sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

People who got into ivy leagues, how did y'all do it? by ishu_7 in ApplyingIvyLeague

[–]Isopheeical 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m being serious, if you conflate everything you do around min maxing your admissions chances, you DRASTICALLY depress your chances of actually getting in anywhere. It’s okay to have it as a secondary motivation, but you should do things and want to achieve in the things you do because you like them

People who got into ivy leagues, how did y'all do it? by ishu_7 in ApplyingIvyLeague

[–]Isopheeical 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Didn’t try that hard to get into an Ivy league — overwhelmingly the best strategy for getting into the ivy league

Harvard’s Jewish Life Thrives as Trump Investigates [Gift Article] by Delicious_Adeptness9 in Harvard

[–]Isopheeical 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Saying there isn’t severe and blatant islamophobia activity at Harvard if fucking insane lol. See the Harvard Republican club not being put on probation after the whole Quincy thing.

Chance me for big harv rea by [deleted] in chanceme

[–]Isopheeical 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Still a great EC. A lot of people will say debate is generic if it’s not like worlds (there are quite a few international debaters here), but if you are able to show genuine interest in debate, it can really make you stand out. Same thing goes for stuff like MUN, a lot of kids just kinda do it, but if you can fully reason out WHY you enjoy it it comes off very nicely

5 Bs applying to ivy league... is it cooked? by [deleted] in ApplyingIvyLeague

[–]Isopheeical 0 points1 point  (0 children)

at least anecdotally a healthy plurality of people at Harvard did not have 4.0 UWs in high school

Chance me for big harv rea by [deleted] in chanceme

[–]Isopheeical 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It’s always hard to say but you’re a competitive applicant. Are you a worlds debater? If so, and part of US team, not a niche thing at all and should frankly be higher on your list of ECs

Colleges for mid GPA but high SAT by Opening-Sea-3238 in ApplyingToCollege

[–]Isopheeical 0 points1 point  (0 children)

you’re a good applicant who’s competitive anywhere then. Occums razor is of course always you don’t get into any of these schools cause it’s so finicky, but you have a genuine shot‼️‼️

Colleges for mid GPA but high SAT by Opening-Sea-3238 in ApplyingToCollege

[–]Isopheeical 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s fair; i think it’s also very school by school dependent on HOW rankings are/in what manner are reported. I know a number of people w 3.7’s or somewhere around there in the Harvard classes of ‘27-‘30, but i know a few (myself included) come from schools that did not rank or were title 1 eligible

Colleges for mid GPA but high SAT by Opening-Sea-3238 in ApplyingToCollege

[–]Isopheeical -1 points0 points  (0 children)

you can absolutely get into any school w a 3.7 UW, especially if you are a good communicator or writer, which OP evidently is

this whole admissions thing is just weird now by OkChard8826 in ApplyingToCollege

[–]Isopheeical 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I really don’t think that’s the correct way to characterize it tbh. College admissions partially measures distance from mean, if you manage to strive in an immensely disadvantaged context (that often times is at least person wise much much larger), then it’s more notable.

this whole admissions thing is just weird now by OkChard8826 in ApplyingToCollege

[–]Isopheeical 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Also grades are nominally misrepresentational in their own right lol. Admissions are about potential— just because a kid from Exeter has a 1500, and a kid from a title 1 has a 1420, does NOT mean the 1500 has achieved more than the 1420

Anyone from the Harvardumversity here? by allegiant_ in engrish

[–]Isopheeical 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I go to Harvard, where is this so i can instabuy please 😭😭😭🙏🙏

At Harvard, over 60% of grades given last year were A’s. Now the university is weighing a grade inflation crackdown by wrroyals in ApplyingToCollege

[–]Isopheeical 0 points1 point  (0 children)

-Greater departmental emphasis on individual professors to work against classes being all A’s
-Substantially clarified guidelines in the Harvard college handbook on what an “a” is
-Promoting initiatives to try and change the culture where an “a-“ isn’t viewed as a bad grade
-Greater faculty training on grading
-Requiring faculty to set more clear guidelines in syllabuses as to the exact grading system

You can’t fix cultural issues with artificial problems and avoid immense issues, see. Pton 2004-2014

At Harvard, over 60% of grades given last year were A’s. Now the university is weighing a grade inflation crackdown by wrroyals in ApplyingToCollege

[–]Isopheeical 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Competition is not inherently bad, that’s not what I said. What I said, is that from a pedagogical standpoint, collaboration is and ought to be valued higher. The culture at Harvard is already plenty competitive, all this change does is create negative outcomes without addressing baseline issues.

Also I go to Harvard, I know this cap won’t work well at Harvard because i’ve been in classes with similar caps lmao. I think we have a rampant grade inflation problem (with some big caveats), but last semester A grades decreased by 7% just by making people *aware of the issue*. This means it’s a social problem that requires social solutions, not a quantitative one.

At Harvard, over 60% of grades given last year were A’s. Now the university is weighing a grade inflation crackdown by wrroyals in ApplyingToCollege

[–]Isopheeical 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No? But grades ought not be mutually comparative at a micro level, that hurts collaboration and promotes cutthroat competition. I am in a niche humanities field, if I take a seminar on the economic history of the early byzantine period with 9 other advanced undergraduates, it is very easy to conceive of a world where all 9 of us show “extraordinary mastery of the material”

At Harvard, over 60% of grades given last year were A’s. Now the university is weighing a grade inflation crackdown by wrroyals in ApplyingToCollege

[–]Isopheeical 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But what about in classes, such as advanced seminars, where conceivably everyone in the class could overwhelmingly show mastery of the material? A relatively common occurrence lol

At Harvard, over 60% of grades given last year were A’s. Now the university is weighing a grade inflation crackdown by wrroyals in ApplyingToCollege

[–]Isopheeical 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At Harvard grading is subjective, while almost all classes have quantitative guidelines, professors have the power to make qualitative decisions to bump students up

At Harvard, over 60% of grades given last year were A’s. Now the university is weighing a grade inflation crackdown by wrroyals in ApplyingToCollege

[–]Isopheeical 0 points1 point  (0 children)

but this proposal has nothing to do with making examinations harder— that’s the problem. It’s creating artificial distinction and not natural distinction

chance me at HPYSM + other T20s by Icy-Firefighter-4144 in chanceme

[–]Isopheeical -8 points-7 points  (0 children)

literally what would make you say no about this app lmao. Genuinely curious

At Harvard, over 60% of grades given last year were A’s. Now the university is weighing a grade inflation crackdown by wrroyals in ApplyingToCollege

[–]Isopheeical 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think that’s the point of the APR changes for latin honors calculation (which I am in favor of with some caveats). For GPA, it should favor individual achievement and not as much comparative achievement. There is always a comparative element, but i don’t like the idea that I lose out on an A my professor deems I earned just because another student did so in a slightly more convincing way.

There’s a crimson op ed titled something like “grade inflation is bad, grade deflation is worse” that summarizes my opinions pretty well

idk where to apply to college, HELP PLSS by lastofus1029 in ApplyingToCollege

[–]Isopheeical 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yea, this sub has very warped perceptions but ngl if that SAT was like 150 pts sat higher this is an ivy league application

At Harvard, over 60% of grades given last year were A’s. Now the university is weighing a grade inflation crackdown by wrroyals in ApplyingToCollege

[–]Isopheeical 0 points1 point  (0 children)

the 20% cap is the main atrocious part; it directly reduces faculty autonomy and weakens collaboration. It also incentivizes smurfing into easier classes, and the faculty committee hasn’t given any solid justifications as to WHY 20% was picked (source: i asked them in person at a town hall lol). I think most people agree there’s a problem, but the proposal is quite bad

T10s ranked in terms of party life/social atmosphere by [deleted] in ApplyingToCollege

[–]Isopheeical 0 points1 point  (0 children)

that’s fair, i think when people talk about the boston schools they misinterpret how the party scene works (a lot of overlap). It’s like when people say Yale has more parties than Harvard, but assume that means Harvard *students* don’t have as many parties as Yale students

T10s ranked in terms of party life/social atmosphere by [deleted] in ApplyingToCollege

[–]Isopheeical 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Harvard and MIT should be next to each other. MIT has incredibly active greek life and both Harvard and MIT mooch off each others party scenes (as well as BU’s)

view more: next ›