A hook? More like an anchor… 
^^ And with that mic drop, I think all has been said that should be said about the latest Obama family admit to Harvard, for the time being, anyway.
Somewhere, recently, there was discussion on these threads about crew as a sport relative to others. There are lots of crew videos on the Y.Tube, but this one caught my attention as it has a St. Andrew’s connection and so much else to recommend it. The drama comes from a camera mounted on the head of the coxswain from Thomas Jefferson H.S., so the angle is as low to the water as you will see. This is a Varsity 8 final from a regatta in Fairfax, Virginia, after the boats have passed through a heat race. TJ is trying to catch the SAS boat one lane over, on the right side of the screen, well aware that they had beaten St. Andrew’s by 6-7 seconds the week before. There is urgency in their cox’s voice, his commands trying various ways of walking the boat through SAS. The action is furious, as if the cam were on the track at the Kentucky Derby. The beauty of the sport is palpable.
Well, there’s always the possibility that Malia would’ve been admitted even if she was not a first daughter. She does have more than one “hooks” after all…
Se is also, by all accounts, a very bright and articulate young woman who did very well academically at one of the more rigorous and respected schools in the country which sends plenty of students on to top schools - hooks or no hooks.
Knowing students who attend Harvard with athletic and development hooks that are fine but not amazing students, I feel she is well qualified and deserving in comparison. I wish her a wonderful four years. Harvard is lucky to have her.
+1 to @doschicos. My thoughts exactly.
Agree with @doschicos It must be very annoying for kids like Malia to constantly have to prove and reestablish their own worth. And no mater what she does or achieves, many will continue to doubt her merits. Human nature…
As long as hooks play a role in ultra selective college admission, they will be looked for and talked about. To those who have been shut out of the door, it’s actually comforting to believe those who got in got in for their hooks. The truth of matter is that there are plenty others who don’t have those hooks and still get in and there are many hooked applicants who may very well be admitted on their own merits.
Apparently when Fox News posted about Malia going to Harvard on their website, the comments were so horrific and deeply insulting that they were taken down and the comment section eliminated.
Here is a nice relatable antidote to the FOX feed from the POTUS himself (via NYTs): “Malia is more than ready to leave, but I’m not ready for her to leave,” he said on the “Ellen DeGeneres Show” in February. “And I was asked if I would speak at her graduation, and I said, ‘Absolutely not,’ because I’m going to be sitting there with dark glasses, sobbing.”
@friendlymom that is awful. She is a kid, for goodness sake. What is wrong with people? This is an example of why I don’t watch Fox News…
I saw the comments sections of several mainstream media. Not FOX. A few minutes of it will make you fear the future of this country.
How does a gap year work? She applied, was admitted, but just tells the school…“well…I’m not coming until fall 2017” or does she have to apply again? This seems to be a more common thing now a days, and I’m curious.
@gusmom2000 As I understand it, it is somewhat dependent on the admitting school’s policy. Some allow deferral, some do not. I would not allow my kid to take a gap year without a spot waiting for her. Can you imagine trying to apply to colleges without a college counselling office or current teacher recs? I know it could be done, but I think it might be much harder.
I’m going to ask my boss if I can take a gap year, I really need it.
It’s hard for me to think of a reason that a school would say “no” to a gap year. The college that friendlydaughter wll be attending has a gap year program allowing students to spend a year working in one of several places (US or abroad), then matriculate the next year. My younger child, who is wrapping up his freshman year in HS, has already announced that he plans to take a gap year. My definition of “gap year” is that the kid works for at least a portion of it to pay for travel or whatever else they want to do with the rest of the time.
Specific to Harvard (and maybe other colleges of the same “type”), an admitted student can apply for a gap year after being admitted to college. They need to make a plan and specify what they will do during the gap year. The college has many gap year resources students can choose to use. Occasionally, Harvard requires certain admitted student to take a gap year with specific programs they are required to be part of during the year. Gap year is a good way to recover from burnout, to gain experience and mature in places other than school, but it involves additional expense from the family even if the student plans to work some of the time.
And in Malia’s case, a good way to stay out of the public eye and attend Harvard as a somewhat regular student, not as the current President’s daughter, with bullet-proof dorm windows and undercover Secret Service officers pretending to be students.
@ChoatieMom in my biz its called a sabbatical and you should see the list of what faculty plan to do (i.e. research) during their “gap” time. I unfortunately am not faculty so I don’t qualify:.
In late Randy Pausch’s book, (talk and writings,) Last Lecture, he talks about arranging his sabbatical at Disney world.
I would love to take a sabbatical at Disney world 
For non acadmics, it’s is called leave of absence (with or without pay) 
How about the new notion of “me-ternity leave”?