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Pgh high schooler op-ed
A local high school student has found internet notoriety with her op-ed on admissions processes.
All the university girls, check in--your thoughts on her rant?
To (All) the Colleges That Rejected Me
By SUZY LEE WEISS
Like me, millions of high-school seniors with sour grapes are asking themselves this week how they failed to get into the colleges of their dreams. It's simple: For years, they?we?were lied to.
Colleges tell you, "Just be yourself." That is great advice, as long as yourself has nine extracurriculars, six leadership positions, three varsity sports, killer SAT scores and two moms. Then by all means, be yourself! If you work at a local pizza shop and are the slowest person on the cross-country team, consider taking your business elsewhere.
What could I have done differently over the past years?
For starters, had I known two years ago what I know now, I would have gladly worn a headdress to school. Show me to any closet, and I would've happily come out of it. "Diversity!" I offer about as much diversity as a saltine cracker. If it were up to me, I would've been any of the diversities: Navajo, Pacific Islander, anything. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, I salute you and your 1/32 Cherokee heritage.
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Suzy Lee Weiss, a senior at Taylor Allderdice High School, on how colleges lie to prospective students. Photo: Associated Press
I also probably should have started a fake charity. Providing veterinary services for homeless people's pets. Collecting donations for the underprivileged chimpanzees of the Congo. Raising awareness for Chapped-Lips-in-the-Winter Syndrome. Fun-runs, dance-a-thons, bake sales?as long as you're using someone else's misfortunes to try to propel yourself into the Ivy League, you're golden.
Having a tiger mom helps, too. As the youngest of four daughters, I noticed long ago that my parents gave up on parenting me. It has been great in certain ways: Instead of "Be home by 11," it's "Don't wake us up when you come through the door, we're trying to sleep." But my parents also left me with a dearth of hobbies that make admissions committees salivate. I've never sat down at a piano, never plucked a violin. Karate lasted about a week and the swim team didn't last past the first lap. Why couldn't Amy Chua have adopted me as one of her cubs?
Then there was summer camp. I should've done what I knew was best?go to Africa, scoop up some suffering child, take a few pictures, and write my essays about how spending that afternoon with Kinto changed my life. Because everyone knows that if you don't have anything difficult going on in your own life, you should just hop on a plane so you're able to talk about what other people have to deal with.
Or at least hop to an internship. Get a precocious-sounding title to put on your resume. "Assistant Director of Mail Services." "Chairwoman of Coffee Logistics." I could have been a gopher in the office of someone I was related to. Work experience!
To those kids who by age 14 got their doctorate, cured a disease, or discovered a guilt-free brownie recipe: My parents make me watch your "60 Minutes" segments, and they've clipped your newspaper articles for me to read before bed. You make us mere mortals look bad. (Also, I am desperately jealous and willing to pay a lot to learn your secrets.)
To those claiming that I am bitter?you bet I am! An underachieving selfish teenager making excuses for her own failures? That too! To those of you disgusted by this, shocked that I take for granted the wonderful gifts I have been afforded, I say shhhh?"The Real Housewives" is on.
Ms. Weiss is a senior at Taylor Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh.
Re: Pgh high schooler op-ed
I was just reading about this elsewhere. I don't even know what to say. What is her point even??? That she was lazy, did less than her peers but its college's fault, her parents fault and everyone else's! Who cares and who is going to sympathize with h
Yep, I'd say she nailed the sour grapes.
What people don't always seem to realize is that while it may be their dream to go to a specific university, that does not always mean that that university is the best fit. We are forever telling applic
Funny, sort of. I have no doubt her school gave her lots of opportunities to excel in many ways but she decided not to do anything exc. go to high school. Which is fine, but may not cut it nowadays. H/e I'm sure with the buz
How time flies! Caileigh (9), Keira (6) & Eamon (3)
What is her point? And she provides us with no context---DID she actually do any extracurricular activities? what is her GPA? Her SAT score? what kinds of schools was she applying to?
I don't deal with the admissions process, so
Jake - 1.15.08
Liam - 5.17.11
Sorry, the more I think about this, the more annoyed I get. Because I work in an admissions related job this really irks me.
No one lied to her. No one said 'be yourself and you'll get in'. It is about being yourself and representing yourself.
Jake - 1.15.08
Liam - 5.17.11
I sent this to one of my co-workers who was offended that she was "only" accepted to Big 10 schools (he went to Michigan),
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Well, the "good news" is that although her attitude may be common in her generation, rest assured that there is by no means a shortage of people like her from college grad through retiree....they just have a different type of sh!tty attitude! So
This article makes me sad because it IS indicative of a lot of teen attitudes out there.....and the attitudes of their parents.
But it also makes me sad because, working with teens, I know some genuine, humble, good hearted ones who DO want to ma