Nigerian Teen gets accepted into all IVY League Schools

[soliloquy]

Elmont Memorial High School student accepted by all 8 Ivy League schools - Apr. 4, 2015

I just thought this was really awesome so I wanted to post it.

[Prloko]

He was the son of a deceased wealthy Finance Banker. To receive the sums of $50M US, the schools urgently needed to accept him and send the modest sum of $500 U Svia Western Union for the paperworks.
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Homage to the old Nigerian 419 scams.

'Nigerian 419' scams

[SDO]

I'm sure there could have been a better response than that.

[Prloko]

I'm sure there could have been a better response than that.

Do you mind contributing one?

[rebel100]

Elmont Memorial High School student accepted by all 8 Ivy League schools - Apr. 4, 2015

And MIT, JHU

[Prloko]

Not for nothing, it IS impressive. There are people with 760 GMATs and 4.0 GPAs from UPenn getting rejected. He must've had a HECK of an essay.

[Exfactor]

Not surprised as Nigerians have the highest level of education in the U.S.

As someone who have travel extensively, and met many Nigerians they take education very seriously.

Nigerians have the highest level of education in the U.S. | ZDNet

[KittenMittens]

I hate to say it, but I'm certain affirmative action played a significant role in this (i.e. "underrepresented" = black or hispanic or Native American). To his credit, he did score very high in classes and received a very top notch SAT score (2270) which is very impressive (750/800 out of each section!), and it helps that he's from a filthy rich family too apparently. But it makes me wonder who and what Affirmative Action really is for - is it for people who are African-American growing up in the ghettos who suffered from the plight of the slaveowners in America, or rather is it for wealthy minorities and wealthy immigrants i.e. from Nigeria who were never directly impacted by racism in the US?

I hope the day comes that affirmative action is no longer based on the color of skin, but based on socioeconomic upbringing - whether you are white, black, brown, yellow, red, etc. it shouldn't matter, but how poorly you grew up.

If you're Asian or Indian or White, with similar stats though, you don't get any love from higher ed/ivy leagues especially if you are Asian or white AND male, and it would be practically impossible for someone with similar stats and not black or native american to get into ALL 8 ivy league schools let alone 1.

[sanantone]

Affirmative Action is not a quota system. Quotas are only forced upon organizations that have violated EEOC laws. AA applies to everyone. HBCUs have been forced to do more to attract white students by the courts. Affirmative Action basically says that if you have two equally qualified candidates, then you should choose the candidate from the underrepresented group. The make-up of your organization should closely match the demographics of qualified candidates in your immediate area. Mostly, AA sets guidelines for recruiting practices. Some schools go beyond this and include race/ethnicity as a major factor in admissions decisions, but it's not because the law is making them do this. The biggest beneficiaries of AA are actually white women.

[soliloquy]

I can understand why some would think that providing additional benefits to any person based upon color, religion, gender, or sexual orientation would be considered discrimination. I understand the argument that affirmative action actually utilizes discrimination in trying to eliminate discrimination. This idea of assisting whole classes of people is born of court opinions and political initiatives that were trying to interpret he Civil Rights guarantees within the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

I’ve heard both sides of the argument.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor defended affirmative action in her book, My Beloved World, where she tells her story of being admitted to Princeton University and Yale Law School. She set forth quite candidly that when she entered Princeton on a scholarship in 1972 despite unspectacular test scores, Sotomayor recalls that the school was in only its third year of admitting women and had barely a handful of minority students. She also mentions that she had much the same experience as a Yale law student before becoming a New York prosecutor, a private lawyer, and a federal judge. When President Barack Obama appointed her to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2009, she became its third-ever female justice and first Latina.

In a past speaking engagement, Sotomayor has said that she is a "product of affirmative action,” and she writes that her accomplishments at Princeton, including receiving the highest prize given to seniors, earning a place in the Phi Beta Kappa honor society, and graduating with highest honors, speak for themselves.

"Yes, I needed help, but once I got there, I worked at it and I proved myself worthy," Sotomayor said at a speaking engagement in San Francisco. She said she wants to tell "people who have been accused of getting in because of special favors not to feel ashamed" of what they achieve on their own.

On the other side of that argument is Clarence Thomas. "I learned the hard way that a law degree from Yale meant one thing for white graduates and another for blacks, no matter how much anyone denied it,'' he wrote in his memoir, My Grandfather's Son. "I'd graduated from one of America's top law schools, but racial preference had robbed my achievement of its true value."

Yes, when I think about affirmative action, the first thing that comes to mind is equal opportunity for African Americans. But, I know that affirmative action also protects other minorities who are discriminated against based upon race, religion, gender, or national origin. Affirmative action has had an important role for women as well. In employment women benefit from programs and recruitment efforts that consider women when making hiring decisions or decisions regarding promotion. This is important in eliminating under-representation of qualified women in specific job categories. In education it helps women get into programs that have largely been comprised of men including engineering, math and the physical sciences. Affirmative action also encourages government agencies and contractors to do business with qualified companies owned by women. It also gives assistance to businesses owned by women.

However, when I consider cases such as Fisher v. University of Texas, 570 U.S. ___ (2013), I agree with Clinton’s opinion on affirmative action which he gave in a speech on July 19, 1995.

“Let me be clear about what affirmative action must not ... It does not mean – and I don’t favor – the unjustified preference of the unqualified over the qualified of any race or gender. It doesn’t mean – and I don’t favor – numerical quotas. It doesn’t mean – and I don’t favor – rejection or selection of any employee or student solely on the basis of race or gender without regard to merit…”