<p>I ran across this article recently and thought it might make an interesting read and give some of us perspective on why we are undertaking such an expensive and onerous task on behalf of our kids. (Which pales in light of what they are taking on!).</p>
<p>I don't necessarily agree with all of the author's points. I am somewhat familiar with the pros and cons of HYP-MS from direct experience. Some places he hits and some he misses IMHO. </p>
<p>So FWIW - this article might give us some pause to ponder the real reasons we send our dear ones off to BS.</p>
<p>Thank you for sharing this. It certainly makes me reexamine the entire education system. He is dead on about the race to success that occurs once a child is enrolled in an educational institution. I’ve had the pleasure and or displeasure(which ever way you look at it) of being a participant in this race and I still have a few more years in it. I can only hope my children and others don’t have to constantly worry about the future and what lies ahead.</p>
<p>The long winded article can be ( and both my Jewish and Asian associates agree) … The cream always rises to the top! In today’s society you may be able to buy your way in but not buy your way to success! You still have to be competent, affable, and passionate ! The degree will open doors but you still have to perform! If you miss the “elite” Ivy League because of discrimination, cronyism, or for some other non-merit reason; your drive, passion, and determination will carry you beyond those who gained admission to these institutions for less than honest reasons!</p>
<p>I was able to access the wsj article without subscription, by googling the title. It’s just kind of a sarcastic sour grapes article by a student who actually will now disprove her own thesis, since she just got published nationally.</p>
<p>Her premise will be familiar to all readers of cc forums. If you’re white or an ORM and are just a nice, good student, you may have a hard time competing for admission against those with tiger moms, those who play with a renowned symphonny, those who have started their own business, etc.</p>
<p>@alooknac- “… a student who actually will now disprove her own thesis, since she just got published nationally.” That’s exactly what my husband said as he handed me the paper. I have to say, I agree. Her phone will start ringing any minute now.</p>
<p>Also- Just wanted to thank OP for sharing- it was an interesting article.</p>
<p>I read the article. It seems the scales are sliding hard against the "just good academically " white male students at HADES who don’t have the connections to get into the top 50 colleges. And one of you would call it “dishonest” for one of them to use connections to get into the better college? No sour grapes here, just noting the trends and the new PC prejudices developing about our children. So college admission into the top 50 is now accomplished with “meritocracy” with a heavy dose of reverse discrimination which is now being applied to Asians as well. This doesn’t bode well for the “elites” staying very elite for much longer, let alone the future of our leadership.</p>
<p>The last link u listed, for TODAY News, has a link to a readers’ poll. At last count 56% of nearly 9000 votes agreed that Weiss’ lament accurately depicts what college admissions officers expect these days.</p>
<p>Weiss has alot of moxie, something that obviously eluded the schools she didn’t get into. Moxie w/brains and looks = success.
At least she isn’t a cheater, this is real cheating for academic gain for yourselves or your parish:</p>
<p>Remember parents, top colleges are NOT judged by their freshman class, but by their graduating class. Re apply for the second semester sophomore year, where admissions don’t generally look at SAT scores or HS transcripts. Many of the freshman of the leet colleges aren’t going to make it past Freshman year due to the fact they weren’t properly vetted by admissions and don’t really have what it takes to live and succeed in a rigorous academic environment (away from home). If your child has made it through a HADES school with good grades they will be able to do well & succeed at any college, they have been prepped to.</p>
<p>Is the wrong forum? Please move it if it is.</p>
<p>GMTplus7, I imagine many of the voters did not realize that her 2120 SAT scores are below average for most, if not all, Ivies. As was said about Jian Li, Weiss is unnecessarily racializing a personal defeat.</p>
<p>Weiss was not accepted by Princeton, Yale, The University of Pennsylvania, and Vanderbilt. Of those four colleges, the lowest retention rate (sophomores returning for freshman year) is Vanderbilt’s 96%. When one considers the influence of financial pressures and the (unpredictable, but statistically likely) emergence of psychological problems in early adulthood, elite college admissions officers do a great job choosing their classes.</p>
<p>Yes, students from prominent boarding schools who do not get into their hearts’ desire in the first round of admissions may do well as transfer students–I have heard that opinion before. On the other hand, it also attests to how difficult it can be to stand out at the most competitive boarding schools.</p>
<p>Just a little more background… a little googling reveals that Suzy Lee Weiss’s sister is employed in publishing and was formerly an assistant editorial features editor at The Wall Street Journal. So Suzy might be viewed as something of a legacy herself, in getting published by the wsj.</p>
<p>I watched the Today video and although Suzy proclaims that she’s all for diversity, at the end she agrees that college admission should go to the most qualified.</p>
<p>You really can’t have it both ways! And what is “most qualified”? If you have, say 10,000 applicants who all reach a very high bar, isn’t the school entitled to build the class they want, to maintain or create their particular flavor? It’s not a simple question and I do feel for people on both sides of the divide.</p>
<p>I agree with a previous poster that Suzy never announces any concrete reasons for wanting to attend an Ivy League school, other than their “sexy” image. Maybe the AO’s could tell! And her own mother got tired of hearing her whining!</p>
<p>I understood the piece as provocative satire but I felt there was an underlying truthfulness as well as outright meanness.</p>
<p>I’m beginning to understand that most of the attraction of the Ivies is as a status symbol or a ticket to a particular segment of employment, or even as the Meritocracy article posits, as a path to leadership in American politics. Not really because of the actual education, although I’m not implying the education is bad.</p>
<p>Maybe what we really need is a PR campaign to raise the perceived reputations of the many wonderful schools and colleges out there.</p>
<p>The Today clip I saw said that over 50% of survey respondents thought Suzy was a whiner. Something like 30% agreed with her take on the admissions process and the rest “weren’t sure whether to take her seriously or be appalled.”</p>
<p>I suppose survey results could have changed in the days after the airing.</p>