<p>I don’t understand how people can look at this article and not say that he got in largely because of his ethnicity. 11th in class, and 2250 SAT are good accomplishments when compared to everyone, but we’re talking about the Ivy League here. He plays the violin, but how many kids that have performed at Carnegie Hall with those stats or better get rejected? His parents are immigrants, but they are also nurses and they are pretty well off.</p>
<p>He just does not have anything that screams IVY in any of his accomplishments, ECs, or stats. From the article, it doesn’t look like he’s done anything weird or off the beaten path; otherwise it probably would have been cited as a reason he got in. People can say his essays were really good or his recommendations were really good, but again, this is the Ivy League we’re talking about. The kind that are applying are the “best student I’ve taught in my career” types and the kind that can write very well. Are we supposed to believe that all the URMs that make it write better essays and get better recommendations than anyone else? Come on.</p>
<p>It should come as no surprise, then, that the only two kids at my school that made it into Harvard were both URMs. Let’s realize the truth that there is a substantial advantage for URMs. </p>
<p>This actually doesn’t seem that weird to me; I have a friend that got into all the Ivies he applied to(6 of the 8) as well as Duke. Not too uncommon for a brilliant kid with an unusual background.</p>
<p>I’m happy for him, too. It’s been said time and time again here that applicants to Ivies (etc.) have to have certain ante numbers to be considered, but once that’s achieved acceptance is a gamble. The student had the ante numbers and he’s on a lucky streak. Good for him. </p>
<p>I am shocked with the comments I have seen on here and the true length people have gone to shoot down this fabulous kid’s accomplishments. There are just too many people here whose comments I could have quoted to ever care…</p>
<p>I grew up poor, lived in a mostly black neighborhood ( live in Memphis still where I am a minority and my wife is African American) To me this thread is repulsive. Saying that he’s not really “African american”. I am sure he will get stopped driving late at night in a white neighborhood like any black youth. I am sure he has been called the n -word like any black kid. I am sure white women will grab their their purses tighter when he walks by even though he will be attending an Ivy league school.</p>
<p>Yes your privileged “more qualified” kid was higher ranked and maybe better prepared, but will NEVER face these challenges. I dare your “more qualified” kid to live in the same neighborhood he does, go to the same school, come from his background and face his adversities and do just as well…</p>
<p>I am a Fortune 100 executive and very well off. My kids are half black and I have seen this type of treatment first hand. I hate when my kids excelled and got accepted to top schools and the first thing people ask is “did they check the African-american box” like its a magic bullet to the school of their choice. It’s not, I can assure you…</p>
<p>If anyone can complain about takers and those thinking they deserve something for nothing, it’s the kids who are left behind because they did not get all the opportunities all these kids with good schools, family life and guidance to make their lives better got, not the commenters here. </p>
<p>I don’t see how his being ranked 11th in his graduating class and his SATs means he’s “less qualified.” </p>
<p>If he was attending a Long Island or NNJ high school with strong student bodies I know of or moreso…public magnet’s like the one I attended, it would be more newsworthy if he ended up only making it to a few Ivies or being shut out altogether. </p>
<p>So many smart people here that just don’t get it. I can just see them as they job they applied for is given to someone else - “but I had better stats!”</p>
<p>^He’s the son of two well-educated nurses. Sure shoots down your stereotyped idea of him being a poor black kid. It’s astounding; those who claim to want to end racism are racists themselves.</p>
<p>What do you say to Asian Americans that have to go through different challenges? Asians have to go through bullying at school because they are seen as not tough, are kept off the basketball courts, and never will acquire the social skills of their white peers because of very real social exclusion against Asians. Your post is repulsive. I am sure those Asian students that were handed rejection letters have been called Chinks and other slurs, and may live in the inner city like some Blacks. </p>
<p>You have never felt the sting of being picked last in backyard soccer. You have never been kept out of a social group because you were “too Asian”. Sure, they’ll let you hang out with them. But you’ll never be a part of any White or Black inner circle. You have never had people direct their dislike of China at you, blaming you for “stealing their jobs”. The moment an Asian talks about playing Call of Duty or says he likes to hunt, everyone subconsciously thinks he has the potential to be another crazed school shooter like the VTech guy.</p>
<p>It’s offensive to act like your race is the only one that is disadvantaged. Both Asians and Blacks are disadvantaged. The only difference is that one is given an advantage to compensate for the disadvantages and the other is actually disadvantaged further out of a fear that schools will become “too Asian”.</p>
<p>Most people who are able to get into all Ivy Leagues don’t actually apply into all of them. I have taken more AP classes than this young man and excel in sports and other extracurricular activities, however, even I would not apply to that many top tier schools. Either way, congratulations to the man, because at least he has a good future ahead of him.
The only downside to this report, is that I feel grotesque at how universities now choose their students. Accepting applicants [or paying more attention] to ones who are in a particular race and such makes me lose hope as to which colleges will accept me in the future.</p>
<p>When will CCers understand that stats are not the be-all end-all at elite schools? Many posters on this thread have noted the average accepted scores at ivies, yet others still pipe up as “disillusioned” because their kids were “more qualified.” How? By going to a great private high school? Higher scores because of expensive tutoring? You’re a dime a dozen. My URM D (black) was accepted to ALL of her elite college choices - Bowdoin, Middlebury, Northwestern, Oberlin, Penn, Tufts and Williams. Scores? 2150 SAT, 31 ACT (no tutoring, btw!) - well within the norms for these schools.<br>
Do your research and don’t expect things based on your perceived superiority. These institutions are desperate for low-key smart kids from underrepresented neighborhoods. The best banner in the guidance office at my D’s high school? George Washington. Scattergrams on Naviance show NO applications from her school to some of her college choices. There are numerous reasons certain kids stand out in the application process, not just race.</p>
<p>People who are saying his accomplishments are being played down or dismissed are missing the point. </p>
<p>I think this is one of those times when nobody wants to acknowledge the level playing field they always talk about and crave. </p>
<p>On the level Ivy playing field, his stats and everything he has done are standard. Nothing extraordinary of an Ivy admit. Extraordinary for other schools, yes, but not the Ivys or the top 3 LACs. </p>
<p>It is only fair to say this if all others who are not black with the same profile would not get mentioned ever in the paper. A level playing means what is good for the goose is good for the gander. </p>
<p>I do find it interesting that the level playing field does not want to be acknowledged now, as his standard Ivy profile wants to be called extraordinary and praised as unusually great. This is a false, very fake field that is being called higher, but it is not. </p>
<p>I think a disservice is being done to him by calling his profile extraordinary when so many students have done the same and more and they are seen as standard, expected Ivy credentials. This is fake praise that any white or asian kid would dismiss as silly for an Ivy admit to get with this profile.</p>
<p>No one is dismissing his accomplishments, just do not call them something that they are not. I believe that is all everyone who questions the article is saying. He is a standard Ivy admit; nothing more, nothing less.</p>
<p>^Please, I got a 36 on the ACT with no “expensive tutoring”. One weekend of preparation with that red official ACT book. I go to a public school that doesn’t show up in any high school state rankings. Let me tell you, your kid is not that special. She is a dime a dozen, just like me. The only difference is that I am Asian and she is a URM. Where will I get in? If I’m lucky, maybe Northwestern. </p>
<p>I agree with kerkolus but would take it even farther, Not only do blacks and asians have obstacles but so have so many in the American melting pot, from Ellis Island immigrants-Italian, Irish, Polish,etc -to Jews post WW2 to Latinos to Native American Indians to Catholics to Muslims and so on… At what point do we recognize we are a culture of populations who rose from hardship and what we share is opportunity? Affirmative Action has been in place for a long time, specifically to advantage the post Jim Crowe African descendants. Should AA be the norm in perpetuity? Take offense if you will, but it is a fact that it is institutional discrimination. Whether or not one feels advantages should be offered is a different topic. The fact is, it is discrimination, and arguable because it is. If someone else with the same stats and story would not get in in favor of this boy who did for ethnic reasons, there was discrimination. No judgement, just fact.</p>
<p>Ah CC: the place where rich white high school kids/ parents of high school kids come to whine and claim reverse racism</p>
<p>None of you have any idea what it’s like to be black or even an African immigrant. I’m exactly like Kwasi, except I’m a girl and my parents are Nigerian. I’ve had to go through more nonsense than any of the privileged white kids at my school whose only road bump in life is getting waitlisted at their top school while being accepted into the majority of the other schools on their list. </p>
<p>Admit it. You’re all just mad that black kids are doing well and having their plights/experiences recognized by the schools they’re applying to. It’s not our fault that we were enslaved and treated sub-human for hundreds of years and still suffer the mental, physical and emotional repercussions of it, given basic human rights 50 years ago and are still excelling despite the odds Stay bitter, saltines.</p>
<p>Dowzerw is correct; I neglected to mention the other ethnic groups. Fact is, if you’re not WASP, you will face obstacles. But Affirmative Action proponents act as if every race outside of Latino, Black, and Native American lead peachy, privileged lives where they are pampered into great Ivy League candidates. Picktail’s claim is the most ridiculous. He/she claims that these pampered applicants that get “expensive tutoring” are the norm. No Ivy league candidate I know that is worth their salt gets “expensive tutoring”. </p>
<p>“It is only fair to say this if all others who are not black with the same profile would not get mentioned ever in the paper.” </p>
<p>True. The only time I ever see black kids being shown in a positive light in the newspaper or anywhere in the media is when they do something ridiculously amazing and rare. The majority of the media focuses on the activities mundane whites do. </p>
<p>An innocent black kid was racially profiled and got shot by the cops again. How boring. Look! A white boy is pairing his socks with sandals!! Headline worthy!!</p>
<p>I’m disappointed at the surplus of individuals who seem to be upset with a student (who happens to be African American) that has accomplished a goal that some can only dream of. There’s so many people trying to take away great students by posting comments concerning others they think were “more impressive”. It’s ridiculous that so many people have this attitude.</p>
Stay bitter, saltines.</p>