So, What Does One Say To This?

Parents Forum
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<p>Tri's join date is Dec 2005. That's enough time spent on these boards to know that advertising an Ivy League sweep after March 30th is like punching most of these kids in the nose when they're already reeling from blows to the gut. It was a really difficult admissions season and a lot of very deserving kids didn't get what they deserve. Making those posts on every Ivy League forum shows an extreme lack of sensitivity to the many kids and parents who are baffled and hurt by their decisions. I'm surprised that that much didn't occur to him and that's not a lack of cultural knowledge (he's lived here for 14 years, btw), but a complete lack of tact and sympathy. Those values do transcend cultures as shown by the incredible humility and grace of many international acceptees and rejectees and well, just human nature in general.</p>

<p>tchiem, you need to make some visits and talk to students on each of the campuses you're considering. Congratulations.</p>

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<p>Very well put, MichWoman, and right on the money. Some people are just insecure about their success. </p>

<p>Perhaps Tri's immigrant parents don't understand the impact of his accomplishments and he's trying to seek another avenue to validate them himself.</p>

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<p>My jury is still out, no response yet from TRI.</p>

<p>Please read my post 4/5/2006, on page 8 bottom.</p>

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<p>I tend to agree with Marmat having said,

[quote]
End errr... for us foreigners, the proverbial "fit" does not mean that much. You go to college to learn, so the only important part is academics, not climate, or the campus buildings, or the football team. The kid had chosen the best (academically) universities he knows of, with a couple of backups, and probably for him it was not "naivet</p>

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<p>So, in this case, the seminar could be titled "How I got into Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Penn, Columbia, Dartmouth ,Cornell, Brown. and Rice. Yes, RICE!"</p>

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<p>edvest, I don't know about tri -- but pursuit of an art is not always a competitive endeavor; one doesn't have to win prizes to make one's mark. Writing is something that can be evaluated on its own terms, fortunately.</p>

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<p>Tri, you should seriously consider Princeton if you are interesting in pursuing creative writing, even if it's only with a course or two. They had the best undergraduate writing department in the country and boast some of the finest writers in the US on the faculty. Unlike Brown, which has an excellent grad program, you won't get graduate students teaching you writing. (I think it's the same with Columbia and Stanford, although I can't be sure.)</p>

<p>Congrats on all your acceptances! Yes, many of us are envious of your success, but I can tell from your journal entries that deserve it.</p>

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<p>I just hope its not a cruel joke somebody played on so many other deserving kids. Somehow not a single school from this elite bunch waitlisted him, and his entire application pkg weighted on his sensitivity and writing skills without noticeable awards. Other aspects of his application were remarkably unremarkable. The luckiest 17 year old in America ? If it really happened, I hope he uses this chance to make a difference in the world by what he does best.</p>

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<p>Nobody on this thread really knows what was in his application package. And he is certainly not the first student to have such acceptances. We had a senior last year, who was accepted to every Ivy + won an outside scholarship that fully paid for all 4 years of tuition + R/B. Everyone in our H.S was so thrilled about it. There was no dissection that I heard. No analysis of the kid's family/ethnic background/etc.</p>

<p>I don't know why awards in art matter. A student could be passionate about art, and do service projects, or teach other kids, or just not be allowed by 'academic-oriented' parents to pursue it competitively.</p>

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<p>It appears that our buddy Tre has decided to attend Harvard. He also won several scholarships, and is a Cocacola finalist receiving $20,000.</p>

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<p>I really can't fault anyone with outstanding credentials for applying to all the elite colleges because there has been so much written about the person with the 2400 SAT, number one in their class, Intel or Siemens blah blah who was rejected. These stories spread a panic around that being perfect isn't good enough, so what is a student supposed to do. If there is a ten percent chance of getting into his/her dream school, then apply to ten! We foment the panic then are surprised when someone respondsto the panic by covering their bases.</p>

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<p>If this student had written in with the same questions with a list with no Ivy's or highly ranked LAC's on it, would we have called him insensitive?</p>

<p>As other posters have stated...some of the "regulars" whose children had similar NUMEROUS choices (which were written up in extensive detail before, during and after acceptances were announced), had a difficult time making a choice. Most posters were very supportive and did not say the "regulars" had been insensitive. </p>

<p>For a 17 year old, I think this kid is an amazing writer and deserved all of his acceptances. </p>

<p>On a separate topic, but related to another reason why this kid was accepted everywhere....based on numerous acceptance postings on this site...I think the biggest hook to getting into an elite school is to be middle to low income AND have parents who have not attended college (need very good grades in advanced classes and very good EC's, but don't even need to be a URM or have national awards.)</p>

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<p>Hey everyone.</p>

<p>I just wanted to stop by to discuss the last few weeks of my life. </p>

<p>I finally had the amazing opportunity to travel in the month of April. I went to Atlanta, GA to the Coca Cola Scholars Weekend, where I got the opportunity to meet a lot of the admitted students from schools like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Columbia, Dartmouth, etc. etc. Everyone seemed extremely nice and honestly I felt as if I could be happy anywhere.</p>

<p>In late April, I travelled to Cambridge to get a taste of the Harvard campus and community through the Pre-frosh Orientation Weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it. A few weekends ago, I also went to New York City to check out Columbia.</p>

<p>However, there were a lot of factors why I chose Harvard above the other schools:</p>

<p>--They offered the finest financial aid package. (my family did not qualify for the new Financial Aid Initiative, but it was still very attractive.)</p>

<p>--My time in the classroom setting was extremely awarding.</p>

<p>--The people and faculty were simply amazing.</p>

<p>To those parents who may have questions about the application process, or have any questions pertaining to specific financial aid packages for each school, feel free to send me a private message. I'd love to discuss my personal experiences.</p>

<p>Thank you, CC, for all of your feedback, comments, and suggestions; and for the prospective class of 2011-- good-luck!</p>

<p>Sincerely,
Tri
<a href="http://cityescape.org%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://cityescape.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>To those of you interested in my PR Stats profile:
it's located at p r s t a t s . c o m /display.php?user=cityescape</p>

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<p>Thanks for letting us know, Tri, and being very gracious about it all!</p>

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<p>For those who where talking about the successful Asian kids:</p>

<p>"Top of the Class : How Asian Parents Raise High Achievers--and How You Can Too"</p>

<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425205614/102-2233452-8802557?v=glance&n=283155%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425205614/102-2233452-8802557?v=glance&n=283155&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>Tri,
Congratulations and Good Luck!</p>