<p>What the **** is going on?</p>
<p>^ Well THE HAIRY LEMON said he had a “yellow texture”, so I was just trying to say that texture can’t have a color by definition. Rather an object can have a rough texture, smooth texture, soft texture, etc.</p>
<p>This thread, lol…</p>
<p>
A talking hairy lemon being interviewed for college, and the texture is what you take issue with? Sigh.</p>
<p>^ Pretty much. Like you’ve never seen a hairy lemon get accepted into college over a top applicant? </p>
<p>But yellow texture? That’s where the line is crossed.</p>
<p>hi hairy lemon guess who</p>
<p>As Andrew Allen said in his book, College Admission Secrets, the application readers at almost all the admissions offices are 20-something sactimonious do-gooders. They bring their biases of “righting past wrongs” and various social hurts into the equation and will clearly, clearly push the URM cases because, in committee, it makes them look like they are “reaching out” and being “concerned” and “helping society” ad nauseam. Remember – this is how the whole “community service” thing started to take over applications: the young adcoms love to see the well-off serving the poor (the Bobby Kennedy model); they really don’t get that if the well-off invest in new companies that create wealth for themselves and boatloads of jobs then the number of poor will actually decrease. God forbid, however, that some kid talks about some business he has started – this reviled capitalistic approach (ummm, uh, one taken by Gates and Zuckerberg) is much to be frowned on versus “fundraising” for some favored social cause (that is, begging other kids’ parents for money). Adcoms LOVE fundraising (initiative, etc. and the adcoms will themselves one day graduate to the fundraising – oopps, “development” – arm of the University.</p>
<p>Again, I return to the experience of Oxford and Cambridge in the UK: there, academics come first. They could care less about your color, your community service hours, your ECs, etc. etc. Essentially, they say that you really can forget about being competitive unless you have [the equivalent of] 5 “fives” on hard APs. Then write an essay, then get interviewed, then do hard analytical college testing at the college itself. Oh, sorry, “leadership”? Meh . . .what was that?</p>
<p>Why this won’t work in the US (so the above is just a vent):</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The colleges perceive social engineering as their job, along with some education bits. They readily accept the sub-par academic applications to fulfill the social engineering needs, especially the whole “diversity” thing (of which is proven nothing as far as inherent value, either academically or socially).</p></li>
<li><p>The colleges have tons of sports teams to feed (Harvard has 41?!), so need to fill the team ranks however they can, again resulting in URM recruiting (especially for football). </p></li>
<li><p>The real burden of education and research occurs at the graduate level – here is where the papers all get published and reputations are made. Thus, the University’s grad schools (where the big dollars are) can let the undergrad college bear the burdens of political correctness (reported to the Feds) while they get a get out of jail free card on such contentious issues that could actually impact and degrade research. Grad school care less about degrading undergrad education.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The combination of the three drivers above, combined with the fact that undergrad applications are read by people with thumbs on the scale for candidates that represent favored causes, results in the system we have today.</p>
<p>In light of the above, what should an applicant’s strategy be?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Take a bare minimum of AP courses – say, 4 or 5 (and get "5"s on them). If you take many more, you won’t have time for . . .</p></li>
<li><p>Community Service. Load up big time here on unusual stuff – 500 hours plus should be the goal.</p></li>
<li><p>Create some club dealing with an oppressed group and show that you have picked pockets to create some event dealing with the oppressed group’s issue</p></li>
<li><p>Be athletic. The Ivies LOVE athletes. Choose an Ivy sport like squash or field hockey and go to summer camps sponsored by the Ivies. Get noticed. Join a traveling team.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Your perfect profile (if you are not a URM):</p>
<p>A quality, reasonably intelligent athlete in a less-popular but necessary-to-fill sport, and concerned for the needs of the oppressed. BINGO!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Who? o__o</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Please pardon my sour mistake, I have omitted “soft” in “yellow texture.” -___-</p>
<p>My True Statement should have read: </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
Oxford and Cambridge are state schools. US state schools also have a mainly academic focus on admissions, where holistic review is used less.</p>
<p>Oxford and cambridge as state schools!!!</p>
<p>Read your history. Most of the colleges at Oxford and cambridge stem from the time of the magna carta and so pre-date ‘the state.’. They are wholly private, but get tons of grief from the current state.</p>
<p>Alas, marry me!</p>
<p>@ Harryjones, look at the other results and take safe search off.</p>
<p>I’m surprised you missed it; It’s the first thing that pops up.</p>
<p>Please keep all discussions of affirmative action, etc. on this thread:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/927219-race-college-admission-faq-discussion-8-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/927219-race-college-admission-faq-discussion-8-a.html</a></p>