Tuesday, April 18, 2006

THIS WOULD BE WHAT THEY CALL "BURYING THE LEDE": A few days ago, the WSJ published a story entitled Who Got into College? (Subscription required, sorry.) The crux of the story -- and many many similar stories -- was that this was an incredibly challenging college admissions season, perhaps the worst ever. And so the WSJ took on the groundbreaking journalistic task of reviewing the qualifications of a few high school seniors to see where they got in and what their qualifications were.

One student, from the vaunted Parkway North High School in St. Louis, got into all eight schools to which he applied, including Stanford and Brown, apparently on the strength of his "extra something" -- in his case, a deep commitment to vegetarianism. (Note to self: encourage Cosmo Girl to stop eating chicken nuggets ASAP.)

The article continues in this vein, until we reach my favorite part:

"Amy Seymour is near the top of her class at the Pennington School, a private school in New Jersey. Besides her straight A's, her interests in video and film production took her to Brown University for a three-week program last summer. She also co-founded a mock-ESPN video program featuring her school's sports teams. Her applications to both Stanford and Cornell were turned away. But she was admitted to Princeton, and both she and her mother believe that her father's job as a math professor there may have played some role. Princeton this year took only 17% of the 1,886 valedictorians who applied."

They think it may have played some role, do they? (Note to self: make sure that ALOTT5MA Full-Time Television Viewing Fellowship includes tenure at major university.)

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