<p>Believe me, us 'gifted' kids don't find this very fair either, but you can't really blame the NY Board of Ed. This city's got way too many socio-economically disadvantaged kids and too little resources with which to help them. The public school standards are set low, because if suddenly 85% of all the kids in a single city started failing out of school, there'd be no way to keep them in school.</p>
<p>"Might she also sleepwalk through interviews feeling that she's doing the interviewer a favor to deign to show up?</p>
<p>Might she also make careless errors on her application? And, just because she has stellar scores and achievements doesn't mean that she has the kind of character that colleges want. She could be, for instance, a misanthropic loner.</p>
<p>I am not saying any of these things are true."</p>
<p>I agree that papers and stats don't tell the whole story, but this girl is one of my friends, and she really is a unique and outgoing person, who really does deserve to go to a college that would match her intelligence and creativity. MIT would be crazy not to accept her if the admissions board learned anything about her during their interview.</p>
<p>And I'll have you know that she most certainly didn't sleepwalk through her interviews. She's worked hard for what she has, and she's not about to stop. She deserves everything she's got and everything she's going to earn.</p>
<p>Also: a misanthrope? Not likely. If (given the chance) you ever deign to get to know her, I can tell you firsthand that she's very friendly and not at all a 'stereotypical Asian' (not quoting you) as some may think her stats suggest. It doesn't take long to know that who she is sets her apart in a way that no extracurricular or community service project can.</p>
<p>One solution to the college stress problem is to limit each student to applying to only 3 colleges. I guarantee admission rates would go up. The real problem is that everyone is applying to so many colleges that it ends up being a lottery as to who gets in. Then, it becomes self-perpetuating because the only way to win the lottery is to buy more tickets which then increases the number of players.</p>
<p>Ding, ding, ding! Ricegal has it. The whole shebang has become a lottery, with ever more people buying tickets. Now that the Common App has provided such ease in applying (no more pesky filling out of 3-5 apps by hand...12 schools are all a click away!) I have heard of kids applying to 20 schools. Ridiculous, since they really aren't interested in all 20, and the offer of admission one student who isn't interested in attending receives, is a denial to another, who might really like to go there.</p>
<p>I also agree with ricegal. Early this summer, I started with a list of 12 schools that I was really interested. I was lucky enough to visit all 6 of the "reach" schools on that list, and eliminate 4 of them based on my impressions with the campus, classes, and other information I acquired. Then, I worked down my "safety" schools from 6 to 3 or 4, based primarily on strength of my chosen major (Atmospheric Science), and how much money they were initially offering me due to my being a NMSF. So, I have a list of 5 or 6 schools, which will probably be weeded down further to 3 or 4.</p>
<p>i dont believe the research at all...which 17 year old kid is doing research like that...no way...she must have super connections...and is buying her way through....don't believe a word of it...also why hasn't she taken any ap science courses if she is that good...jeez... you people are gullible...its called the new york city school system....and she knows how to work it...plain and simple...DEBUNKING THE MYTH RIGHT HERE!!!</p>
<p>Lola89, you could be right about the "super-applicants" fabricating their stats. I found some very intriguing evidence about the 2400 girl on this site:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.jackpo.org/%5B/url%5D">http://www.jackpo.org/</a></p>
<p>yep...it is true....come on....20 hrs of research a week...perfect SATs..no one is perfect!...let's get real here!...when do you have time to do all this work...people like that have had tutors since they were 5 years old....its just unrealistic...and in the end...it does it even matter where you go to college...it matters what you do afterward...its all nice and good to say you went to an ivy...but if you have done nothing with your life afterward...then why bother...our society is way to focused on this limited process...which really is only four years of your life....the most successful people are those who are truly good people...all the rest really does not matter in the end...lets put some perspective on this process once and for all</p>
<p>these kids...maybe "perfect" on paper...but you know...paper is just paper...i would like to know how their interviews went....and if they are even able to carry on a decent conversation...and also if they stand for anything other than...test scores..that there paretns paid for by all of their tutoring......</p>
<p>also..if admissions officers see this article...i am sure they will certainly not want this kind of press...if i were these kids...i would not want to post my profile in an article...because it may backfire...30,000 a pop for college counselors...plus the thousands of dollars of tutoring....these kids were probably better off not sending in their profiles because everyone now knows the truth</p>
<p>Dear lola89:</p>
<p>EXCUSE ME. If you knew how to read, then it would be clear to you that maybe some people aren't frauds. Maybe some people are smart. I'd really appreciate it if you'd stop assuming a load of garbage about the kids in this article, especially since one of them is my friend. You have my word as a student that she's perfectly capable of conducting an interview, as are the other 9 students. If they were socially inept, rest assured that they wouldn't have been chosen for the article. Now, don't give me anything about the "New York City School System" -- you obviously don't know anything about it. </p>
<p>No one's buying their way through ANYTHING, and there are no "super connections". These kids are smart, and they've worked really hard to be able to manage their time and grades. I'm not saying they're perfect; the point of this article was to prove that even overachievers aren't perfect when in the eyes of college admissions officers. However, I'd also like to point out that several of these kids are called disadvantaged for a reason -- their families aren't upper class, they don't HAVE the money to afford a tutor at the age of 5 years, and oh please, even with tutors, a kid would have to be smart to absorb information at that age. No, these students have studied hard for what they've got, and they have strong work ethics. They don't need strangers like you spreading these rumors about them. </p>
<p>Super connections? Maybe someone has a neighbor who has a third cousin who works at a lab. But mostly, these kids who find themselves lab research jobs and internships rely on their conversational skills to get to know people better and to convince adults that they have useful skills. </p>
<p>Hepstar:
How could you believe a site like that? I'll personally tell you that she's part of the NYC Math Team, because half of the NYC Math Team knows her by sight. JackPo says that he came to his conclusions "after some fact checking". Oh please! Anyone who can type properly will be able to find PHOTOGRAPHS of statewide contests using a couple Google searches! </p>
<p>I don't know if you people just haven't met a single smart and driven student in your lives or if you're being bitter, but kindly take back what you said about these students being frauds. Just because New York Magazine is full of junk doesn't mean that it will lie about these students to make ANYONE look better.</p>
<p>Bittersweet:
EXCUSE ME! It is clear that you obviously do NOT know the new york city school systems at all!!!!!....and I am not talking about all of the students in that article...I am talking about a few...If you say your friend is qualified then maybe she is. However, I hate to break it to you...in your idealistic world...but if you really knew New york city...you would know that this is going on (at least the private schools of New York City). Also, if you knew how to read...then you would see that the article is reviewed by a consultant from IvyWise. Considering there are so many qualified students in New York City, I would like to know how these kids were selected. By the way, not all of these kids are what they seem. They may have worked hard but some of these applicants are not even believable. I am sorry that you are so gullible. I suggest you read some of the books that are out there on college admissions. Also, how do you know all of these students anyway? Are you personal friends with all of them? You are the one spreading rumors. I hate to tell you this but connections make all of the difference. It is also nearly impossible in New york city to find internships like that because there are so many overqualified candidates. Also, I find it ironic that you call me bitter when your member name has bitter in it. I am not taking back anything because it is TRUE! I am deeply sorry that you have fallen for this.</p>
<p>I just hope the colleges know better.</p>
<p>Bittersweet:
Also, looking back at your previous posts, I am not referring to your friend. I am referring to the first Super applicant. I actually respect you for standing up for your friend.</p>
<p>However, for some of the other applicants...what I said above is true.</p>
<p>"tem-cell researcher at New York-Presbyterian’s Columbia University Medical Center, approximately twenty hours per week. Wrote a research paper on the in vivo and in vitro growth of osteoblasts derived from fat stem cells. Has begun research on the repair of rat cranial defects using osteocytes differentiated from fat-derived stem cells."-believable?</p>
<p>You're not the only one who lives in New York City and is in the midst of the college process, hon.</p>
<p>I didn't mean to say that bribery and connections are non-existent, but they ARE unnecessary. I've heard and seen the same things you have about private schools, but I go to a gifted public school where most of us aren't exactly advantaged, either, and we all somehow manage to land ourselves similar internships WITHOUT connections. </p>
<p>So, yes, that particular internship is believable, although I agree that it does sound like there were probably some connections involved. Sometimes things can happen, though, and in New York City, it's safest not to jump to conclusions.</p>
<p>I am not jumping to conclusions. I am also basing this on personal experience. I would also like to say that it is different in a gifted public school (where a lot of the kids really are as smart as they sound). But, personally, I do not believe that internship above was recieved without connections (especially at such a prestigious medical center). I just do not believe that a 17 year old is doing this...to me it sounds like parents are very much involved. This is my personal opinion.</p>
<p>I just meant reaching those conclusions about that first applicant. Perhaps there were parents involved, but I've heard of kids getting internships like that and being able to do well on their own research projects and experiments based on their own merit. Even if there were parents involved (which would be unfair, certainly, because you're right in that there are plenty of kids out there who could make some use out of sponsored research projects like hers), I think she's done pretty well for herself because it looks like her work is getting somewhere useful.</p>
<p>If you look at the comments on that post, I've cleared up the 'evidence' in the 8th comment, under the initial 'W'. :)</p>