<p>Ok, I have worked by buns off to get where I am, I got in Yale EA and now awaiting Harvard and Stanford, my #1 and 2 choices respectively. I really worked hard to get where I am and if I get in I will have only gotten in on my own merit, nothing more or less. </p>
<p>A classmate however is the perfect example of why this system sucks. She is a big "development" case, meaning she comes from a very very wealthy family who has made it clear to Harvard that should their daughter get accepted they are happy to provide a tremendous amount of money to the school, I only know this happened because she told someone who told me. Now she and her family have been somewhat "courted" and here the dance starts..............they will show interest in her not because of slightly above average grades, not because she is a so so athelete, not because she has done way less community service than most of us, but because her dad has the big bucks and can pay his way in. For anyone who is nodding their head saying no, no this doesn't work this way....OH YES IT DOES. And this is not the only case i personally know of, this is the big time and the bottom line is that money gets the job done almost everytime. This is a girl who got 1800 on her SAT'S and at best is a b+/a- student, nothing by any stretch but that she is very rich. Her brother who didn't have the grades she does got into Duke, it was a joke! Same game.............its just sickening to those of us also applying but not necessarily having the edge that she does. I have a strong hunch she will get in, and if I get in too, then I guess I can deal but if I dont' and she does, than I am going to GO CRAZY!</p>
<p>it is seriously the sad truth... but whether that girl gets in or not, forget her... she got in through her own ways, and you will too.. even if you dont get into harvard, you still have an amazing school, yale! if she gets in, now she has a whole new thing coming for her.. she's gotta survive in harvard.. not only that, but money can't solve everything.. the struggle, the drive, the effort to reach a goal.. who knows if she's ever learned such lessons? ignore her, and you just pressing on for yourself.. congrats on yale!</p>
<p>Maybe being rich gave her the opportunity to do something really cool with her time? Like using her father's connections to do some kind of cool project or something?</p>
<p>Rich people might be rich, but they aren't stupid. They probably have several ways to use their money to get theirs kids into college besides simply donating to universities. Think about Bill Gates' daughter. First of all, she will be able to participate in a multi-billion dollar charity organization. Think about that for a second. Second, she can write a great essay about her dad, and how he has affected her. Third, she will have access to some incredibly smart people, and probably a lot of college counselors.</p>
<p>It might be money at the root, but you can't just flat-out blame college admissions people all the time.</p>
<p>If Harvard is your first choice, why didn't you apply EA?</p>
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Her brother who didn't have the grades she does got into Duke, it was a joke!
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I can't speak for Harvard, but developmental admits make up ~1.5% of the admit pool at Duke. That tiny pocket of students can have major effects, including much-needed new facilities and financial aid policies. They're a necessary evil.</p>
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<p>Think about Bill Gates' daughter. First of all, she will be able to participate in a multi-billion dollar charity organization. Think about that for a second. Second, she can write a great essay about her dad, and how he has affected her. Third, she will have access to some incredibly smart people, and probably a lot of college counselors.<<</p>
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<p>She'll also be a legacy.</p>
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<p>I can't speak for Harvard, but developmental admits make up ~1.5% of the admit pool at Duke. That tiny pocket of students can have major effects, including much-needed new facilities and financial aid policies. They're a necessary evil.<<</p>
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<p>I can't speak for Harvard either, but I suspect that the number of developmental admits there is pretty minuscule also. Why? Because to impress Harvard with your money you've got to be REALLY rich. An ordinary millionaire down the street can get in line like everybody else. And there just aren't that many truly rich, billionaires and such, to go around.</p>
<p>how do you think harvard started off with their powerful endowment?? who helps fund financial aid? </p>
<p>like someone said above, they are a "necessary evil" (though I personally would not call them evil). and like other people have said, i want to reiterate that these type of kids make up a very small percentage of the kids in a particular class. you just have to forget about it and keep on working hard.</p>
<p>^123orange, that might just be grotongirlie's problem. HYPS might want to limit the number of Groton admits, so those spots would probably be more likely to go to "unique" (aka developmental) cases before others. Suburban public high school kids generally don't have to worry about "developmental" classmates... prep school "normals" do.</p>
<p>The biggest problem I see here is that grotongirlie applied and was accepted to Yale SCEA even though Harvard and Stanford are her #1 and #2 choices respectfully. I think that most people would agree that trying to game the college admissions process is much worse that being a "developmental admit".</p>
<p>Yep I agree with EAD (for once). It's wonderful that you applied to a school you don't want to go to. Thanks a lot. All of us who would die to get in there REALLY appreciate your integrity.</p>
<p>And yeah I'm flawed (speaking a little bitterly) but it's still true that you gamed the admissions process by applying early to a school that wasn't your top choice. Just to satisfy our curiosity, why didn't you apply early to your top choices? They too have SCEA programs. Was Yale your safety?</p>
<p>Y'all might want to back off a bit. After wondering the same thing in post #7, I glanced through gg's past posts. It seems that family pressure had a lot to do with applying EA to Yale. </p>
<p>Reality sometimes is quite incompatible with ideology. The "top-notch" universities are out there to get money/prestige and they're willing to not accept a few not as qualified students to achieve their goal.</p>
<p>Yeah warbler's, EAD and I both saw that after we did our research. Sorry. We just had a visceral response to the OP.</p>
<p>She is clearly privileged and somehow I can't bring myself to feel sympathy for someone in her position (she has stated that she only had to apply to four schools: "got into Yale EA and have received some encouragment from Brown and Stanford. Please don't ask because I know I will get pms about this, but suffice to say I have been contacted and its my feeling I will get into both. Harvard is MY dreamschool.")</p>
<p>Why is the OP complaining about a lack of meritocracy in college admissions when she benefited from the Yale legacy? Someone else might have more money, but it's not as if she got shafted. Besides, stuff like that happens all the time in the real world. Deal with it.</p>
<p>Exactly. You go to a rich private boarding school, you are a legacy admit to Yale (the most selective Ivy League school in the nation), and "have received some encouragment from Brown and Stanford...suffice to say [you] have been contacted and its [your] feeling [you] will get into both." <--your own words</p>