NYT: "Peak College Admissions Insanity"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean forget elite schools. The insanity goes beyond the Ivy League. Flagship state schools are very, very competitive.

This is what’s scary to me. When we are telling kids with basically perfect GPAs who took all the hardest classes at their school “you might not get into Maryland” there is something wrong with the system. The top state college should be able to accept and educate our state’s top students.

Yup. Like elite isn’t even in the cards for my kids. I’m not vying to have my kids rub elbows with the 1%. I just want my above average but not super star kids to get a solid education. And don’t even get me started on the cost of Virginia state schools. I feel like the article (and DCUM) are just tone deaf. Am I supposed to shed tears for the UMC/UC who can afford the best private high schools and colleges bc they might have to settle for Wesleyan?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the many sad parts about that article is that the rich but smart kid who wasn't burdened by a need for financial aid only got into her places where her parents were legacies (Dartmouth, UVA).

Another person who didn't read the article carefully. She was also admitted to Johns Hopkins and Michigan/OOS.

Sure, but did you miss the part where she was rejected by Duke, Vanderbilt, Stanford, Columbia, USC and even wait listed at Northeastern? There's a good deal of randomness in college admissions, but no one can argue that being a legacy (which statistically has been white affirmative action) gives students a huge boost.

[Anonymous]

What boost did she receive in being admitted to Johns Hopkins and Michigan?

[Anonymous]

I have no issues with my kid doing a trade school. DC will own their own business, hire your kids from top colleges to work for them and make a zillion dollars. They will not be sitting in an office all day working 60 hours/wk for someone else to make money off them and living for holidays/weekends. They will think for themselves and offer tangible solutions for their clients.

[Anonymous]

I reject at least 90% of the MBA candidates I hire because I only have x number of headcount to hire. It will never be enough good stuff from a candidate - your kids will never be good "enough" - the competition will never end. It's the rat race. Make no mistake. EVERY single one of the resumes are top tier I read. It's really about how they look, talk and whether I instinctively like them or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean forget elite schools. The insanity goes beyond the Ivy League. Flagship state schools are very, very competitive.

This is what’s scary to me. When we are telling kids with basically perfect GPAs who took all the hardest classes at their school “you might not get into Maryland” there is something wrong with the system. The top state college should be able to accept and educate our state’s top students.

Yup. Like elite isn’t even in the cards for my kids. I’m not vying to have my kids rub elbows with the 1%. I just want my above average but not super star kids to get a solid education. And don’t even get me started on the cost of Virginia state schools. I feel like the article (and DCUM) are just tone deaf. Am I supposed to shed tears for the UMC/UC who can afford the best private high schools and colleges bc they might have to settle for Wesleyan?

Seems like MD should follow states like TX and guarantee admission for anyone in the top 5% - 10% of the class. Tell those kids they have to decide to attend by 11/1 (with appropriate FA information) or they lose their guaranteed admission.

The UMD yield rate is only 29%, so the system seems broken for both the applicant and school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What boost did she receive in being admitted to Johns Hopkins and Michigan?

Michigan's out of state acceptance rate is 23%. Dartmouth's is 6.3%.Not comparable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have no issues with my kid doing a trade school. DC will own their own business, hire your kids from top colleges to work for them and make a zillion dollars. They will not be sitting in an office all day working 60 hours/wk for someone else to make money off them and living for holidays/weekends. They will think for themselves and offer tangible solutions for their clients.

You might want to look at average trade school outcomes vs. average 4 year college outcomes. The odds are that you kids will be 40 with broken bodies still working for an hourly wage

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What boost did she receive in being admitted to Johns Hopkins and Michigan?

Michigan's out of state acceptance rate is 23%. Dartmouth's is 6.3%.Not comparable.

Michigan's out of state applicant pool in winnowed due to cost and a lack of aid for out of state students. Dartmouth advertises itself as affordable no matter how little your parents make

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the many sad parts about that article is that the rich but smart kid who wasn't burdened by a need for financial aid only got into her places where her parents were legacies (Dartmouth, UVA).

She also got into Michigan and Johns Hopkins so she had solid options. So much of it when you come from a small private is who you are applying against from your same school which is why the need for 15+ applications arises.

This!!
I lived this year. And no one talks about it. Private high schools generally do well, but the competition from your peers is what leads to the crazy strategies.

It's also a completely toxic environment for the kids, but that's the subject of another post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have no issues with my kid doing a trade school. DC will own their own business, hire your kids from top colleges to work for them and make a zillion dollars. They will not be sitting in an office all day working 60 hours/wk for someone else to make money off them and living for holidays/weekends. They will think for themselves and offer tangible solutions for their clients.

This is a good plan until your DC hurts themselves, falls, breaks a hip. Small business owners work 24/7. Have the headache of making payroll. Deciding if they can cover insurance for a growing business. There is no vacation until they get to later stages of a mature business, which can take 20+ years. A friend has a business with now 50 employees. It took them 15 years and a ton of debt and living on one income to get to where they are now and while they have some money finally they also cannot let up the gas pedal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What boost did she receive in being admitted to Johns Hopkins and Michigan?

Michigan's out of state acceptance rate is 23%. Dartmouth's is 6.3%.Not comparable.

Given that Johns Hopkins has an acceptance rate in the single digits, would it have been aberrant for her to have been accepted to Dartmouth or UVA without legacy status?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What boost did she receive in being admitted to Johns Hopkins and Michigan?

Michigan's out of state acceptance rate is 23%. Dartmouth's is 6.3%.Not comparable.

Michigan's out of state applicant pool in winnowed due to cost and a lack of aid for out of state students. Dartmouth advertises itself as affordable no matter how little your parents make

That may be true but Michigan's undergrad population is 50K+ Dartmouth is 5K. There are hard data showing they are not equivalent in selectivity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I reject at least 90% of the MBA candidates I hire because I only have x number of headcount to hire. It will never be enough good stuff from a candidate - your kids will never be good "enough" - the competition will never end. It's the rat race. Make no mistake. EVERY single one of the resumes are top tier I read. It's really about how they look, talk and whether I instinctively like them or not.

When I hire, its whether or not I'd like to be stuck in a conference room or airport with them for 10+ hours...how interesting are they, how well traveled, well read, what do they do for fun etc.
All of the brains/knowledge is relatively the same at this level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the many sad parts about that article is that the rich but smart kid who wasn't burdened by a need for financial aid only got into her places where her parents were legacies (Dartmouth, UVA).

Another person who didn't read the article carefully. She was also admitted to Johns Hopkins and Michigan/OOS.

Sure, but did you miss the part where she was rejected by Duke, Vanderbilt, Stanford, Columbia, USC and even wait listed at Northeastern? There's a good deal of randomness in college admissions, but no one can argue that being a legacy (which statistically has been white affirmative action) gives students a huge boost.

It was really random this year too.
Lots of Cornell rejects who got into Yale. Lots of Dartmouth rejects who got into Duke.
Weird.