<p>Are any other '10 TASPlicants utilitarians? Or Buddhists? I think I’m unique 
Hopefully that’ll help!</p>
<p>Bokononist over here.</p>
<p>when i was young,
i was so gay and mean,
and i drank and chased the girls
just like young st. augustine.
saint augustine,
he got to be a saint.
so, if i get to be one, also,
please, mama, don’t you faint.</p>
<p>Plenty can be shown by parent’s education. Whether you want to believe me, not everyone knows that they can go to college, even people that do well in school.</p>
<p>Yeah, unfortunate as it is, parents’ education has a huge correlation with innumerable factors: income level is probably the most obvious, and income level in turn correlates with how much academic opportunity a child is given growing up, a child’s political views, etc.</p>
<p>I do think though that that’s one great thing about TASP, that their application seems to really probe applicants’ actual intellect, thought process, and values. The college admissions process has huge biases towards those with wealth – hundreds of dollars for SAT and AP exams (the SAT in particular is especially biased due to College Board’s move to reinstitute score choice), a few hundred more for SAT prep courses and whatnot, and perhaps even thousands more to hire a consultant to make the application and essays perfectly tailored for schools’ liking. And the kid at the prep school that offers dozens of APs is going to be a lot more appealing than the kid at the public school that doesn’t. Anyway, by ignoring the numbers, and looking at the person, I love how TASP is really able to look at what’s important.</p>
<p>Anyway, if we’re comparing religious/political/social beliefs, I’ve been raised Jewish, and I identify with Jewish culture and values, but I’m not spiritual or what one would call “religious.” Secular Jewish humanist might be the best description. As for government, I’m something like a hybrid of progressive rationalism, utilitarianism, and technocracy.</p>
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<p>In that sense, yes, it may be true, but generally HYPS tend to favor those on the lower rungs of the socioeconomic ladder. They recognize the difficulties that these individuals needed to go through and thus adjusted their standards according. The “trinity” gives some of the most generous financial aid because it’s just a drop in the bucket in their rather sizable endowments.</p>
<p>Religion? My mom was raised Catholic, resulting in a phobia of all religion now that she’s an adult. I guess I’m an atheist, though I was experimenting with the term antitheist for a while.</p>
<p>I’m really not that into discussing most aspects of politics. At the same time as it makes me feel like I’m just pulling the wool over my own eyes, I just don’t consider politics to be the most interesting topic of discussion. I guess I have liberal views when forced to express them, but words like
go straight over my head.</p>
<p>I’m Catholic…but they didn’t ask for religion on the application so I guess it’s not that important to them?</p>
<p>But what about geographic diversity?</p>
<p>Are there people from the same city or region, or is everyone pretty spread out in terms of where they live? Like one person per state, pretty much?</p>
<p>Doesn’t TASP only care about having unique ideas? I personally think it would be kind of unfair for people if other factors play some roles.</p>
<p>Btw, my mom is a strict Buddhist, my dad is a Christian and I am an atheist. Bravo diversity!</p>
<p>I will agree that I really like the TASP application. In reading my completed application as a cohesive whole, I feel that I could really present my personality, and who I was as a person. Not just what I’ve accomplished.</p>
<p>all applications should be like this.</p>
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<p>Don’t think of it as a lowering of standards. Example: Sally comes from an upper-middle class background, takes three prep classes, and finally scores a 2280 on her SAT after the third time. Jimmy, from a background less affluent where money is tight, takes the SAT once, scoring a 2000. </p>
<p>These numbers are totally arbitrary, but do you see how they could be viewed as equivalent? In that sense, Harvard’s standards aren’t being lowered, because the 2000 reflects the same intelligence and effort that would be reflected in a higher score from a more affluent student.</p>
<p>It’s silly to assume that everyone has equal footing; But it’s also silly to put too much stock in that. I come from a relatively poor area in South Florida and people get incredible standardized test scores and the whole nine yards. Is it more rare than other places? Sure, but that’s just because it’s not emphasized. I’m not sure how to feel about all these different standards. I try not to worry too much about it, because I figure, if everyone tries their best, they are bound to achieve something worthwhile, regardless. Sure, I’m naive. Whatever.</p>
<p>Did anyone have issues with the application un-italicizing book/movie titles? I couldn’t get the italicization to return on my book list. Also, I had to remove some accented words because the accents showed up as question marks on the application. Did anyone else have this same problem?</p>
<p>Personally, I think that ideally, all applicants should be interviewed, and that would be an important part of admission decisions. Interviews are really the best way to get a picture of someone, along with essays. Transcripts and GPA will be different depending on what classes schools offer and how harsh or lenient schools are in their grading policies. People can take fancy prep courses for the SAT, and people who can afford to take it multiple times are at an advantage (just a few of the long list of problems with the SAT). Extracurricular lists are good, but some kids will do things just to put on their application. Essays also give a good picture of an applicant, but can be overly edited (read: rewritten) by teachers or parents, or even ghostwritten outright. With an interview, you can really get to know an applicant. Some people don’t interview well of course (nerves or just poor speaking skills) but I think you can still understand a person if you look past their rhetoric.</p>
<p>My dad’s involved in higher education administration, and I’ve asked him why schools don’t ask all applicants to interview. He said money’s the major problem. (How about abolishing the SAT and have that money go towards interviews?)</p>
<p>@azulskies, yes, I couldn’t get italics or accents to work. In retrospect, maybe if we had used HTML tags we could have italicized things, but I doubt it. It’s the same for everybody though, and I’m sure they’re aware of this, so I wouldn’t worry about it. Hopefully they won’t reject me for my umlaut-less “naive.”</p>
<p>I agree that there are problems with SAT and the pricing of it, but otherwise how else would colleges have a way to judge all applicants with the same standard? the SAT is the same test for everyone, whereas different schools are more lenient or strict, just like you said. not A’s are equal, but all SAT scores are.
i think they should keep the SAT but just make it more accessible to everyone</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure that the online application is submitted in plaintext; I also had to fix several accents last year.</p>
<p>@Nadia92. I agree with you that there are problems with basically any metric of a student, so there’s really no perfect solution. But while all SAT scores are equal, the means in which they’re achieved aren’t. I also just feel that a company that’s quite concerned with profit (they’re technically a non-profit, but their CEO has a salary upwards of $800,000) should be administering a test that’s so crucial to the futures of so many. For example, they really should give away, not sell, the “Blue Book” with practice tests and some test-taking advice. (Obviously, giving away the book itself would be prohibitively expensive, but they could put it online for free.) If they are administering the test, they are ethically responsible to do what they can to make the playing field reasonably level, and this would be an easy step.</p>
<p>I’m going to stop myself before I go into a rant about this, but overall, I think that one company shouldn’t have such control over so many kids’ futures, as well as control over the curriculum in high schools around the country (through AP courses).</p>
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<p>Technically, two. Most colleges, if not all of them, accept the ACT if you don’t take the SAT.</p>
<p>Dang this is scary. Private corporations control what tests we take to make or break our futures, what lessons we learn, and now even more after this last supreme court case, how our representatives are elected. It ain’t healthy and it ain’t what America is supposed to be about!! :(</p>
<p>@Yeoman: I suppose so. I’m just concerned about distinctions on book titles in the essay bodies themselves - without the italicization, that could get a little confusing. But hopefully it’ll turn out alright. I figure that as long as your essays are good enough to merit an interview, after that it’s mostly about the interview itself.</p>