<p>I hope she used the time that she didn't have classes to write some masterpiece critique on college so she can use it to justify her actions...in the name of art, I suppose. Do you guys think it would make her seem less unstable?</p>
<p>wow now I call this being Smart. like seriously.</p>
<p>Wow!!!!! I cannot believe that she was able to dupe the system for so long at Stanford!??!??!?!! However, I do not think that because she felt "pressured" by her school and parents that she is now justified in pretending to be a student at her dream school!!!!!!!</p>
<p>Nowadays, a lot of kids around the world are constantly feeling the pressure to be the best. Should they all follow in her footsteps if they don't get into their dream school!?!?!? And what about those who do earn the privilege of going to the college they want should their accomplishment become demeaned by the irrational behavior of students like her??? </p>
<p>I don't think so. I think its foolish to support her and want her to be allowed to attend Stanford because she felt so "pressured"!!! That is total and complete crap, and if Stanford did it would be creating a very terrible precedent for college admissions.....</p>
<p>I feel compassion for PROBLEM, but I in know way sympathize with her ludicrous behavior.....GET OVER IT!!!!!!!!!!</p>
<p>The next Steve Jobs?</p>
<p>"Steve dropped out of college but convinced an official to let him audit classes freely. For housing Steve Jobs relied on, among other things, unoccupied dorm rooms."</p>
<p>"I think this is a defining story for college admissions right now. I hope it also opens up Asian culture discussions, not that Asians are alone. The process is making kids sick. For some it begins years before college with getting into the best HS. What will change this?"</p>
<p>Many people get rejected from their first-choice school. That doesn't mean they do stupid things and waste their time. </p>
<p>And for those saying she should be given a place at Stanford - how exactly do you determine that she "should" be at Stanford? If everyone who strongly desires something should have it handed to them, well, we'd have a world full of spoiled brats. Sometimes, things don't go exactly the way you planned. What do you do? Give up and live a lie? Or accept it and find another way of achieving your goals?</p>
<p>I really didn't like the part about her hacking into her roommate's email and sending "everything's fine" kind of notes on her behalf. That kind of impostership is qualitatively different from just scamming meals, lodging, and an academic connection.</p>
<p>A few years ago at Rice there was a big scandal and newspaper articles about a young man who ran with the track team - but was NOT enrolled at Rice. He hung around campus and ate in the serveries (usually bumming off people's trays) and I think he even slept in the colleges sometimes, so that everyone assumed he was a student. His mother thought he was enrolled at Rice, since that's what he told everyone. I think he was actually charged with criminal trespass or theft of services or something... Maybe this is not such an uncommon occurence?</p>
<p>I completely understand where this girl is coming from. I go to another pressure cooker hs on the east coast - a public magnet school with average SATs in the 2200-2300s, with most kids taking 5-10+ APs and Post-APs/Dual Enrollment classes.</p>
<p>With in a 420 class, 50+ accepted to Ivys per year, and another 200ish accepted to UVA, 250+ accepted to William and Mary, and with many kid's parents (granted this is the richest county in the country) only willing to pay for their college (these parents have way more than enough money to do so comfortably) if they get in to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, or UVA (because it's in state). Kids do "crack" over college admissions, but luckily nothing this bad yet. </p>
<p>I know people that are embarrassed to be going to UVA (or parents convinced them to be), one of the best public schools in the country, because it's not Harvard, Yale, or Princeton. </p>
<p>I have friends who's parents refused to pay for Harvey Mudd and Amherst (they have the money) because it wasn't Harvard, Princeton, or Yale, and only were willing to pay in state if it wasn't one of those three.</p>
<p>With this amount of pressure... it's only a matter of time.</p>
<p>Someone needs to make a movie about this chick. I'd watch it</p>
<p>This is more sad than it is funny. I'm sure it isn't and never was funny to the girl in question. </p>
<p>I'm a licensed mental health professional, and while I doubt she is "psycho", there is undoubtedly a mental health disorder present. She must be a very skillful liar, which indicates a personality disorder of some sort. Her personality must have been formed in a "pressure-cooker-do-not-accept-less-than-perfection" environment. She developed lying as a coping/survival mechanism and has taken it to the extreme.</p>
<p>This is a sign that many kids are just pushed too hard, and feel that going to anything less than the ultra-top tier schools is a failure. We need to change this. Parents need to change it by realizing their are many good schools for their babies to attend, the ranking system needs to be completely overhauled, and university recruiting methods have to change. </p>
<p>This poor child is a symptom of the problem. We should all say enough already.</p>
<p>This reminds of the movie "Orange County" when Jack Black tells the kid (Colin Hanks), after being rejected (mistakenly) from Stanford, "man fk them, just go there, take the classes. Don't take no for an answer." Or something like that, lol.</p>
<p>To address a few points (because Troy has instilled us with such pride)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I said science Olympiad was Nation wide, not world. Computer science was world, and of course these rankings only include a few countries because only a few countries have the capital and facilities to provide such an atmosphere</p></li>
<li><p>Troy kids who are very capable of getting into RSI and TASP don't apply at all. It's not like they apply then reject it after they're accepted. It's just that all of us are told at student orientation that our Junior year summers will have a 150 hour internship, and sophomore year summers are for liberal arts credit knock outs, and some students even advance a math level over the summer.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Very few Troy Kids go on college confidential because they just trust everything the counselors say (although our counselors are pretty damn good). The ones who do sign on CC like me are the ones who struggle academically and look for other hooks to get into college (there was another troy poster last year, don't see him post anymore though)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Troy is a magnet school. We have to test to get in, and there's a couple thousand that apply every year (i think it was 3-4K this past year?) I volunteer at all the Troy testing/magnet events, so I have knowledge as to the type of ridiculous stats and numbers that are thrown out. (lol, ask Mrs. Downum, i'm the best volunteer ever ^__^)</p></li>
<li><p>Bedhead--to make a decision as major as this, you'd HAVE to think about it. And deeply. I mean, come on she had the window thing and sneaking into all the classes. I bet you every night she thinks about what she got herself into, but every day still wakes up and does it. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>This to me is a lot like immigration and how extreme people will be to get into the situation they want. Ill advised? yes, but I can completely understand where Azia was coming from.</p>
<ol>
<li>Our school is smart, but there are lots of schools out there that are at Troy level, ESPECIALLY private schools. So this isn't just a "Troy breeding freaks" thing, it's more of a "these types of schools in general" thing.</li>
</ol>
<p>heh, just goes to show you, plenty of people are capable of the Ivy League without going through the occasionally ridiculous hoops of admission.</p>
<p>I don't doubt that many Troy kids are very capable, but I doubt that they could easily get into RSI. Especially since California is one of the most competitive areas. Sure the Science Olympiad program is very strong, but the more important contests are the national olympiads (usamo, usapho, usabo, and usnco). California is full of those olympiad winners while Troy High Fullerton hasn't done as well in those. I'm not sure about usabo and usnco, but Fullerton has no usapho semi's and only 2 usamo quals. Schools like TJ, Exeter, and Stuy fare much better. That said, I still feel obliged to say that Sean Wahls is a beast.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Troy kids who are very capable of getting into RSI and TASP don't apply at all.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That sounds like complete speculation to me. It's almost like saying "I can get into MIT but I'm not applying for it because my counselor doesn't think it's a good idea." Seriously. I'm assuming those kids who got into your magnet school are inteligent and mature enough to make their own decisions (and of course, understand the process).</p>
<p>I'm sure Troy is a great school - but at the same time, I think you're placing too much emphasis on it. While it is obviously a confounding factor, Kim is ultimately responsible for doing what she did - for choosing to attend a school like Troy, for choosing to tell others that she will enroll in Stanford.</p>
<p>According to wikipedia, Troy students have average SAT of 1250 or so. It's a pretty good score for a public high school in the US but it also means most people are pretty average (1250 is nothing spectacular). If we assume 625 (1250/2) is the math score, a lot of high schools in Asia can get that kind of score or above and they still wouldn't think of themselves as "freaks". </p>
<p>I don't know what you meant by "only a few countries have the capital and facilities to provide such an atmosphere". They certainly don't lack the talents. They probably just don't want to spend the money to travel here to compete or maybe participating would disrupt their schedule too much.</p>
<p>Where exactly has she been sleeping all of this time?</p>
<p>To the Troy HS student:</p>
<p>I was on the Solon High School SO team (another "dynasty" nationals SO team). First off, Science Olympiad is NOT worldwide, and it is certainly not the definitive Olympiad (math, bio, chem, etc are on a totally different level). While Troy's achievements are/were impressive, you aren't exactly the Science Olympiad gods you make yourselves out to be. From what I witnessed at various national events, the Troy students seemed to be arrogant, obsessed kids. I therefore do completely agree with your statements about Troy being a "pressure-cooker." The parents also seemed to be involved to a ridiculous level. I saw at least a dozen parents at nationals on the east coast, watching mechanical events. It was almost disgusting to see the amount of parental involvement.</p>
<p>if she was accepted and got her acceptance revoked because she lied on her application.. what did she lie about?</p>
<p>I think I read in one story that the U. said they never accepted her. Still looking for a link.</p>