Ivy Day. Good luck everyone!

[Anonymous]

These posts and similar discussions on bigger boards show that stats alone really only matter to a point. This isn't South Korea when it comes to the importance of #s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Brown: Rejected
UPen: accepted
Harvard: accepted
4.6 GPA
11 APs all 5s
1540 SAT
Great EC

URM? Athlete?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These posts and similar discussions on bigger boards show that stats alone really only matter to a point. This isn't South Korea when it comes to the importance of #s.

Right. Which means that the PP with the twelve-year soccer player is either a troll or not telling us one of the other hooks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If that’s what people on here mean when they say “Great ECs” my kid has a better shot than I thought. I though “Great ECs” meant State champion sprinter and Academic Decathalon 2d Place. The stuff listed by pp is attainable!

music though I think is the real EC schools like to see even if it's not national level.

Where is your evidence for this?

Yes, I'd wonder about thus. But Harvard does like well rounded and especially looks for commitment to service. Still think PP's kid is probably not applying from DMV though.

I also think there are hooks we're not be told about. My kid with these kind of stats and ECs was competing with classmates with patents for detecting eye diseases or who had discovered solutions to math mysteries that university professors hadn't been able to solve in the last 100 years. I also wonder about whether participation in girl scouts and bumble bee soccer in kindergarten should count.

Lots of kids only have access to Girl Scouts & “bumblebee soccer” as extracurriculars.

Sure, but we were told only to include high school ECs, not stuff our kid was doing when they were 5. Bumblebee soccer is what they do when they are 5 when the whole team is swarming after the ball.

If there are lifelong ECs that are passions and show service and/or commitment, unfortunately you were given bad advice.

That's not bad advice, the apps specifically say you can only list grades 9-12. The way to include those lifelong things is more subtly in the essay and supplementals. But you do include them, so you both are right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brown: Rejected
UPen: accepted
Harvard: accepted
4.6 GPA
11 APs all 5s
1540 SAT
Great EC

URM? Athlete?

I am the poster. I am shocked to see some of these reactions. Here is a little background.
We are in Virginia but not in DVM. She will be indeed the first in the family to attend a 4-year college.
She handled all her college stuff. Father is a blue-collar worker and I work in health care.
At the start of the process, she only applied to two schools: UVA and VCU. But the school called
a meeting and urge us to consider top out-of-state schools. They specifically said that our daughter was
underselling herself. Applying to these schools or even getting accepted was not on our radar until this meeting with the school.
It was at this point, I started doing some research and started reading stuff on this forum.

She also had a good interview. The interviewer specifically said that it was his best interview.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brown: Rejected
UPen: accepted
Harvard: accepted
4.6 GPA
11 APs all 5s
1540 SAT
Great EC

URM? Athlete?

I am the poster. I am shocked to see some of these reactions. Here is a little background.
We are in Virginia but not in DVM. She will be indeed the first in the family to attend a 4-year college.
She handled all her college stuff. Father is a blue-collar worker and I work in health care.
At the start of the process, she only applied to two schools: UVA and VCU. But the school called
a meeting and urge us to consider top out-of-state schools. They specifically said that our daughter was
underselling herself. Applying to these schools or even getting accepted was not on our radar until this meeting with the school.
It was at this point, I started doing some research and started reading stuff on this forum.

She also had a good interview. The interviewer specifically said that it was his best interview.

Congrats to you and your husband for raising such an impressive child.

(And kudos to your school for appreciating her potential, and helping you design your search).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brown: Rejected
UPen: accepted
Harvard: accepted
4.6 GPA
11 APs all 5s
1540 SAT
Great EC

URM? Athlete?

I am the poster. I am shocked to see some of these reactions. Here is a little background.
We are in Virginia but not in DVM. She will be indeed the first in the family to attend a 4-year college.
She handled all her college stuff. Father is a blue-collar worker and I work in health care.
At the start of the process, she only applied to two schools: UVA and VCU. But the school called
a meeting and urge us to consider top out-of-state schools. They specifically said that our daughter was
underselling herself. Applying to these schools or even getting accepted was not on our radar until this meeting with the school.
It was at this point, I started doing some research and started reading stuff on this forum.

She also had a good interview. The interviewer specifically said that it was his best interview.

Congrats to you and your husband for raising such an impressive child.

(And kudos to your school for appreciating her potential, and helping you design your search).

Yes congrats and best of luck to DC. Take advantage of all resources offered to adjust to life at a place like Harvard and Penn. The harsh, unforgiving attitude seen here will also be present at these places so prepare your DC. But there are great folks there too and she needs to find them.

[Anonymous]

Congratulations, your daughter has done well. Her profile would appeal to colleges more than the deluge of NOVA kids because of admissions priorities. Our counselor kind of rolled her eyes when we mentioned ivies because he was such a NOVA stereotype.

You might want to check what kind of programs the university offers to first generation students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If that’s what people on here mean when they say “Great ECs” my kid has a better shot than I thought. I though “Great ECs” meant State champion sprinter and Academic Decathalon 2d Place. The stuff listed by pp is attainable!

music though I think is the real EC schools like to see even if it's not national level.

Where is your evidence for this?

Yes, I'd wonder about thus. But Harvard does like well rounded and especially looks for commitment to service. Still think PP's kid is probably not applying from DMV though.

I also think there are hooks we're not be told about. My kid with these kind of stats and ECs was competing with classmates with patents for detecting eye diseases or who had discovered solutions to math mysteries that university professors hadn't been able to solve in the last 100 years. I also wonder about whether participation in girl scouts and bumble bee soccer in kindergarten should count.

If commitment to GS is serious, on track for silver or gold award, that definitely counts. Just like Eagle Scout is taken seriously.

Eagle scout is not taken "seriously" in the sense of pushing someone up an admitted list. MAYBE it can be a deal sealer between two otherwise truly equal candidates.
In scouts, you need to check various boxes like camping X number of days a night and earning badges for relatively simple tasks - it is not a reflection of high abilities necessarily. Longevity, yes. But you can also get longevity by doing the bumble bee soccer, junior travel soccer, and junior varsity soccer, without being anything close to a star player.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brown: Rejected
UPen: accepted
Harvard: accepted
4.6 GPA
11 APs all 5s
1540 SAT
Great EC

URM? Athlete?

I am the poster. I am shocked to see some of these reactions. Here is a little background.
We are in Virginia but not in DVM. She will be indeed the first in the family to attend a 4-year college.
She handled all her college stuff. Father is a blue-collar worker and I work in health care.
At the start of the process, she only applied to two schools: UVA and VCU. But the school called
a meeting and urge us to consider top out-of-state schools. They specifically said that our daughter was
underselling herself. Applying to these schools or even getting accepted was not on our radar until this meeting with the school.
It was at this point, I started doing some research and started reading stuff on this forum.

She also had a good interview. The interviewer specifically said that it was his best interview.

As a 1st family member at college encourage her to reach out to a counselor for questions that parents who went to college usually answer. Don’t be shy about getting help.

There are free tutors especially for writing. Don’t be shy, don’t think she should automatically know how to write at a college level.

Google imposters syndrome… everyone get it , it’s a normal feeling.

Really hard classes like organic Chem… take them in the summer at a Community College and transfer the credit.

Some classes are called weed classes specifically designed hoping students will change majors to something easier like communications.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If that’s what people on here mean when they say “Great ECs” my kid has a better shot than I thought. I though “Great ECs” meant State champion sprinter and Academic Decathalon 2d Place. The stuff listed by pp is attainable!

music though I think is the real EC schools like to see even if it's not national level.

Where is your evidence for this?

Yes, I'd wonder about thus. But Harvard does like well rounded and especially looks for commitment to service. Still think PP's kid is probably not applying from DMV though.

I also think there are hooks we're not be told about. My kid with these kind of stats and ECs was competing with classmates with patents for detecting eye diseases or who had discovered solutions to math mysteries that university professors hadn't been able to solve in the last 100 years. I also wonder about whether participation in girl scouts and bumble bee soccer in kindergarten should count.

If commitment to GS is serious, on track for silver or gold award, that definitely counts. Just like Eagle Scout is taken seriously.

Eagle scout is not taken "seriously" in the sense of pushing someone up an admitted list. MAYBE it can be a deal sealer between two otherwise truly equal candidates.
In scouts, you need to check various boxes like camping X number of days a night and earning badges for relatively simple tasks - it is not a reflection of high abilities necessarily. Longevity, yes. But you can also get longevity by doing the bumble bee soccer, junior travel soccer, and junior varsity soccer, without being anything close to a star player.

There's a big difference between Eagle Scout ladder and Gold Award. Gold award is all about self-motivation, and designing a project that meets a need in your community. I would classify the pre-requisites as "mini-projects" to get the Scouts' heads in the game for the big deal project.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brown: Rejected
UPen: accepted
Harvard: accepted
4.6 GPA
11 APs all 5s
1540 SAT
Great EC

URM? Athlete?

I am the poster. I am shocked to see some of these reactions. Here is a little background.
We are in Virginia but not in DVM. She will be indeed the first in the family to attend a 4-year college.
She handled all her college stuff. Father is a blue-collar worker and I work in health care.
At the start of the process, she only applied to two schools: UVA and VCU. But the school called
a meeting and urge us to consider top out-of-state schools. They specifically said that our daughter was
underselling herself. Applying to these schools or even getting accepted was not on our radar until this meeting with the school.
It was at this point, I started doing some research and started reading stuff on this forum.

She also had a good interview. The interviewer specifically said that it was his best interview.

I don't know what's wrong with all these other people. It sounds like you have raised a smart, hard working, committed, young lady, and she will do very well wherever she goes. Much luck to her, and I hope she changes the world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brown: Rejected
UPen: accepted
Harvard: accepted
4.6 GPA
11 APs all 5s
1540 SAT
Great EC

URM? Athlete?

I am the poster. I am shocked to see some of these reactions. Here is a little background.
We are in Virginia but not in DVM. She will be indeed the first in the family to attend a 4-year college.
She handled all her college stuff. Father is a blue-collar worker and I work in health care.
At the start of the process, she only applied to two schools: UVA and VCU. But the school called
a meeting and urge us to consider top out-of-state schools. They specifically said that our daughter was
underselling herself. Applying to these schools or even getting accepted was not on our radar until this meeting with the school.
It was at this point, I started doing some research and started reading stuff on this forum.

She also had a good interview. The interviewer specifically said that it was his best interview.

I don't know what's wrong with all these other people. It sounds like you have raised a smart, hard working, committed, young lady, and she will do very well wherever she goes. Much luck to her, and I hope she changes the world.

People were reacting to the fact that the poster didn't initially mention that her daughter was first gen. If she had said that from the start, everyone would have understood why she was accepted to Harvard and Penn. That's almost certainly why her daughter was accepted, not because of her "Great ECs." There are nothing wrong w/ hooks, but people should be upfront. Otherwise it's a misrepresentation and gives others false hope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brown: Rejected
UPen: accepted
Harvard: accepted
4.6 GPA
11 APs all 5s
1540 SAT
Great EC

URM? Athlete?

I am the poster. I am shocked to see some of these reactions. Here is a little background.
We are in Virginia but not in DVM. She will be indeed the first in the family to attend a 4-year college.
She handled all her college stuff. Father is a blue-collar worker and I work in health care.
At the start of the process, she only applied to two schools: UVA and VCU. But the school called
a meeting and urge us to consider top out-of-state schools. They specifically said that our daughter was
underselling herself. Applying to these schools or even getting accepted was not on our radar until this meeting with the school.
It was at this point, I started doing some research and started reading stuff on this forum.

She also had a good interview. The interviewer specifically said that it was his best interview.

As a 1st family member at college encourage her to reach out to a counselor for questions that parents who went to college usually answer. Don’t be shy about getting help.

There are free tutors especially for writing. Don’t be shy, don’t think she should automatically know how to write at a college level.

Google imposters syndrome… everyone get it , it’s a normal feeling.

Really hard classes like organic Chem… take them in the summer at a Community College and transfer the credit.

Some classes are called weed classes specifically designed hoping students will change majors to something easier like communications.

WHy would you give such random, unsolicited advice? Just because she’s 1st gen doesn’t mean she’ll get imposter syndrome or require tutoring for writing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brown: Rejected
UPen: accepted
Harvard: accepted
4.6 GPA
11 APs all 5s
1540 SAT
Great EC

URM? Athlete?

I am the poster. I am shocked to see some of these reactions. Here is a little background.
We are in Virginia but not in DVM. She will be indeed the first in the family to attend a 4-year college.
She handled all her college stuff. Father is a blue-collar worker and I work in health care.
At the start of the process, she only applied to two schools: UVA and VCU. But the school called
a meeting and urge us to consider top out-of-state schools. They specifically said that our daughter was
underselling herself. Applying to these schools or even getting accepted was not on our radar until this meeting with the school.
It was at this point, I started doing some research and started reading stuff on this forum.

She also had a good interview. The interviewer specifically said that it was his best interview.

As a 1st family member at college encourage her to reach out to a counselor for questions that parents who went to college usually answer. Don’t be shy about getting help.

There are free tutors especially for writing. Don’t be shy, don’t think she should automatically know how to write at a college level.

Google imposters syndrome… everyone get it , it’s a normal feeling.

Really hard classes like organic Chem… take them in the summer at a Community College and transfer the credit.

Some classes are called weed classes specifically designed hoping students will change majors to something easier like communications.

WHy would you give such random, unsolicited advice? Just because she’s 1st gen doesn’t mean she’ll get imposter syndrome or require tutoring for writing.

That is good advice for every first year...not just first gen