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From the New York Times:
YOUR MONEY
Essays About Work and Class That Caught a College’s Eye
MAY 21, 2015By RON LIEBER
Of the 1,200 or so undergraduate admission essays that Chris Lanser reads each year at Wesleyan University, maybe 10 are about work.
This is not much of a surprise. Many applicants have never worked. Those with plenty of money may be afraid of calling attention to their good fortune. And writing about social class is difficult, given how mixed up adolescents often are about identity.
Yet it is this very reluctance that makes tackling the topic a risk worth taking at schools where it is hard to stand out from the thousands of other applicants. Financial hardship and triumph, and wants and needs, are the stuff of great literature. Reflecting on them is one excellent way to differentiate yourself in a deeply personal way.
Each year, to urge them on, we put out an open call for application essays about these subjects and publish the best essays that we can find. This year, we chose seven with the help of Julie Lythcott-Haims, the former dean of freshmen at Stanford whose new book, “How to Raise an Adult,” is coming out next month. You can read the full essays at nytimes.com/yourmoney.
Each year, we put out a call for college application essays about money, work and social class. This year, we picked seven — about pizza, parental sacrifice, prep school students, discrimination and deprivation. …
A good college admissions consultant should be able to write a poignant essay for your child about how he or she has overcome the challenges of poverty for no more than $1,500, $2,000 tops. If they ask for $3,000 they’re just trying to rip you off because you look rich.
The only reason to pay $3,000 or up is if you also want the essay to work some kind of affirmative action scam. Experienced essay ghostwriters know that racial/ethnic diversity grifts are trickier than fudging about class, although, of course, they can also be more rewarding. So you’ll need to pay top dollar for a seasoned professional who understands just how far the essay he writes under your child’s name can push the race/ethnicity envelope. A few references to your child’s abuelita are usually safe. (Who is going to check?) But be wary of discount college application consultants based in Nigeria who will email you with a proposal to have your child boast of being the only living heir of the deposed Mbubu IV, rightful God-Emperor of Kush.
The single most memorable line we read this year came from an essay by Carolina Sosa, who lives in Centreville, Va., and will attend Georgetown University. In writing about her father’s search for a job, she described the man named Dave who turned him away.
“Job searching is difficult for everyone, but in a world full of Daves, it’s almost impossible,” she wrote. “Daves are people who look at my family and immediately think less of us. They think illegal, poor and uneducated. Daves never allow my dad to pass the first round of job applications. Daves watch like hawks as my brother and I enter stores. Daves inconsiderately correct my mother’s grammar. Because there are Daves in the world, I have become a protector for my family.”
One Dave down, a million to go
A truly professional essay consultant will a bring a well-developed feel for which first names are good to use as implicit ethnic slurs and which aren’t. Obviously, if you once lost out on a promotion to EVP to a fellow exec named Dave, that’s great and your consultant will be sure to use the name as is. But what if your rival wasn’t named Dave? A veteran admissions essay writer will understand the nuances about which names are demonizable and which aren’t. For example,
David — Maybe, maybe not. Why not shorten it to Dave?
Dana — Worrisome, too gender-neutral. Why not change to it Dave?
Dov — Uh-oh … Do you think reporter Ron Lieber of the NYT would enthuse about an essay that read:
“Job searching is difficult for everyone, but in a world full of Dovs, it’s almost impossible,” she wrote. “Dovs are people who look at my family and immediately think less of us. They think illegal, poor and uneducated. Dovs never allow my dad to pass the first round of job applications. Dovs watch like hawks as my brother and I enter stores. Dovs inconsiderately correct my mother’s grammar. Because there are Dovs in the world, I have become a protector for my family”?
We’d better just change it to Dave.
Lieber continues:
One of “the Daves” who oppress wise Latinas
Vanessa J. Krebs, assistant director of undergraduate admissions at Georgetown, who reads about 1,400 essays year, told me that when she first received my interview request, the phrase “the Daves” immediately jumped out of her memory bank.
Some low cost essay vendors try to cut corners by simply writing under your child’s name, “I hate straight white men.” And while that traditional meat and potatoes approach to getting on the good side of admissions staffers can often work, you are better off paying for the kind of plausible deniability that artful phrases like “the Daves” allow.
Also a good consultant will know how to customize the name of the Evil Straight White Male for each college. For example, businessman Dave Dornsife recently gave $200 million to USC. So the phrase “a world full of Daves” might worrisomely remind the USC admissions committee that straight white male alumni like Dave Dornsife are, by far, the biggest donors to colleges, and so they’d better admit a few Daves today if they want to have any Mr. Dornsifes in the future. Therefore, an expert consultant would vary the essay he writes for your child’s USC application to read “a world full of Dicks.” This service costs extra, but you get what you pay for.
Though Ms. Sosa might easily have become embittered by her encounters with the Daves, Ms. Krebs said that she was moved by the fact that the essay concluded with the desire to pursue a career in public service, even if she wasn’t exactly sure where that desire would take her.
With Ms. Sosa’s sincere, heartfelt desire to do something about “a world full of Daves,” I’m sure she’d be open to a government career in, say, kulak liquidation. But a professional consultant can advise on whether saying that in an essay would be considered by admissions staffers as “edgy” or “on the nose.” These subtle distinctions are constantly changing, so that’s why you need to spend a fair amount on getting a pro to concoct your child’s essay.
English
Arabic
Chinese (Simplified)
Dutch
French
German
Hebrew
Hindi
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Persian
Polish
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Swedish
Turkish
Vietnamese
Daves never allow my dad to pass the first round of job applications.
Actually, HR is primarily staffed by LaShaundras.
Daves watch like hawks as my brother and I enter stores.
Actually, those are Muhammeds and Kim Sungs looking at you. Is this girl pretending to be blind?
Daves inconsiderately correct my mother’s grammar.
Sadly, no one does that anymore at all.
Ms. Sosa’s halting style of prose is almost Hemingwayesque. I’m certain her SAT scores and high school grades and curriculum reflect such genius.
Well, it looks like the Steves are off the hook for the time being.
“Daves watch like hawks as my brother and I enter stores.”
Perhaps if Laquisha and Jamal stopped ripping Dave off, he would stop what is an appropriate response that is in Dave’s best interest.
Somehow, I don't think she would have gotten the thumbs up.
“With Ms. Sosa’s sincere, heartfelt desire to do something about this “world full of Daves,” I’m sure she’ll be open to a government career in, say, kulak liquidation.”
“I only tell you one time. Don’t f**k me, Davey. Don’t you ever try to f**k me.”
Well it would read much different if she referred to a world of Davids…
Oh shit……when I’m not wearing my “fish” super hero costume my real name is Dave!
Should I hide?
Perhaps this senorita is just a big fan of vintage Kids In The Hall:
At Georgetown she may meet and marry a future Master of the Universe — then end up as his rich wife on the Upper East Side. The oppression never ends.
It’s not just Daves but Busters as well!
I LOL'd.
Daves get a bad rap.
>by Carolina Sosa, who lives in Centreville, Va.,<
bitchiness is universal?
Wise, or lucky, of Miss Sosa not to have called it “a world of Solomons.”
She selected the right Hebrew king to pick on.
Whaddaya bet this witch holds poor immigrants to her home country (to the extent they exist) in contempt much more than the Daves.
Latino societies are hyper hostile to blacks and any non-rich immigrants. It is insanity to allow Latinos any phony moral high ground on immigration whatsoever.
Asians and American Indians are just as bad. Arabs worse. And Israel is not exactly tolerant either.
White countries are only racist/intolerant compared to fantastical tolerant societies that do not exist on planet earth.
Perhaps if Laquisha and Jamal stopped ripping Dave off, he would stop what is an appropriate response that is in Dave's best interest.Replies: @SPMoore8
Imagine if this young Latina wrote the exact same essay, except that, in real life, the guy who didn’t give her father a job was named, not Dave, but Trayvon.
Somehow, I don’t think she would have gotten the thumbs up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEGCdVADLWYReplies: @stillCARealist, @ChaseBizzy
That was absolutely awful.
The sense of entitlement really comes through. Just another non-white with a chip on her shoulder as if we don’t have enough of them already. She’s a mind-reader and knows what people are thinking about her and her family. She’ll probably get a job in some diversity program somewhere. Of course this Krebs woman is thrilled by the ‘Dave’ routine. It takes two to tango; the barbarians outside and the ones inside who throw open a gate to the invaders.
1. "entitlement" is usually used nowadays by those of an anti-American bent who serve the interests of the Kochs. The Kochs pushed NAFTA and push mass immigration, now their useful idiots smear those negatively impacted as moochers seeking entitlements. Unless you want to be confused with a Teaparty mouthbreather it might be best to choose another term.
2. In this case, it takes four to tango: those like Sosa, those like Krebs, those who gave them their ideas ("Group Smart"), and those who are incapable of doing anything about it or who refuse to do anything about it ("Group Dumb"). I don't know Krebs, but I'm pretty sure she's not an original thinker. She hypes Sosa because she's learned that's what she should do and she knows if she does it she won't face any problems. If Group Dumb went after Group Smart in smart, pro-American, big tent ways, Group Smart would change their ways and those like Sosa and Krebs would follow right along.
Group Smart includes those like ThinkProgress, which tells you how much work Group Dumb has to do.
doubt she is Mexican or Dominican, more likely white cuban like Cameron DiazReplies: @Jefferson
She selected the right Hebrew king to pick on.Replies: @MC
If her archenemy is Dave, does that make her Goliath?
“One of “the Daves” who oppress wise Latinas”
He looks like one of those Canadian guys from “The Kids In The Hall”.
I hate tacos’ said no Juan ever
I LOL’d.
That’s funny
Those guys are always screwing it up… btw here is the info on Centreville, 133.8% of the average U.S. CoL index; unlike “Andrew,” “Mike,” “Ken,” “Brian,” and “George,” I think “Dave” is not very often E. Asian, read: Korean grocers & liquor store proprietors, but this could be a Fairfax County anomaly resulting from the Kevin Kline movie —
http://www.city-data.com/city/Centreville-Virginia.html
Dave Ramsey tells her to pay off her credit cards. Will the Daves ever stop hating?
hal and dave 2001
Georgetown lives in the shadow of the Ivies, but it competes handily on the grievance front.
Ms. Sosa may be confusing “public service” with Foreign Service, an entirely self-serving pursuit.
http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2015/may/20/honored-and-rewarded/
Carolina has studied at the feet of masters, like the FLOTUS. Carolina’s essay picks up many notes from Michelle Obama’s recent commencement speech at Tuskegee.
Carolina: Job searching is difficult for everyone, but in a world full of Daves, it’s almost impossible,” she wrote. “Daves are people who look at my family and immediately think less of us. They think illegal, poor and uneducated.
Michelle: [T]hey will make assumptions about who they think you are based on their limited notion of the world. . . . [N]o matter how far you rise in life, how hard you work to be a good person, a good parent, a good citizen — for some folks, it will never be enough.
Carolina: Daves never allow my dad to pass the first round of job applications.
Michelle: [We know] the fear that your job application will be overlooked because of the way your name sounds
Carolina: Daves watch like hawks as my brother and I enter stores.
Michelle: We’ve both felt the sting of those daily slights throughout our entire lives — the folks who crossed the street in fear of their safety; the clerks who kept a close eye on us in all those department stores
Carolina: Daves inconsiderately correct my mother’s grammar.
Michelle: We’ve both felt the sting of . . . those who have questioned our intelligence
These extended whines practically write themselves!
Interesting takedown of this Latina bigot and the Jew who wrote about her but….
Not good. You never go “Full Whiskey”, Steve!
“Latinas hate hate hate beta White males”…that’s going “Full Whiskey”.
She’s a delusional Latina bigot not part of a genocidal government system.
The sense of entitlement really comes through… It takes two to tango; the barbarians outside and the ones inside who throw open a gate to the invaders.
1. “entitlement” is usually used nowadays by those of an anti-American bent who serve the interests of the Kochs. The Kochs pushed NAFTA and push mass immigration, now their useful idiots smear those negatively impacted as moochers seeking entitlements. Unless you want to be confused with a Teaparty mouthbreather it might be best to choose another term.
2. In this case, it takes four to tango: those like Sosa, those like Krebs, those who gave them their ideas (“Group Smart”), and those who are incapable of doing anything about it or who refuse to do anything about it (“Group Dumb”). I don’t know Krebs, but I’m pretty sure she’s not an original thinker. She hypes Sosa because she’s learned that’s what she should do and she knows if she does it she won’t face any problems. If Group Dumb went after Group Smart in smart, pro-American, big tent ways, Group Smart would change their ways and those like Sosa and Krebs would follow right along.
Group Smart includes those like ThinkProgress, which tells you how much work Group Dumb has to do.
Oh, wow. Oh, wow. I almost forgot Cheech & Chong: “Dave’s not here, man!”
OT: Not enough White kids in this class? Maybe one too many? How much vibrancy is too much? What’s the right mix? So many questions.
"Latinas hate hate hate beta White males"...that's going "Full Whiskey".
She's a delusional Latina bigot not part of a genocidal government system.Replies: @Wyrd, @Desiderius, @TSTCLRFRTTD, @Whiskey
Well, you’re the guy who thinks Cultural Marxism isn’t a thing, so you’ll just have to forgive us Kulaks for disdaining your call to relax, but instead remain vigilant.
This “we respect blue-collar work” schpiel is far and away the most hypocritical bit of modern leftist cant. We all know that the average Wesleyan admissions officer would sooner be paralyzed from the neck down than have his child become, say, a plumber, and that he’ll enthusiastically employ an illegal tradesman over an American to save a few hundred dollars. Neither party respects the working class but at least Republicans don’t really pretend to; contrast that with the typical UMC Democrat who thinks solidarity with the proleteriat means listening to Bruce Springsteen.
"Latinas hate hate hate beta White males"...that's going "Full Whiskey".
She's a delusional Latina bigot not part of a genocidal government system.Replies: @Wyrd, @Desiderius, @TSTCLRFRTTD, @Whiskey
Looks like she’s well on her way. How do you suppose this ends, Rifleman?
I assume this women is a white, probably would be called considered a “white” Hispanic if she commits a crime.
doubt she is Mexican or Dominican, more likely white cuban like Cameron Diaz
doubt she is Mexican or Dominican, more likely white cuban like Cameron Diaz"
I found a picture of her and she is definitely not White, let alone blonde haired and blue eyed like Cameron Diaz.
http://connection.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2015/03/17/V031815-177_t990.jpg?30f31baef1afd0a91aba8e74ec76c5214cc818ca
How do you know she’s non-white? She could be a white who has been oppressed for 500 years by Indios who refuse to speak Spanish properly.
Public service: helping the Third World fight the Daves’ oppression by outsourcing American jobs to non-Anglo-Americans willing to work for $2 per day.
Carolina: Job searching is difficult for everyone, but in a world full of Daves, it’s almost impossible,” she wrote. “Daves are people who look at my family and immediately think less of us. They think illegal, poor and uneducated.
Michelle: [T]hey will make assumptions about who they think you are based on their limited notion of the world. . . . [N]o matter how far you rise in life, how hard you work to be a good person, a good parent, a good citizen -- for some folks, it will never be enough.
Carolina: Daves never allow my dad to pass the first round of job applications.
Michelle: [We know] the fear that your job application will be overlooked because of the way your name sounds
Carolina: Daves watch like hawks as my brother and I enter stores.
Michelle: We’ve both felt the sting of those daily slights throughout our entire lives -- the folks who crossed the street in fear of their safety; the clerks who kept a close eye on us in all those department stores
Carolina: Daves inconsiderately correct my mother’s grammar.
Michelle: We’ve both felt the sting of . . . those who have questioned our intelligence
These extended whines practically write themselves!Replies: @Buzz Mohawk
Hmm…well, I am still smarting from the spanking I got for denying Oprah’s awesomeness here. Maybe FLOTUS has a point…
her first choices were Standford and Princeton
The Washington Post did an article on her when she was in High School. No mention of Dave, but her father had a job as a parking valet. Centreville seems like a nice area.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/fairfax-program-seeks-to-close-the-excellence-gap/2014/04/10/21711a80-a2f0-11e3-84d4-e59b1709222c_story.html
Sixteen-year-old Carolina Sosa grabs one end of a scrolled piece of white card stock and gives the other end to her mom. Standing in the dining room of their Centreville home, they are both grinning broadly as they unfurl an oversize check for $1,000, the winnings of a 2012 essay contest on Hispanic heritage.
“Honor roll, honor roll, tutoring, Girl Scouts,” Sosa says, flipping through papers that fan out across the dining room table. “This is from the Hispanic leadership program this summer. This is from when I spoke at the Fairfax AP summit.” She’s a naturally animated speaker, but there’s an extra trill of excitement in her voice as she grabs the next document. “This is from the awards ceremony where I met Hillary Clinton. That was so cool.”
She demonstrates leadership potential.
"Latinas hate hate hate beta White males"...that's going "Full Whiskey".
She's a delusional Latina bigot not part of a genocidal government system.Replies: @Wyrd, @Desiderius, @TSTCLRFRTTD, @Whiskey
I thought the kulak thing was a metaphor for (exploited) member of productive middle class majority.
"Latinas hate hate hate beta White males"...that's going "Full Whiskey".
She's a delusional Latina bigot not part of a genocidal government system.Replies: @Wyrd, @Desiderius, @TSTCLRFRTTD, @Whiskey
Always go full Whiskey. Latinas do hate hate hate beta White males. Brutality creates desire in women. Banality, hate.
In my neck off the woods, we call these sneering, pasty-oppressor types “the Bobs.”
BTW, how much does it cost to get someone to ghostwrite my TPS reports?
(Office Space is one of my top ten favorite movies of all time!)
Whoever you hire to write your TPS reports, just make sure they put cover sheets on them. Didn’t you get the memo?
(Office Space is one of my top ten favorite movies of all time!)
Dave Clark Five at it again?
“Daves never allow my dad to pass the first round of job applications. Daves watch like hawks as my brother and I enter stores. Daves inconsiderately correct my mother’s grammar.”
Daves try to help her parents speak better English? If her parents heed the advice of Daves, wouldn’t they have better prospects applying for jobs?
And if US has too many bad Daves, why not move to a country with a lot of good Pacos?
At least Dave Letterman is retiring.
doubt she is Mexican or Dominican, more likely white cuban like Cameron DiazReplies: @Jefferson
“I assume this women is a white, probably would be called considered a “white” Hispanic if she commits a crime.
doubt she is Mexican or Dominican, more likely white cuban like Cameron Diaz”
I found a picture of her and she is definitely not White, let alone blonde haired and blue eyed like Cameron Diaz.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEGCdVADLWYReplies: @stillCARealist, @ChaseBizzy
That song was playing in my head while reading this post and look what I found in the comments.
I suppose that until Hellary is elected nobody would dare complain about The Bills.
When hating the society in which you live is a prerequisite for admissions to higher ed and the ruling class, the country is doomed.
Here she is:
(Watch the interview itself for the best view.)
She’s about as mestizo-looking as my Hispanic mother, who identifies as white. If this girl’s last name were De Luca or Nikolaidis, you wouldn’t bat an eye.
Also, all the pictures of her family in the video demonstrate that she was raised in a solidly middle class home.
I have found a quick trip to Buffalo in the late autumn will usually fill you with all the complaining you wish to hear about The Bills for one lifetime.
Well, on the other hand, I have to confess…I’m not really a big fan of “the Pedros,” and all of the stereotypical attributes that are associated with them.
Yeah, it was pretty bad but also pretty funny.The guy singing looked like he was wearing mom jeans.
Daves watch like hawks as my brother and I enter stores.
Pity there are no Daves watching the border.
“Here she is:
(Watch the interview itself for the best view.)
She’s about as mestizo-looking as my Hispanic mother, who identifies as white. If this girl’s last name were De Luca or Nikolaidis, you wouldn’t bat an eye.
Also, all the pictures of her family in the video demonstrate that she was raised in a solidly middle class home.”
She looks like a typical New World Mixed Race Latin American. She looks less White in phenotype than the vast majority of Jews and I am pretty confident she has more Sub Saharan and Amerindian genes than Jews.
It’s funny that many of Steve’s reader see Mixed Race Latin Americans as being Whiter than pure Caucasoid Jews. The only conclusion from this is that the reason Steve’s fan see Jews as “Nonwhite” has more to do with politics and less to do with racial genetics/racial purity. When you use politics instead of racial genes/racial purity to decide who is White and who is not, no wonder many people say the White race and race in general is a social construct. Oh we see Mixed Race Latin Americans as less of a political threat to WASPs, so that makes them “Whiter” than Jews. Eva Longoria is “Whiter” than Amy Schumer even though Eva Longoria is genetically 30 percent Non Caucasoid according to her DNA test.
Actually, HR is primarily staffed by LaShaundras.
Daves watch like hawks as my brother and I enter stores.
Actually, those are Muhammeds and Kim Sungs looking at you. Is this girl pretending to be blind?
Daves inconsiderately correct my mother’s grammar.
Sadly, no one does that anymore at all.Replies: @Anonymous
I think she originally wrote the Dovs; it’s obvious to me Ms. Sosa is a vicious anti-semite (David is still a semitic name), I can only fathom the sort of “final solutions” she has for the “Dovs” when she gets a career in public service.
I’m a real life Dave that lives 10 minutes from Centreville Va. Centreville used to be a typical American suburb about 10 years ago but is now a Latino and Korean enclave just north of Bull Run Battlefield.
Usually I’d assume this young lady is Central American but she looks very “gringoish” compared to most of the Latinas in Virginia.
Every blue collar job in Fairfax is dominated Latinos who speak no English so I have no idea what she’s talking about in concern to her father’s employability.
Label her essay under Stuff That Never Happened.
Mr. Sailer,
You made an astute observation.
Though both David and Dov are Ashkenazi given names, a survey of 200 year old tombstones in the cemetery of my shteytl Siret (Sereth Bukowina Austria at the burial times) Dov or Dov-Ber is the most frequent male name. David is way less frequent.
Dov means bear in Hebrew; and Bär means bear in German.
i transliterated the Yiddish (spelled with Hebrew letters) to Ber in Latin letters above
No, numb nuts, Jews are white, too. I grew up in minority-majority areas of L.A. and San Bernardino Counties, so I just have a very different idea about who is actually “not white.” When a good portion of the Messicans you see look like Amerinds, then no, this girl does not set off my “not white” meter.
Also, where the hell on an iSteve thread can you find anyone saying Amy Schumer is more or less white than Eva Longoria? Now you’re just making shit up.