dagblog - Comments for "Harvard and David Hogg"

The whole qualification thing

moat — Tue, 25 Dec 2018 00:15:46 +0000

In reply to Americans are really obsessed

The whole qualification thing versus what one can actually do is probably one of those things that will never be resolved for the remainder of our time on the planet. And maybe for any time that might happen afterwards.

Not to put too much of an emphasis on the matter.

Americans are really obsessed

Michael Maiello — Mon, 24 Dec 2018 21:25:02 +0000

In reply to Harvard and David Hogg

Americans are really obsessed with formulas for what they want. I guess it’s how we keep up the mythos of a “fair chance for everybody.” But we want the formula to be simple, like a sports game, where a score tells us the winner and the loser has no right to complain.

There are definitely things you can do that would increase your chances of getting into Harvard and I’m sure they work! Problem is, increasing you chances of getting into Harvard doesn’t make getting into Harvard likely, just like you can live the life of a model president and never even get elected to your town council. Life’s complicated!

I used to study a form of kung fu that in its Americanized version has a rainbow of belt colors from white to black but that in Asia has only white and black. Some people study their whole lives and remain white belts forever. They’re really, really good, too. But Americans won’t practice for years unless you give them a list of tasks attached to a reward. But what happens? You earn a black belt here and one of their white belts can kick your ass, is all.

Thanks very much, aa.

Doctor Cleveland — Mon, 24 Dec 2018 16:59:50 +0000

In reply to This is the best explanation

Thanks very much, aa.

i definitely think you can’t understand how affirmative action plays into this until you get your head around what they’re trying to do anyway.

This is the best explanation

artappraiser — Mon, 24 Dec 2018 15:04:52 +0000

In reply to Harvard and David Hogg

This is the best explanation of Harvard admissions policy that I ever read. Seriously, it's such a great explanation for the "layman". Among other things, it makes very clear why certain theories about affirmative action may clash.