JFK's Application to Harvard • Hacker News Board

Re: JFK's Application to Harvard

#21

Post by danso » Mon, Aug 27, 2012, 5:30 AM UTC

1337biz wrote: 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.

There is DocumentCloud, which Jeremy Ashkenas led (and was the project from which he spun off Underscore.js and Backbone.js, among other things). It's the best implementation of PDF on the web that I've seen though it is invite only to news orgs (it was jointly sponsored by the New York Times and ProPublica)

http://documentcloud.org

Re: JFK's Application to Harvard

#22

Post by jorahmormont » Mon, Aug 27, 2012, 5:36 AM UTC

slurgfest wrote: post #14

jordanbaucke wrote: post #12

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.

GWB's yale record and application would be good.

Re: JFK's Application to Harvard

#23

Post by pkill17 » Mon, Aug 27, 2012, 5:37 AM UTC

jpeg_hero wrote: post #4

Seems like the most important page in the application is the letter from ole Joe Kennedy.

And how would you reply to a letter from ole Joe Kennedy if it were placed in your Inbox at work? ;)

Re: JFK's Application to Harvard

#24

Post by forensic » Mon, Aug 27, 2012, 6:14 AM UTC

MengYuanLong wrote: post #16

sown wrote: 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…

His answers are shallow because they can be. The application was just a formality for the sake of show. He was guaranteed admission based on family connections.

Re: JFK's Application to Harvard

#25

Post by forensic » Mon, Aug 27, 2012, 6:18 AM UTC

pkill17 wrote: post #23

jpeg_hero wrote: post #4

Seems like the most important page in the application is the letter from ole Joe Kennedy.

And how would you reply to a letter from ole Joe Kennedy if it were placed in your Inbox at work? ;)

Point? Is that rationale supposed to serve as justification for nepotism?

We should be creating institutions that have systems which will not respond to nepotism. Harvard is the precise opposite of this, with nepotism being one of its most sacred causes.

Re: JFK's Application to Harvard

#26

Post by anamax » Mon, Aug 27, 2012, 6:23 AM UTC

jorahmormont wrote: post #22

slurgfest wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

GWB's yale record and application would be good.

> GWB's yale record and application would be good.

They're available, as were Gore's and Kerry's (both worse that W's) and McCain's. Bill Clinton's don't seem to be, but Hillary's are.

I think that Romney's are as well.

Re: JFK's Application to Harvard

#27

Post by philwelch » Mon, Aug 27, 2012, 6:29 AM UTC

pkill17 wrote: post #23

jpeg_hero wrote: post #4

Seems like the most important page in the application is the letter from ole Joe Kennedy.

And how would you reply to a letter from ole Joe Kennedy if it were placed in your Inbox at work? ;)

"Please tell me who found the secret of resurrection and taught you to use email. This is the most remarkable news I've ever heard."

Re: JFK's Application to Harvard

#28

Post by ladzoppelin » Mon, Aug 27, 2012, 6:46 AM UTC

hyperbovine wrote: post #7

sown wrote: post #2

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

If you're coming from the "right family" a Harvard education probably isn't worth that much to you anyways.

I am sure the ones getting in because of family help pay for this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_aid_%28educational_ex...

Re: JFK's Application to Harvard

#29

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Aug 27, 2012, 6:50 AM UTC

jontas wrote: post #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…

[deleted]

Re: JFK's Application to Harvard

#30

Post by yolesaber » Mon, Aug 27, 2012, 6:55 AM UTC

sliverstorm wrote: post #15

yolesaber wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Not much when your father was Joseph Kennedy heh. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Kennedy