Catherine Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/21/opinion/sunday/harvard-admissions-needs-moneyball-for-life.html OK, I thought this was hilarious. "Projecting the future dollar value of a 17-year-old high school student is not a simple matter. We now all agree that the problem cannot be left to unaided human judgment. We in admissions have followed the Harvard Management Company’s suggestion, read the book about statistics that you kindly sent over, and created an algorithm. Tested retroactively on a generation of college graduates, it has proved far more efficient in identifying “high yield targets†than any other known college selection process." 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 This is a terrific comeback for them. Mr. Schwarzman seems to definitely feel he's God's gift to mankind I suppose, but allow me to join those who would differ with that opinion. ;) Loved their 2nd part: "2) An extreme need for external validation. We of course have screened for this in the past, but indirectly, by weighing heavily a child’s school grades. The trouble is that, while success in the classroom may indeed reveal a strong need for public approval, it can also result from sheer brilliance, or, worse, deep interest in the subject material. For instance, their success in the classroom allowed both the Nobel Prize-winning chemist Martin Chalfie as well as the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Adams to trick us into admitting them into the class of 1969. Neither will give Harvard anything like $150 million. These “false positives†robbed Mr. Schwarzman, and the few others like him, of their rightful place at our university." and of course: "Of one thing we are certain, however. We at Harvard must abandon our stale ideas of “desirable qualities†in a child. Chief among these is the nebulous age-old concept of “character.†We forgive virtually any behavior in the billionaires who give us money. How can we not forgive the same behavior in the children who will become them?" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 "These “false positives†robbed Mr. Schwarzman, and the few others like him, of their rightful place at our university." We had a good laugh over this at breakfast today. Somehow, I mistakenly assumed this was actually written by Harvard Admissions. In my dreams. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 "These “false positives†robbed Mr. Schwarzman, and the few others like him, of their rightful place at our university." We had a good laugh over this at breakfast today. Somehow, I mistakenly assumed this was actually written by Harvard Admissions. In my dreams. We caught that it wasn't after my post, but I still think Harvard Admissions is smiling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Posted June 22, 2015 Author Share Posted June 22, 2015 What *I* missed the first time around was the Bloomberg story about Schwarzman being contacted by Harvard admissions a few years ago to say they made a mistake!! Can this possibly be true?? Really, I cannot believe it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 What *I* missed the first time around was the Bloomberg story about Schwarzman being contacted by Harvard admissions a few years ago to say they made a mistake!! Can this possibly be true?? Really, I cannot believe it. IF it happened, I can imagine the setting being some sort of big (fundraising?) shindig and it being written in a more-or-less joking manner... "Oops, I guess we made a mistake back in 1969, didn't we? :lol: " In hindsight it could/would be truth, but most of us know foretelling the future is far more difficult than judging in hindsight. I doubt it was a single purpose apology letter. However, perhaps rather than being taken as the joking oversight it was, it reopened a wound that never healed in Schwarzman causing him to act so vindictively and revealing his true character? I'm musing a "makes sense" answer, of course. I've no idea how or if it occurred. I wonder if he has a copy to provide proof of his statement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathwonk Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Somehow this struck me as more mean spirited rather than funny, but then I went to Harvard (and the author went to Princeton). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.