Minor victory thread

Chad Sexington

Chad Sexington

Emrys said:
Oh, please convince them that, since we're a socialist country, we get our own government-issued moose.
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The worst thing, by which I mean best thing, is it's no longer a question of how ridiculous a claim I can make, just whether or not I can couch it in such casual, reasonable terms that I find it as unremarkable as they find it incredible.
 
Celt Z

Celt Z

Chad Sexington said:
The worst thing, by which I mean best thing, is it's no longer a question of how ridiculous a claim I can make, just whether or not I can couch it in such casual, reasonable terms that I find it as unremarkable as they find it incredible.
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When you're done convincing the "intellectuals" you have moose-commuting, check your email! :p
 
fade

fade

Staff member
I interviewed for Harvard in 1993. I come from a relatively poor family, and the interviewer sat me down, looked me in the eye, and said, "You're not getting in." Why? "Because your family doesn't have any money. Harvard accepts charity cases every year but the backlog is long, and your chances are almost non-existent."
 
drawn_inward

drawn_inward

fade said:
I interviewed for Harvard in 1993. I come from a relatively poor family, and the interviewer sat me down, looked me in the eye, and said, "You're not getting in." Why? "Because your family doesn't have any money. Harvard accepts charity cases every year but the backlog is long, and your chances are almost non-existent."
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Was it a local interview from a Harvard grad? My wife's PhD mentor and her husband do that in the OKC area for Harvard hopefuls.

That's weird about the $$. There are plenty of kids that rack up >200k in student loans for undergrad. I am surprised that they care about how one pays for their over-priced 4 year degree.

Also, did you graduate in '94? Cause I totally did. :D
 
Celt Z

Celt Z

blotsfan said:
You know Yale is the Ivy that just means you have rich parents that went there right?
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One of my exes' parents both graduated from Yale's Music Department in the early 1970's (that's how they met), and the mother was most definitely NOT from a wealthy family; very rural Pennsylvania, in fact. I will always remember her telling me that bragging about attending Yale at that time is a joke because "most of the classes were pass/fail, if they even bothered to give you a grade at all.". She said that standards at your average state college now are far higher than Yale's at that point.
 
Chad Sexington

Chad Sexington

blotsfan said:
You know Yale is the Ivy that just means you have rich parents that went there right?
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This is apparently more true for undergraduate students; I can attest for my friend, at any rate, that his family is not rich, nor did his parents attend this or any other Ivy League institution. Nor do the half-dozen or so fellow (graduate program) students of his I have met seem to come from money or a family of Yale graduates.
 
fade

fade

Staff member
drawn_inward said:
Was it a local interview from a Harvard grad? My wife's PhD mentor and her husband do that in the OKC area for Harvard hopefuls.

That's weird about the $$. There are plenty of kids that rack up >200k in student loans for undergrad. I am surprised that they care about how one pays for their over-priced 4 year degree.

Also, did you graduate in '94? Cause I totally did. :D
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Yes, it was a local Harvard grad. Honestly, that's what the dude said. Nothing like having your spirit crushed at the beginning of an interview.

Yep, 1994. Grunguation.
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

fade said:
I interviewed for Harvard in 1993. I come from a relatively poor family, and the interviewer sat me down, looked me in the eye, and said, "You're not getting in." Why? "Because your family doesn't have any money. Harvard accepts charity cases every year but the backlog is long, and your chances are almost non-existent."
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I didn't go to Harvard, but the school I chose was still rather exclusive. The conversation with the guy from the college who came to my high school for come-to-my-college day went like this:
"I don't have a lot of money."
"You have really good test scores. Apply."

--Patrick
 
fade

fade

Staff member
PatrThom said:
I didn't go to Harvard, but the school I chose was still rather exclusive. The conversation with the guy from the college who came to my high school for come-to-my-college day went like this:
"I don't have a lot of money."
"You have really good test scores. Apply."

--Patrick
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Yeah. I had everything else. Test scores, GPA, extracurricular activities, sports achievements. No dice. I couldn't get into any Ivy League.

In retrospect, I've lost a lot of respect for most of them. It really depends on the subject. Harvard might be nice for law or history, but you've got better options for STEM subjects, for example. A nicely funded state school with ambitious profs is going to have better outfitted labs and more opportunities for undergraduate research. Maybe there are few sour grapes in that sentiment, but also a lot of experience.
 
Sparhawk

Sparhawk

It's changed tons in the 17 or so years since I was there last. Had fun, enjoyed shows, food and of course, the company of my wife.
 
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