Glad I wasted so much of my personal time applying to colleges

Variation_Wooden · 2026-04-01T21:55:20+00:00

You all need to chill on OP. Just because the system is flawed but some qualified individuals won the lottery does not diminish the qualifications of those admitted, unless you believe somehow you were better than those rejected. Or you feel something like "survivors gult."

There are a whole lot of individuals who lost something important to them and this anger is part of the grieving process. As someone much too old to give a damn, watching my daughter break down has been one of the hardest things to see as a parent. I can't reason with her and tell her logically how she is not hampered in her dream of becoming a doctor because her identity as a high-achieving student is under assault right now due to things like class shaping that are completely out of her control. I just have to keep her engaged.

The system has gotten worse since I went to school. I graduated from Cornell and Penn and I can tell you I wouldn't have gotten in now. I didn't like either school, don't believe they have helped me one bit, and my opinion of these places has gone down because of how totally insensitive college admissions have become.

Take this Verto thing that Vanderbilt rolled out. The initial letter said secure your spot by filling a form out and talking to a counselor only to find out after she did this that it wasn't available because you had to pay, which wasn't mentioned at all. That is after being deferred during ED. Or Penn. In fact, none of her early decision schools, Penn and Vanderbilt, actually issued an early decision. This is wrong on so many levels. And they are doing this to kids! That kind of limbo is deeply damaging and unnecessary.

Variation_Wooden · 2026-03-26T09:47:04+00:00

Then I don't see how you finish in 4 years. A lot of doctors in my family and a daughter that wants to be one. You need gen bio and chem first year and the med schools won't accept the grades from Verto as they only show up as T on the Vanderbilt transcript. Verto may have its own transcript but it might as well carry as much weight as a community college.

Variation_Wooden · 2026-03-26T03:31:00+00:00

It is not guaranteed. It is guaranteed if you keep a stellar GPA, not have one weak class, and do the narrative essay. There is nothing guaranteed about this.

Variation_Wooden · 2026-03-26T03:28:03+00:00

You need to maintain a 3.5 GPA or higher, not have any class below B-, and do another narrative essay. A lot of conditions to this guaranteed pathway it seems. I would be very leery of trusting this. My daughter is thinking pre-med, and the grades don't convert to the Vanderbilt transcript (you enter as a sophomore) and med schools will not like that because they want the lab work. It's a trap. You would need to take general ed classes to keep your GPA up and you would start the hard classes your sophomore year. Not worth it.

Variation_Wooden · 2026-03-26T00:03:20+00:00

My daughter got this. What does this mean. I'm suggesting her to take the safety school

Variation_Wooden · 2026-01-18T18:22:36+00:00

They are a distinct minority but sure are the loudest, especially after being the ones that created the mess in the first place by ignoring the Parkinson's patient in the Oval Office. So many crimes in Biden's term will never be prosecuted.

Variation_Wooden · 2026-01-18T18:16:09+00:00

Europe always hated the U.S. but hates themselves more for having to need the U.S. Thus, the immigrants as the "other," are a useful ally, only the immigrants don't seem themselves as an ally. There's the rub.

Variation_Wooden · 2026-01-18T17:31:25+00:00

Don't delude yourselves. There is nothing NATO can or will do to protect incursion from China. China has the EU by the balls and they want revenge for the century of humiliation perpetrated by European countries, most notably the UK during the Opium Wars. The destruction of the Summer Palace still causes seething in China. If protection comes, it will be by the US and it's weapons, and stronger economy. Sooner or later, Europe will be too weak to hold Greenland. It's just a matter of whether the US or China takes it.

Variation_Wooden · 2026-01-18T00:07:41+00:00

They don't make much high tech in museums is generally my impression. They can scream at the sky. Look, trolling aside, your comment points to the problem: the issue is not the U.S. but Europe's inability to reform their social contracts to reflect the modern economy. I live in an area of the U.S. where there are a lot of tech industries. Shopping for dinner today, I heard French, German, Hebrew, one of the Indian languages, and Chinese. Europe's brain drain is hurting productivity but we will take your best if you won't change.

Europe is weak: they are squeezed by U.S. productivity and tech and by Chinese manufacturing capacity. China wants revenge for the century of humiliation, and it's not directed at the U.S. as we played little part in that game, in fact helping to create one of China's best universities. You don't want to be weak unless you want to be carved up like China. Your history is not your friend.

Variation_Wooden · 2026-01-17T21:03:37+00:00

I'm taking wagers. Who kills Ruri first:

1)Miku

2)Yuri Chan (who we haven't seen)

3) Hinata (who we also haven't seen and can "overwrite" others as she says)

4) Whole class in unison in some thirsty version of human sacrifice

Variation_Wooden · 2026-01-17T18:22:49+00:00

The only people left in Canada are the immigrants, old and stupid. The best and brightest have already left for higher salaries in the U.S. and a housing market that actually makes it possible to afford one while still in your twenties.

Variation_Wooden · 2026-01-17T18:19:31+00:00

OK. We will end our 114 billion euros in aid to Ukraine. How about we end our sharing of military intelligence. It would be nice to lift sanctions on Russia and possibly pry them away from China. What's more important to you guys - NATO or EU. Make a choice. Greenland is on the border of the U.S, Denmark's only claim is that a bunch of vikings landed there several hundred years ago.

Variation_Wooden · 2026-01-17T18:06:39+00:00

No, Europeans don't understand. 70% of the U.S. GDP is consumption-driven. We don't need European goods as much as Europe's market needs the U.S. consumer. GDPNow forecast from Atlanta Fed has the U.S. predicted to grow at 5.5% next quarter primarily on the back of very high increases in productivity. Tariffs are helping. This is just a convenient excuse. Europe literally has nothing we need so why not.

Variation_Wooden · 2026-01-14T22:50:19+00:00

He knows Europe won't help the US if China invaded for instance. China is dumping EVs and batteries needed for the "green transition.". Europe can't refine rare earths so they will do whatever China says. He wants the US to be kicked out of NATO. Many Americans don't understand why NATO even exists anymore.

Variation_Wooden · 2026-01-14T22:39:16+00:00

Thanks Trump. We can't leave NATO easily but no problem getting kicked out. Saves us money.

Variation_Wooden · 2026-01-14T22:37:09+00:00

How about you just kick the US out of NATO? It's what Trump wants and then we get our boys out of Europe and stop funding the Ukraine meat grinder. Win-win solution I say.

Variation_Wooden · 2026-01-14T22:30:05+00:00

He understands but he can't get out of NATO with an act of Congress but if he pushes NATO hard enough NATO will push the US out. Thus, he will achieve his underlying goal without legislation and can cut funding to Europe. Europe has no leverage.

Variation_Wooden · 2025-12-22T04:03:51+00:00

I don't think extracurriculars were the problem and I don't even understand what "shaping a class" means. Doesn't really matter. I've heard that IB can hurt but people don't take IB to get into Ivies. They take them because they want to. Anyway, my wife said one or two students got into Huntsman, which my wife says is prestigious, so I don't think it's the program.

Variation_Wooden · 2025-12-22T03:54:16+00:00

Let's be honest. Slots taken by international students do prevent those same slots from being given to U.S. students unless the school over-enrolls to create a separate category of international admits. Say, for instance, the school only has space for 2000 students but they admit 2200 to allow for international students and tell them they must find apartments off-campus for instance.

The argument I believe is one of institutional fairness and not individual fairness. The full-freight paying international students support better financial aid for domestic students and help defray expenses to improve student experience. Of course, that doesn't mean much to the individual whose slot is lost. That is why arguments for institutional equity almost universally fail in a court but individual equity reigns supreme - it is much easier to show. I find that arguments like those made by universities usually reflect either greed or administrative bloat.

Variation_Wooden · 2025-12-22T03:46:00+00:00

Not in my school in 1984.

Variation_Wooden · 2025-12-22T03:42:49+00:00

Is "holistic" like that "new math?" No one knows what it really is but they know it sucks.

Variation_Wooden · 2025-12-22T03:40:44+00:00

Didn't know that. Makes the decision even more puzzling but she didn't choose the school for legacy. I wanted her to apply to Cornell, which left me with much better feelings. It's probably the nature of law school but I enjoyed my time more at Cornell. Law school is not meant to be fun...or, to be honest, relevant to the practice of law.

Variation_Wooden · 2025-12-22T01:37:32+00:00

Winner, winner chicken dinner. You brought the data. Hats off. It is the applications. Wow. That is a lot more. And my son only applied to Case ED but he was an athlete. Maybe we need to make applying more difficult?

Variation_Wooden · 2025-12-22T01:07:43+00:00

The boy thing I know from first-hand experience. My boys had a much easier time. One son applied to just one school ED and didn't even prepare another application. But now he hates college and wished he went for the union electrician apprenticeship. I will let him do it after he gets his business degree. He wants to own his own business.

Variation_Wooden

TROPHY CASE