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<p>But there was a very public cheating scandal at your extremely selective NYC public high school last year. And heads rolled, including an abrupt and premature “retirement” by the principal.</p>
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<p>So what?</p>
<p>His point was that one would have to write a lot more letters to affect one’s own chances because the class is bigger, and because it is Stuyvesant there are many students who are realistic candidates at elite schools.
(Of course, some would deny that candidates from a single school are considered more or less together and would therefore say it wouldn’t affect one’s own chances. But I bet that at a place like Horace Mann they have a cushy relationship with the regional rep from all of the big schools, which may extend to one of those GC/Adcom conversations that subtly or not so subtly steer candidates in certain directions.)</p>
<p>If, for example, the sal is trying to get the val out of contention for the schools they are both applying to, that might make sense (in some perverted universe). The bad guy doesn’t necessarily need to get rid of all of his competition.</p>
<p>Oh, great. Now I’ve got this image in my head of Nancy Kerrigan getting knee-capped by Jeff Gillooly.</p>
<p>I don’t think the fact that it’s Horace Mann, notorious for its previous sexual abuse, is interesting. I think the fact that some stupid and ambitious HS senior stooped to some new low is fascinating, and that can happen at any exclusive, competitive school.</p>
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<p>Considering the academic levels needed to attain val and sal status at Horace Mann or public magnet high schools like mine, that scenario wouldn’t compute. The val and sal would have such impressive stats along with other factors in their own respective rights that it’s very unlikely they’d be impacting each other’s admission chances.</p>
<p>To put this into perspective, the Val of my graduating HS class went off to Harvard with 20 other classmates, the Sal to MIT with 30 other classmates. The Sal of a later graduating class went off to Yale with around 20 classmates. </p>
<p>Much more likely is the val or sal being sabotaged by someone who’s out of the top 10% or more and/or has some more personal beef with them beyond class standing. And that’s assuming Horace Mann ranks their students…which wasn’t the practice at my urban public magnet beyond the val and sal.</p>
<p>Not to mention Horace Mann’s local reputation as far as I know is such that a person mentioning it along with the word “cutthroat” would prompt double-takes from others and them wondering what funky substances he/she was smoking. </p>
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<p>And that’s the cue to introduce Weird Al’s reference to that event among others:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU95v23MQ4c[/url]”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU95v23MQ4c</a></p>
<p>Absurd theater - Act#2. What if the student bad mouthed himself/herself. Think of the adversity essay that he/she could write?</p>
<p>God almighty, cobrat, stop turning every thread into a discussion of Stuyvesant. No one cares about your val and sal. Really.</p>
<p>My kids went to a competitive magnet program, and I have to say that I can easily imagine an unscrupulous person gaining advantage by sending just a few letters about one or two students. I think it’s a difficult question for a college on how to respond to something like this. If the allegation was something readily verifiable, then I think it’s likely a college might check it out. I wonder how many such letters the top schools get?</p>
<p>Thank you for posting. I sent this article to my former boss, who is currently in the admissions process. Horace Mann is one of the schols being considered and he had an unsettling experience at one of the tours.</p>
<p>Can you share what the unsettling experience was?</p>
<p>Sure. They were at a tour and explained to the person (do not ask me who the person was because I don’t have the title) that they were an observant Muslim family and wanted to know if they would be welcome and how the kids would fit in. My former boss, who is the most calm person I know, told me that the person completely froze, couldn’t answer, and there was a very awkward pause before a long explanation about the joy shared among the students for their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. Which was very strange since the child is small and is not Jewish. When pressed for information about similar families, no information was given. This is the only school among the choices (Dalton, Trinity, etc.) where there was anything but a warm, comfortable welcome and understanding of the issue. It certainly wasn’t a dealbreaker for the family, but they were looking for a community as well as a school and want their child to be fully included.</p>
<p>Zoosermom, it’s likely the person giving the tour was not a member of the admissions staff. At most prep schools the high school tours are given by students and lower school tours by parents of current students. I’m guessing your friend was toured by a parent who panicked when asked a question for which he or she was not prepared. I can see how your friend would be turned off by such a response, but it may be less indicative of the overall school culture than it would seem at first glance.</p>
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No. Absolutely not. It was a member of the staff. A senior member of the staff.</p>
<p>Edited to add. The wife, who did the speaking, understands without question that this was one of the first sessions of the year and it may have just been a measure of hecticness, rather than anything else. What they were really looking for was an invitation to be contacted by other similar families, which is what was offered at several other schools. But they were taken aback by the seeming lumping together of Jewish and Muslim families as “other.” But it was not a dealbreaker and they know the likelihood isn’t great that their kid would be admitted anyway as they are not legacy applicants.</p>
<p>HM is in a bit more trouble, as major trustees have resigned:</p>
<p>[Horace</a> Mann trustees resigned quietly in rift over small payouts to alleged sexual abuse victims - NY Daily News](<a href=“Education News - New York Daily News”>Horace Mann trustees resigned quietly in rift over small payouts to alleged sexual abuse victims)</p>
<p>Certainly, lies and gossip are wrong. However, there might be a place to let a college know about a real problem - such as a student prone to violence. Years ago, I heard of Duke refusing admission to a student because he was accused of a date rape in high school. Many colleges are very careful about students who may be prone to violence.</p>
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<p>Accused or convicted?</p>
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<p>Or there was substantial mitigating circumstances for the violence such as being a young child, self-defense against a violent alcoholic parent, and/or the case was adjudicated in a juvenile court where there was no actual legal conviction due to age as was cited in the Gina Grant case.</p>
<p>“His point was that one would have to write a lot more letters to affect one’s own”</p>
<p>I don’t assume that this sort of sabotage is motivated by a desire to affect one’s own admissions chances. It could be, but the pure desire to see the hated target fail is plenty of motive. The perpetrator here could easily be a junior, someone who’s already graduated, someone who is aiming at a different set of schools, etc.</p>
<p>Wow I read these kind of threads and I am really glad that I live in the Midwest. The whole prep school thing is mind boggling. It’s bad enough to worry about colleges.</p>