<p>I have different takes on this. I think it is admirable that her father was willing to spend hard earned money to provide his daughter with a great education. He only wants the best for her...</p>
<p>At the same time though, she is taking the spot away from more deservant applicants...</p>
<p>I agree overall with what Sarum said. But no matter how good an athlete is...they will get denied if they can't handle the work and succeed. Repeat or not..I'm not so sure you know what your talking about. There's no guarantee that anyone will succeed academically or be able to deal with the pressure of the school (no matter how good of grades and SSAT). So the notion that "more deserving kids" are getting edged out is absurd.</p>
<p>What makes them more deserving? Why do they deserve boarding school if they won't contribute to the school as much as any other kid? What makes them more deserving if they could still make it to harvard from their current school?</p>
<p>Just wondering :)</p>
<p>I'm wondering too. It a subjective choice the school needs to make.</p>
<p>Being "of color" in way is a disadvantage, since you are probably compared with the stereotypical person of your ethnicity. I suppose most chinese/asian/whatever kids are expected to be stereotypically smart, so to get in would require things other than intelligence, whereas a non-asian may be qualified simply for being better than the stereotypical [ethnicity] teenager, rather than truly an outstanding applicant (comparatively).</p>
<p>Mpicz I know what I'm talking about. I had a son transfer boarding schools (for better sports) and he repeated his junior year in a stellar fashion. Academically it was the best thing in the world for him.
To rephrase the Devil's argument:) How can a freshman from Compton HS with good grades and awesome basketball skills expect to transition right into a sophomore year at a great academic boarding school? Study habits, cultural differences, social maturity, all could use that undeniably educational freshman Prep year. Of course there could be the rare variance where the student will transition smoothly, but leave that up to the admissions crew.
Now, this basketball wunderkind repeating Freshman year from an inner city school is taking the spot of some kid who A. has the grades and test scores but no basketball skills. B. middle class parents worked hard so they could afford to send their son to a fine NE Prep school, only to find their savings slashed 50% by the "Crisis".
Fairness is a subjective term.</p>
<p>First of all I didn't respond to that last post, that was seikuu. And I don't have a comment on what you just said. But still don't agree with what you said before...nobody knows who's more "deserving" ..which is the way you worded it.</p>
<p>In response to the "devil's argument". :)
"taking the spot of some kid” I don't think any kid is entitled to any spot, boarding school is a privilege, not a right. The schools make choices based on the type of communities they want. This idea that an "inner city" kid is displacing some middle class kid smacks of entitlement mentality. Further, why do you presume the inner city kids who play basketball have grades and test scores that are subpar? I think the days of boarding schools admitting students of color, just because they are students of color are over. There are legions of inner city kids who are capable of excelling in boarding school and when identified the schools go out of their way to recruit them. And excelling in athletics is just a plus. Programs like ABC turn away hundreds of kids every year because they don't have the requisite grades and test scores that it and their partner schools are looking for.</p>
<p>Okay, Sarum. Tell me if I've got this all straight.</p>
<p>a. You believe that some sweet kid whose parents are hard working, middle class deserve to be in boarding school. Because, of course, certain people are "entitled" to be in boarding school.</p>
<p>b. You believe that the majority of inner city minority kids who are good at basketball are dumb, or at the very least, subpar. Because of course, no one has ever been good at sports /and/ smart. And boarding schools don't care much about a kid being intelligent at all.</p>
<p>And Sarum, are you on the admissions crew at any of these schools? Because you seem to know so much about inner city/minority kids.</p>
<p>Emdee and Goldilon pretty much said what I was trying to state earlier.</p>
<p>Emdee and Goldilon, your posts are spot on!</p>
<p>It is very interesting that the state of Massachusetts, which houses so many elite prep schools, colleges and universities is presided over by a governor who's journey took him from one of the most challenged inner-cities in the nation to the halls of Milton Academy to the Governor's Mansion. Recently, 9 major publishing houses aggressively fought for the rights to his story which culminated in a $1.35 million book deal for his soon to be released autobiography. My son and I have watched many Deval Patrick speeches and interviews, which are characteristically laced with intelligence, grace, courage and compassion. Never once did he suggest that he was the beneficiary of some displaced middle class kid's misfortune with respect to Prep School admissions. His record of successes speaks for itself.</p>
<p>Devil's argument...I couldn't have phrased it better myself, lol.</p>
<p>Deval's advocate...I'll give that one a shot...with pleasure.</p>