Harvard’s Admissions Process, Once Secret, Is Unveiled in Federal Court
1–10 of 133 posts
Re: Harvard’s Admissions Process, Once Secret, Is Unveiled in Federal Court
#2Somewhat clickbait. They overview the different criteria but don't go into how each factor contributes to the overall score and thus the admission process so you don't really learn much how the overall admission process is decided.
Re: Harvard’s Admissions Process, Once Secret, Is Unveiled in Federal Court
#3The "secret" (at least for me back in 1972 ;-) was to be in a far-flung location (San Diego for me) where there's slim pickin's. ;-)
Seriously, I'm sure the decision process has quantitative elements, but it's got to still be 70% intuition. And the "legacy" applicants most definitely get a big bump.
Re: Harvard’s Admissions Process, Once Secret, Is Unveiled in Federal Court
#4Somewhat clickbait. They overview the different criteria but don't go into how each factor contributes to the overall score and thus the admission process so you don't really learn much how the overall admission process is decided.
> They overview the different criteria but don't go into how each factor contributes to the overall score
Applicants are graded 1 - 6, so an applicant getting 'tipped' doesn't necessarily bump their score. The way I've seen it work elsewhere is just that applicants who are flagged get their entire applications reviewed, so that way someone actually reads the essays instead of just tossing it after spending 30 seconds looking at the grades and SATs.
Also each department is going to have its own quota, so that way the orchestra gets 10 people and the rowing team gets 10 people and the development office gets 10 people and so on. So you're really only competing with other applicants within your bucket, unless you're not in a bucket in which case it's really just lottery odds at that point.
Re: Harvard’s Admissions Process, Once Secret, Is Unveiled in Federal Court
#5Somewhat clickbait. They overview the different criteria but don't go into how each factor contributes to the overall score and thus the admission process so you don't really learn much how the overall admission process is decided.
> They overview the different criteria but don't go into how each factor contributes to the overall score Applicants are graded 1 - 6, so an applicant getting 'tipped' doesn't necessarily bump their score. The way I've seen it work elsewhere is just that applicants who are flagged get their entire applications reviewed, so that way someone actually reads the essays instead of just tossing it after spending 30 seconds…
The 1-6 grading I haven't read before this article but since there is no information on how that contributes to the overall application outside of 1 (strong admit) and 6 (strong deny), it doesn't really tell us much.
Also, they never mentioned "quotas", just that they try to "looks at factors like parental occupation, which Mr. Fitzsimmons said offer clues about financial hardship, and intended major, to avoid having too many students with the same educational interests".
Re: Harvard’s Admissions Process, Once Secret, Is Unveiled in Federal Court
#6Why on God's green earth are we evaluating candidates to a major university based on how well they're "grappling with [their] sexual identity"?
Re: Harvard’s Admissions Process, Once Secret, Is Unveiled in Federal Court
#7Why on God's green earth are we evaluating candidates to a major university based on how well they're "grappling with [their] sexual identity"?
I think you're coming at this from the wrong perspective. The fact that someone is grappling with their sexual identity isn't by itself a qualification.
On the other hand, if in the essays or interviews you get the feeling that this candidate has matured beyond his/her peers as a result of it, or if this candidate demonstrates resilience dealing with growing up this way in an extremely conservative culture, then you'd probably consider betting on this person's upward trajectory. The context is important, and I don't think the NYT article captures it.
Re: Harvard’s Admissions Process, Once Secret, Is Unveiled in Federal Court
#8So in addition to having solid academic credentials, the ideal student would be from a rural place, a star athlete, potential humanities major (Philosophy, History, English), have parents with working-class jobs (chef, homemaker, construction worker), interesting or familial extracurriculars (film making, baby sitting), maybe an immigrant, maybe a racial minority, maybe not straight, but most importantly has great interview skills and personal recommendations emphasizing how outgoing, clever or mature you are.
Or your parents are super rich and can donate money for a new building or donate their entire art collection.
Re: Harvard’s Admissions Process, Once Secret, Is Unveiled in Federal Court
#9Why on God's green earth are we evaluating candidates to a major university based on how well they're "grappling with [their] sexual identity"?
It's called holistic for a reason. Overcoming hardships and excelling despite social pressures is probably one of many good markers of potential.
Re: Harvard’s Admissions Process, Once Secret, Is Unveiled in Federal Court
#10> Harvard has testified that race, when considered in admissions, can only help, not hurt, a student’s chances of getting in.
So if your race matches their preference they improve your odds of admittance. Since the number of admissions is fixed this reduces the odds of those who have a race that doesn’t match their preference.
IANAL but it sounds like Harvard just admitted that they were guilty.