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JFK's Application to Harvard

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Re: JFK's Application to Harvard

#11
post #2

Heh. Get born into the right family and off to Harvard you go.

Does his application make him out to be unworthy? I'm having a difficult time reading bits.

I am not sure of how the grading system worked at his particular school at that particular time, but it would appear that JFK received numerous C's and D's during high school (see: scores in the 60s and 70s on page four).

Re: JFK's Application to Harvard

#13
post #3

Just wondering: Is there any decent Pdf host besides scribd? Every time I visit the site I regret it once again. The list of additional domains to whitelist in no-script just to view the content is endless. Just a simple Pdf link would be much more pleasant.

I used to hate Scribd when it was flash, but now that its HTML5 it is sometimes preferable to the broken PDF installations on borrowed computers (like, popping up Acrobat offering to update, selL me AV, etc). At home I generally prefer direct PDF, though.

Re: JFK's Application to Harvard

#14

They should put up Obama's application to Harvard...or Occidental and Columbia for that matter.

Do we really need every thread that mentions the keyword 'President' to contain this kind of partisan rubbish? I don't see you calling for Reagan's, Bush's or Romney's applications.

Re: JFK's Application to Harvard

#15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does his application make him out to be unworthy? I'm having a difficult time reading bits.

I am not sure of how the grading system worked at his particular school at that particular time, but it would appear that JFK received numerous C's and D's during high school (see: scores in the 60s and 70s on page four).

Ah, I see now. Page 6 appears to be the results of an exam conducted by Harvard, and I had figured Page 4 was probably related (in which case who knows what a "good" score is).

Now, the other question, how much did academics matter in 1935?

Re: JFK's Application to Harvard

#16
post #2

Heh. Get born into the right family and off to Harvard you go.

I would be interested to hear other's thoughts on JFK's answer to why he would like to attend Harvard.

I suck at writing essays but it seems his reason for wanting to attend Harvard is incredibly trite and superfluous, especially coming from a man who would eventually be considered a great orator.

For example, he states that Harvard " is a university with something definite to offer." Yet gives no definitive examples. Why is "To be a 'harvard man' is an enviable distinction" in President Kennedy's mind? Essentially every sentence lacks justification and specificity.

Sigh. These sorts of materials at least provide fuel to refocus on work and studies. Being born outside a powerful family may lack certain advantageous but they can be overcome. Right?

Re: JFK's Application to Harvard

#17
I'm curious: does anyone know the context of the grades in the application? I saw actual grades listed in three places (pages 3, 17 and 26). He seems to have received scores ranging from 50-85. Are these out of 100? If so, it appears he wasn't a great student. He was ranked 65th out of 110 students (page 17).

I'm not questioning his intelligence, he was clearly brilliant. However, I find it interesting that he was an underachiever in high school (something I'm sure the HN community can empathize with).

The letter from his father (page 13) says:

"Jack has a very brilliant mind for the things in which he is interested, but is careless and lacks application in those in which he is not interested. This is, of course, a bad fault. However, he is quite ambitious to try and do the work in three years. I know how the authorities feel about this and I have my own opinion, but it is a gesture that pleases me very much because it seems to be the beginning of an awakening ambition"

I feel like this statement would've been equally accurate on my own college applications.

Re: JFK's Application to Harvard

#18

They should put up Obama's application to Harvard...or Occidental and Columbia for that matter.

Do we really need every thread that mentions the keyword 'President' to contain this kind of partisan rubbish? I don't see you calling for Reagan's, Bush's or Romney's applications.

His comment doesn't really seem partisan in any way to me. It's just a statement that it would be interesting to see the current president's college applications too, as it would be interesting to see any president's college applications.

Re: JFK's Application to Harvard

#20

They should put up Obama's application to Harvard...or Occidental and Columbia for that matter.

comment wasn't meant to be partison. I would favor seeing all former president / presidential candidates transcripts regardless of party.

They're hardly relevant anyways as whom someone is when they apply to college (typically 17-18 years old in the US) than whom they are as an adult.

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