<p>Maria, it’s not that the students admitted are unqualified, it’s that those schools can fill their freshman class three times over with qualified students. It stands to reason that a student who did poorly in 9th grade will be at a disadvantage compared to another from the same circumstances who did well all through HS.</p>
<p>lf,</p>
<p>Sorry late response. You ask a very broad question that I cannot answer because I can only speak for myself. I think there are many distinct reasons to be critical of these schools (and there is no crime against humanity required) and you will not get the identical explanation from any two people even though, on these boards, people are routinely lumped together. </p>
<p>I would not choose the word nefarious and maybe you did not intend to be so extreme. I would just note that there is an awful lot of real estate in between ‘nefarious’ and ‘beyond criticism’.</p>
<p>I do not have the ability to hang out here and respond as much as I would like to, so I’m not going to go into detail on every little issue that interests me. I will note though, broadly, that I think these schools have an effect on the world around them, and are at least partially responsible for the current zeitgeist of academic high school life, which I consider to be ‘sub optimal’. Even if there is no public responsibility (and I have heard many big name Gatekeepers acknowledge such responsibility, so I consider it a moot point), the schools themselves are in a unique position to ‘attempt’ to mitigate the insanity. All I’ve seen are words and hand wringing without much action. In fact, if I didn’t give them the benefit of the doubt, I might think these schools relish the situation. This is not to say that students and their families are not responsible for themselves (for all you know I am only here infrequently because I spend most of my free time on some other message board criticizing the parenting techniques of those who push their kids into the so called Race to Nowhere). All ‘arms races’ are, by definition, voluntary. But unlike an actual arms race, this is a unique case in which there are organizations above the fray who might be able to do something about it. What are they doing?</p>
<p>Secondary to and separate from that issue, I am also highly suspicious of the claimed abilities of admissions departments to make the fine distinctions they claim to be be able to make vis a vis the parsing of subjective, self-selected, self-edited, and largely unverifiable information on a college application. I have met admissions reps who stop only just short of claiming some 6th sense of lie detecting and mind reading. I know your response, but I don’t blame you for wanting to write it anyway. Admissions departments do not employ skeptics and/or cynics. Maybe they should? I have nothing against holistic admissions, but I think the same goals could be reached with less… overconfidence. These schools are filled with brilliant people, surely they could come up with something better than… ‘we’ve been doing this a while, we’re experts, you just don’t get it’…Chicken Nuggets!</p>
<p>The bottom line is that these schools do not exist in a vacuum. They are not above criticism. I perceive contradictions between their words and actions. Crime against humanity? No, not claiming that. I’m not looking to organize a million man march on Washington, I’m just commenting on a message board. And while I am certainly not right about everything, I don’t think I hold any completely unsupportable positions either.</p>
<p>I know this kid. He comes from a school district that has a “F” grade per Ohio standards. He has excelled even though the school district is poor. He scored that 28 ACT beginning of his Jr. yr, first time taking it. If he had the resources most kids have that shoot for the Ivies who knows what score he would have received. He has offers from Columbia and Davidson as well. Also being recruited heavily by Yale,Cornell,Dartmouth and all the Service Academies. He also can receive a FULL ACADEMIC scholarship at any HBCU of his choice. Great kid and best of luck to him! [Scout.com:</a> Marc Raye-Redmond Profile](<a href=“FB Recruiting Home - FB Recruiting College Sports News and Recruiting”>FB Recruiting Home - FB Recruiting College Sports News and Recruiting)</p>
<p>Rutgers, a state school, had a 91% graduation rate according to the article at this site: [Scout.com:</a> The Bootleg’s 2013 Graduation Rate Analysis](<a href=“http://stanford.scout.com/2/1273612.html]Scout.com:”>http://stanford.scout.com/2/1273612.html)</p>
<p>After reading some of the posts, I really do not think many of you understand what it takes to be a student-athlete. There is much more to sports than “running fast” , etc. The amount of hard work, adversity, and perseverance these kids go through to be able to play a sport at the collegiate level is nothing short of miraculous. Not only did that kid master the skills to play a sport, which probably entailed thousands upon thousands of hours of practice, but he also held good grades. What I don’t think many of you understand is that these athletes probably have 1/8th the time others do to devote to academics. Not only that, but that 1/8th is also probably spent in a state of exhaustion from a 5-hour practice. So when a student-athlete receives a 4.2 gpa (a good gpa regardless) , that is VERY respectable. It is the mental toughness these kids possess which sets them apart. And based off some of these posts, that is something many of you obviously do NOT have.</p>
<p>He has committed to Brown. He picked Brown over Columbia,Davidson,Hamilton,Cornell and ALL the HBCU’s. Good kid, hope the best for him!</p>