Then apply to European universities where test scores and only test scores matter. US universities ask for ECs, recommendations and essays for a reason. Read their mission statements. 4.0/1600s are a dime a dozen. It’s the ones who show purpose, SINCERE purpose, who get in.
ANormalSeniorGuy - how can you say that Harvard (or any college) should ignore character?
A university like Harvard graduates leaders. Don’t you believe character is a critical component of leadership? Without that ingredient, Harvard could graduate future Hitlers and the like.
That explains everything. Harvard disagrees with you.
As usual, someone has to mention social justice and safe spaces. Nobody brought that up until now. Harvard does not owe these students anything. They can move on with their lives.
What upsets me most about this whole incident is not * that * these kids posted on social media but * what * they posted on social media. There have been a chorus of commenters on various sites lamenting the fact that these kids were “stupid” and that they should have known better than to post on social media.
Um. Posting pictures of themselves drunk at a party is stupid. Posting pictures of a dead baby swinging from a rope with the caption “pinata” is not stupid. It’s horrifying. I can’t think of a single way in which it could be perceived as funny. In fact, I started crying when I read that. I sincerely hope that these still young and malleable kids are able to learn something valuable from this and come out of it better, stronger, more compassionate people. (If it were my kid, once I got over the despair that I’d failed as a parent, I’d have that kid working in an immersive community service position so that at the end of a year or two, that kid would not only never post something as awful as this but would be the one to call out and stop this behavior in others.)
When “comedy” delves into making fun of sexual assault, the Holocaust, dead babies, sexual arousal from children, etc., then that’s not comedy to me. And as someone said earlier, the apple probably doesn’t fall too far from the tree.
Wow, I’m not sure how that behavior gets excused at all. They all sound like future criminals to me.
Did someone within the group leak the memes? How did Harvard find out about them if if was a private group?
I guess somehow screen shots were shared, then all the group members were asked to describe their posts:
“Apparently Harvard administrators caught wind of the group chat in April. The admissions committee reportedly sent emails to members of the group asking them to disclose every image they sent in the chat and submit a statement explaining their actions. Eventually the admissions committee decided to rescind the admissions of at least 10 students involved in the group.”
https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/5/15739634/harvard-dark-meme-facebook-chat-admissions-rescinded
Interesting strategy by Harvard. I read elsewhere that the students had some limited period of time (hours, not days) to submit their statements and then the Admission Committee reviewed what they submitted. So theoretically some of the students in the subgroup could have lied about what they posted and hoped for the best.
Also from same article - something similar happened last year but no one was rescinded over it:
“The Crimson points out that administrators also ran into similar issues with the Class of 2020. Prospective students last year posted “racially charged jokes” and other offensive messages in a GroupMe chat. Those messages did not lead to disciplinary action.”
ETA - from the Crimson article, quoting one of the students whose admission was rescinded:
Employees in the Admissions Office emailed students who posted offensive memes in mid-April asking them to disclose every picture they sent over the group, according to one member of the chat whose admission offer was revoked. The student spoke only on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to be publicly identified with the messages.
“The Admissions Committee was disappointed to learn that several students in a private group chat for the Class of 2021 were sending messages that contained offensive messages and graphics,” reads a copy of the Admissions Office’s email obtained by The Crimson. “As we understand you were among the members contributing such material to this chat, we are asking that you submit a statement by tomorrow at noon to explain your contributions and actions for discussion with the Admissions Committee.”
“It is unfortunate that I have to reach out about this situation,” the email reads.
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2017/6/5/2021-offers-rescinded-memes/
Do the “best minds” think images of dead babies, jokes about sexual assault, the holocaust, pedophilia, and racism are funny?
Apparently Harvard doesn’t think so and they aren’t about to adjust their admission policies to meet with your approval or that of others who don’t believe character is remotely important when compared to test scores. Which could be a very good thing.
So because something is not funny to you it deserves this degree of punishment?
Back in 1985, the now much-admired Ashton Applewhite, aka Blanche Knott, wrote Truly Tasteless Jokes which was a #1 best seller. The first chapter was devoted to dead babies and there is plenty more where that came from (do a quick search and view the TOC preview). She obviously didn’t become a criminal.
Doesn’t matter what she or I or you think. Harvard doesn’t want them there-they are within their rights to determine who gets in as long as they aren’t discriminating against protected groups.
People who do think misogyny, racism, pedophilia etc. is funny or “arousing” are free to go elsewhere if Harvard seems too heavy handed. It’s not like they can’t get a top notch education at one of hundreds of other unis.
If these students are like most, they were invited into a private group of “admitted students” like everyone else. That group is managed by the school most likely…or at least someone with a bit of authority and responsibility within the Crimson (fire)walls. Once you open the front door to your house, you should expect your guests to look around a bit.
“Harvard” is composed of a group of people (just like “she or I or you”), and in the end those people have made a decision that has (pompously and self-righteously IMHO) found those admitted students guilty of thought crime. They may be legally entitled to make that decision, but that doesn’t mean the decision isn’t politically correct virtue signaling.
…or very practical trouble avoiding. People who will post stuff like that are likely to cause problems for the university once they get there.
At some point, smoking was cool, we were all having unprotected sex and parents used to discipline their children by hitting them too. So what? Was there a time when making fun of the sexual abuse of children, dead babies, etc. was acceptable? I can’t remember it.
Do they deserve the punishment? You betcha. They literally have classes “driver’s ed” type classes here in school about using the Internet and their parents should have taught them better. They’re not special education/developmentally delayed type students. They got into Harvard.
The Harvard soccer team got into trouble this year for rating the girls soccer players. Do you think these new Harvard students should have taken some notice?
The potential positives of this story I feel are being undervalued. Had this happened at a small school someplace in the Mid-west…would anyone be commenting? This story will be told to rooms full of high school sophomores and juniors for decades…10 kids had their admission to Harvard rescinded…
No telling how many stupid, incentive, pointless social networking items will die an earlier death because kids thought twice about the potential downside. Yeah, it’s still a minority of kids…but they’re the next leaders. The sooner they make good decisions, the better. Thank you Harvard.
Actually, not at all. They probably had other acceptances in their pockets and are instead headed to MIT, or Stanford, or Princeton, etc. They found out in April with plenty of time to spare, before Visitas even. No one ever has to find out. They could have simply told their parents and everyone else that they had a change of heart…certainly what I would have done!
Good for Harvard. I hope each one of those kids has plenty of time to reflect on their stupidity.
@ANormalSeniorGuy , I will give you a little slack for being young, but NO, those idiots had zero right to their privacy. They were using their privacy to show their true colors and drag their institution’s name through the mud. The minute we all sit back and let unacceptable behavior slide is when we lose our decency. There is a reason society holds people to a certain standard. It’s about behaving like civilized human beings instead of succumbing to a mob mentality of thuggishness and brutality. In fact, I will go so far as to say that society is sick and tired of watching people in positions of power, (which those losers might have been had they got away with it,) get away with acting like heartless cretins.
Now, I don’t really care that it was Harvard itself, it could have been Podunk U. No school should allow or condone disgusting and inhumane actions to be carried out in its name, even if it’s allegedly secret. I am guessing that those students are very sorry they got caught, but probably not particularly sorry they did it in the first place. Actions have consequences, even if you think no one will find out about it. This is why most hateful and disgusting groups of people tend to carry out their hateful and disgusting actions in private: they know it’s wrong, but they don’t care because they think they are right and superior, and they don’t want to get caught. I hope they enjoy their gap years.
76 ^^^ so your argument is that it doesn't matter? Doing something stupid on social media can't permanently change the trajectory of your life?
While they may have had options, Harvard had an 84% yield rate this year. At least 8 of them would have been in Boston this fall.
@planner03 , if the posts were discovered in Dec, it’s likely they were ED admits. They weren’t rescinded unitl April, so I doubt they had anywhere lined up to go. The NACAC list or community college are probably their few options, apart from gap years.