
The Story Behind Jared Kushner’s Curious Acceptance into Harvard - da02
https://www.propublica.org/article/the-story-behind-jared-kushners-curious-acceptance-into-harvard
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sago
The thing I found most surprisingl about this article, is that Harvard won't
admit it. I had always assumed you could go there if you paid enough. As with
all Ivy League colleges. Do they really try to pretend otherwise? Who are they
fooling?

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finolex1
The value of attending Harvard comes not from the education itself, but the
signalling which indicates that you had the abilities or achievements to get
accepted in the first place.

If Harvard or Yale start publicly accepting that a proportion of their
students simply paid their way in, then this knowledge shifts from being an
implicit understanding/public secret to one that is publicly acknowledged and
widely publicized.

If the names of those who bought places are publicly announced, then this
dries up the pool of future 'donors' because the signalling effect disappears
when everyone knows how you got in. Conversely, if they keep the names
anonymous, this demeans the value of the degree for everyone, because people
will then cast their aspersions on all future ivy league grads.

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txmx2000
Isn't it more likely Harvard threatens to reject applicants with wealthy
parents if they don't make a contribution. It's the way the rest of the world
works.

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ouid
because that would be soliciting a bribe and extortion.

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Chris2048
> I phoned a Harvard official, with whom I was on friendly terms. First I
> asked whether the gift played any role in Jared’s admission. “You know we
> don’t comment on individual applicants,” he said. When I pressed further, he
> hung up. We haven’t spoken since.

Were they actually on "friendly-terms"? How did he "press further"?

I have to doubt the premise of this article:

> I also quoted administrators at Jared’s high school, who described him as a
> less than stellar student and expressed dismay at Harvard’s decision.

Why would an an administrator comment on an individual student? What reason do
we have to trust such an individual?

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BigGuy77
Nowadays I try to reduce what I infer from someone's having graduated from
Harvard (and most major universities). I know people cite it as a signal, but
it's like the big-O notation we know and love: you often lose so much relevant
detail that the exercise is of limited value. And the whole shebang is pretty
much outweighed by the elephant-in-the-room that is the nasty moral
environment so widespread in colleges.

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tzm
> About 90 percent of Jared’s 2003 class at Harvard also graduated with honors

Harvard honors is a system where all students, being above average, can
maintain that above average feeling.

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yusee
Affirmative action by another name.

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metaphorm
don't get sloppy about how you name things. this isn't "another name" for
affirmation action. the correct name for it is _patronage_. Charles Kushner is
a patron of Harvard and they gave his family a favor in exchange.

