The next day, the Times goes back to praising strivers with little academic talent but the "right" racial and socioeconomic backgrounds who are trying to get into top colleges:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/21/education/lets-get-ready-offers-help-for-college-admissions.html
Learning to Play the Game to Get Into College
By MICHAEL WINERIP
November 20, 2011

...

In case Nathaly is asked to describe herself in three words, she has picked them out: trustworthy, friendly and workaholic.

Those are the right words, said Ms. Lichtman, the math teacher, who will be writing a recommendation for Nathaly.

Her first two semesters in math, Nathaly got an 89 and an 86, but then fell apart on trigonometry, exponents and logarithms. �Fractions, the pi thing, oh my God,� Nathaly said.

For weeks she stayed after school for help.

Few students hoping to go to an elite college would ask for a recommendation from a teacher who gave them a C. Few teachers would give a C student a strong recommendation. �You know, I didn�t care about the final grade,� Ms. Lichtman said. �Nathaly showed me a work ethic that will make her successful in college and life, that�s what matters.�

<end of excerpt>

She does not sound like 4-year college material to me. I agree with comments 1, 5, 11, and 60 at the NYT site.