>
<p>The Princeton "Eating Clubs" were sued on the ground that they were violating the anti-discrimination laws. They lost. And it wasn't "decades ago" either, as you well know.</p>
<p>Suits against the Harvard "final clubs" and Yale "secret societies" have not succeeded. </p>
<p>The principal difference: the pervasive control exercised by the "Eating Clubs" with respect to social life at Princeton, vs the relatively minor impact of the "final clubs" and "secret societies." (This is a key distinction you stubbornly refuse to recognize.)</p>
<p>Or so saith the courts, scottie.</p>
<p>f.scottie- the finals clubs are not dominant at all. I've managed to be here for 4 years and attend finals clubs parties less than once a year. And don't assume I'm out of the loop, since one of my roommates is punchmaster for one and another roommate is dating a guy from the Porcellian. They have to punch a ton of people to join them because a lot of people won't even come to the first punch meeting, since to many students they are a joke...or not even on the radar screen.</p>
<p>This may not be as impressive, but I've been here seven weeks, have only been to an eating club once, and still manage to feel quite socially fulfilled.</p>