<p>Well, hypothesize as you like, but the female students I've met here are anything but average. In fact, a good number of them are a whole lot better at math and physics than I, a white male undergrad, will ever be. :)</p>
<p>Could have been staffer just as easily.</p>
<p>There is no sympathy for a woman who lies on her resume to get a job she was not qualified for. Of all people who should recognize the problems with lying about your academic qualifications, it should be a dean of admissions.</p>
<p>Save your sympathy for those who deserve it like the people who lost out on her job because she got it.</p>
<p>ok. i can't resist. i know this is a really serious issue, but isn't anyone going to make a joke about Alex Doonesbury going to MIT? you know, something like "this is what they get for admitting a cartoon character".</p>
<p>(sorry. i couldn't resist. i think the actual situation is awful.)</p>
<p>
[quote]
She deserves no sympathy, has earned no respect, she is a phony who placed herself in a judging role, controlling the aspirations, hopes and dreams of thousands of young lives.
[/quote]
I agree. </p>
<p>How about this recent mention in the WSJ:
[quote]
-----Some transgressions are clear. A few years ago, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology asked applicants to come up with their own essay question. Two picked an identical topic: "What if Superman had sex with Lois Lane?" Both students excerpted material from "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex," an essay by author Larry Niven. Both were rejected. Marilee Jones, MIT's dean of admissions, calls the episode "hilarious," but worries that colleges have helped ratchet up the pressure of applications. In an effort to discourage puffery, she reduced the number of lines MIT's form gave students to list extracurricular activities. "Kids felt like they needed to fill up all of them," she says.
[/quote]
I wonder if she thinks her situation is "hilarious."</p>
<p>Call me selfish... I now keep thinking " my daughter was admitted by Marilee Jones". If it were up to me, I'd consider to withdraw from MIT 2011 and matriculate elsewhere. But please tell me it wouldn't be a wise decision for my daughter to switch!</p>
<p>Hmmm, no one at MIT orginally found it suspicious when a person with (alleged) degrees from RPI, Union College, and Albany Medical College applied for a position as a secretary in admissions in the mid-70s? I would think MIT would have at least some level of curiosity or doubt.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I wonder if she thinks her situation is "hilarious."
[/quote]
Oh please. You can't seriously actually "wonder" that. Everyone involved or affected thinks the reality of the situation is horrible.</p>
<p>"But please tell me it wouldn't be a wise decision for my daughter to switch!"</p>
<p>I don't think that this would be sufficient basis to change one's mind if one were otherwise certain that MIT were the place for you. </p>
<p>(Disclosure, son has decided to decline MIT because he feels more comfortable at a smaller, undergrad only school.)</p>
<p>"If it were up to me, I'd consider to withdraw from MIT 2011 and matriculate elsewhere. But please tell me it wouldn't be a wise decision for my daughter to switch!"</p>
<p>It wouldn't be a wise decision for your daughter to switch unless she has some other reason. No need to risk your future by making silly decisions in the heat of the moment.</p>
<p>Your D wasn't admitted by Marilee Jones: she was admitted to this fine Institute by a hard-working, caring, dedicated, and professional Admissions staff which met in committee for weeks after staffers (not Marilee, her staffers) read each applicant's folder at least twice and debated as a committee each of those applications.</p>
<p>Your D can attend MIT with pride. My S does and will continue to do so.</p>
<p>Also from the same WSJ article "Students are "far more brazen" today".</p>
<p>Hard to imagine being more brazen than faking degrees!</p>
<p>Declining MIT just because of a immoral lady would be silly.</p>
<p>mootmom: Dean of admission spends some time with the folders in the admit pile before they are definitely admitted. I am surprised that you are ignoring that.</p>
<p>Hubris..........The Greeks knew all about this.</p>
<p>Wikipedia:</p>
<p>
[quote]
In Ancient Greek hubris referred to actions taken in order to shame the victim, thereby making oneself seem superior.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>But who are the victims? I think we all are in a way. That is, the people admitted and the people denied. Wouldn't you agree?</p>
<p>Abhi08544: The time the Dean spends with the folders in the admit pile is as a sanity check. By the time they reach that level, the decision is already made. I haven't heard of any changes being made as a result of such a look-over. I'm ignoring nothing. If changes were made as a result of that looking-over/review, the story might be different.</p>
<p>Mootmom--I think SS's point is, no, of course she doesn't see her situation as hilarious, and neither does anyone else. However, the irony of that callous dismissal of young people who made an egregiously bad choice when she, who should know better, also did, is compelling.</p>
<p>I feel sad that someone chose to live this way for all these years, but I have zero sympathy that it is out, now. Like was said above, this is not a "mistake", this is a choice. One that she would not have excused in anyone else, I feel safe in saying. It undermines everything colleges attempt to convey is important to them.</p>
<p>mootmom:</p>
<p>If it were true that Marilee Jones took no place in admissions decisions, then this wouldn't be such a big deal. The fact is, she created the modern MIT admissions policies and the staffers, for the most part, carry these out.</p>
<p>I see: so this is now a larger meta-discussion about whether the admissions approach at MIT is legitimate or not, and not just a discussion about the personal dishonesty of its Dean? I hadn't realized that's what this discussion was about, sorry.</p>
<p>Edit for the record: I don't have any problems with the MIT admissions approach. I have a problem with Marilee Jones misrepresenting herself all these years, and exhorting applicants not to do the same.</p>
<p>It is a sad day for MIT. Have a dean friend there, and D has friends attending. It is sad for MIT because they didn't check credentials when the application came in. A sad day that someone who has done so much for women in the sciences and college admissions just destroyed all the good she did in one fell swoop by tainting all her decisions, both good and bad. The worst part is setting herself up as arbiter of others' ethics, thus being a hypocrite. No amount of good done can outweigh such an egregious lie.</p>