Did you opt in or out of the UMC admission game? Do you regret it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is wrong with test prep? Will that be your policy for MCAT, LSAT, GMAT? Just show up and wing it? So weird.

I’m not involved in their LSAT prep because that’s for grown adults with college degrees.

Land the helicopter already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some people on here think they’re doing their kids a favor by letting things fall where they may, but that supposes that their child’s viewpoint is sufficiently mature (both knowledge and experience = judgement). It isn’t.

In seventh grade, my kid was told by a teacher that a “B” is a good grade. In fact, it’s fine, but not if you want the best academic opportunities. We told him where he could go to college with a bunch of “Bs” vs “As,” and he never thought again that Bs were good enough.

I understand that every kid can’t take AP classes, get As, and a 1500 SAT, but if you never help your kid understand their options, they’ll find out too late and maybe set inappropriate goals.

My kids know numerous kids who got informed too late in their high school career to make a sufficient turnaround and landed in suboptimal situations. Not saying that’s the end of life, but why take those hits when they’re preventable?

I agree with this. We have a kid in younger high school who made a course selection that colleges won't look kindly on. We pointed this out and asked him how he felt about it - he's fine with it, so we'll see how that chip falls.

Other kid - first practice ACT was a good score, but not fantastic. Told her to look at where she'd get in with that score, and where she wouldn't get in, then let me know if she wanted to work with a test prep tutor. She did. She's now happily accepted at a very selective school that probably wouldn't have been an option without the prep.

So give them the choice, but help them make an informed one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We opted in. We technically won. Then we quickly realized it is all so pointless and superficial. I say this with all due respect: Get a life and stop living through your kids’ credentials. Literally nobody cares where your kids go to college. It’s a brief topic of conversation once maybe twice (decision time and dorm move-in) and that is literally it. After that it’s another round of status hoops like internships, fellowships, grad schools and full time offers. And who they’re dating and what prestige expensive city they’re living in. It never ends. Looking back the top high school students do well WHEREVER they go. Period. It is VERY predictable. Kids either have “it” when they’re 16 or 17 or they don’t. No amount of your lunatic tiger parenting is fundamentally changing your kids or fooling their professors, the people who can hire them, nor the peers you wish would date them.

This x a million
People here who claim it’s their duty to help their kids and you’re negligent if you don’t and their kids deserve the best opportunities…it’s all bs. It’s really them wanting to brag about their kids. Full stop.

They think it’ll change their families life and status. Spoiler: It doesn’t. These elite degrees are finishing school for nepo babies. Prole kids who get in are just sort of there. Then they go back home and have a supposedly fancy nobody really gives a damn about.

I would love for someone to point out a very famous or ultra successful person who started out middle class and was catapulted into the upper class just by using the Ivy+ degree.

If it’s the magic ticket surely there is no shortage of household names who have done this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is wrong with test prep? Will that be your policy for MCAT, LSAT, GMAT? Just show up and wing it? So weird.

I’m not involved in their LSAT prep because that’s for grown adults with college degrees.

Land the helicopter already.

Hey moron, I am talking about the philosophy that test prep is not necessary or is something “extra” that doesn’t need to be done by smart kids.

[Anonymous]

Our kid's high school counselor was super busy, largely unresponsive and often wrong. So we hired a college counselor for a few sessions (total cost about $800). She had many helpful suggestions and it was great having someone to go to for answers during the process. Absolutely necessary? No. But totally worth it for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is wrong with test prep? Will that be your policy for MCAT, LSAT, GMAT? Just show up and wing it? So weird.

I’m not involved in their LSAT prep because that’s for grown adults with college degrees.

Land the helicopter already.

Hey moron, I am talking about the philosophy that test prep is not necessary or is something “extra” that doesn’t need to be done by smart kids.

Hey shithead, why do you even care if your fully grown adult child presumably not living in your basement is studying.

Exactly the same as a 15 year old taking the PSAT, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We opted in. We technically won. Then we quickly realized it is all so pointless and superficial. I say this with all due respect: Get a life and stop living through your kids’ credentials. Literally nobody cares where your kids go to college. It’s a brief topic of conversation once maybe twice (decision time and dorm move-in) and that is literally it. After that it’s another round of status hoops like internships, fellowships, grad schools and full time offers. And who they’re dating and what prestige expensive city they’re living in. It never ends. Looking back the top high school students do well WHEREVER they go. Period. It is VERY predictable. Kids either have “it” when they’re 16 or 17 or they don’t. No amount of your lunatic tiger parenting is fundamentally changing your kids or fooling their professors, the people who can hire them, nor the peers you wish would date them.

This x a million
People here who claim it’s their duty to help their kids and you’re negligent if you don’t and their kids deserve the best opportunities…it’s all bs. It’s really them wanting to brag about their kids. Full stop.

They think it’ll change their families life and status. Spoiler: It doesn’t. These elite degrees are finishing school for nepo babies. Prole kids who get in are just sort of there taking up space. Then the proles who crawled in go back home and have a supposedly fancy degree nobody really gives a damn about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We opted in. We technically won. Then we quickly realized it is all so pointless and superficial. I say this with all due respect: Get a life and stop living through your kids’ credentials. Literally nobody cares where your kids go to college. It’s a brief topic of conversation once maybe twice (decision time and dorm move-in) and that is literally it. After that it’s another round of status hoops like internships, fellowships, grad schools and full time offers. And who they’re dating and what prestige expensive city they’re living in. It never ends. Looking back the top high school students do well WHEREVER they go. Period. It is VERY predictable. Kids either have “it” when they’re 16 or 17 or they don’t. No amount of your lunatic tiger parenting is fundamentally changing your kids or fooling their professors, the people who can hire them, nor the peers you wish would date them.

This x a million
People here who claim it’s their duty to help their kids and you’re negligent if you don’t and their kids deserve the best opportunities…it’s all bs. It’s really them wanting to brag about their kids. Full stop.

They think it’ll change their families life and status. Spoiler: It doesn’t. These elite degrees are finishing school for nepo babies. Prole kids who get in are just sort of there. Then they go back home and have a supposedly fancy nobody really gives a damn about.

I would love for someone to point out a very famous or ultra successful person who started out middle class and was catapulted into the upper class just by using the Ivy+ degree.

If it’s the magic ticket surely there is no shortage of household names who have done this.

There are no facts or data to back up the fantasies. Just insecure and batsh*t moms and dads with debilitating status and class obsessions trying to live through their teens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our kid's high school counselor was super busy, largely unresponsive and often wrong. So we hired a college counselor for a few sessions (total cost about $800). She had many helpful suggestions and it was great having someone to go to for answers during the process. Absolutely necessary? No. But totally worth it for us.

Simple math — students / counselors — would tell you a high school counselor isn’t going to be much help. And they frankly don’t care about your kid. And also it’s typically a freeloading job for lazy idiots. Just being honest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We opted in. We technically won. Then we quickly realized it is all so pointless and superficial. I say this with all due respect: Get a life and stop living through your kids’ credentials. Literally nobody cares where your kids go to college. It’s a brief topic of conversation once maybe twice (decision time and dorm move-in) and that is literally it. After that it’s another round of status hoops like internships, fellowships, grad schools and full time offers. And who they’re dating and what prestige expensive city they’re living in. It never ends. Looking back the top high school students do well WHEREVER they go. Period. It is VERY predictable. Kids either have “it” when they’re 16 or 17 or they don’t. No amount of your lunatic tiger parenting is fundamentally changing your kids or fooling their professors, the people who can hire them, nor the peers you wish would date them.

This x a million
People here who claim it’s their duty to help their kids and you’re negligent if you don’t and their kids deserve the best opportunities…it’s all bs. It’s really them wanting to brag about their kids. Full stop.

They think it’ll change their families life and status. Spoiler: It doesn’t. These elite degrees are finishing school for nepo babies. Prole kids who get in are just sort of there. Then they go back home and have a supposedly fancy nobody really gives a damn about.

I would love for someone to point out a very famous or ultra successful person who started out middle class and was catapulted into the upper class just by using the Ivy+ degree.

If it’s the magic ticket surely there is no shortage of household names who have done this.

There are no facts or data to back up the fantasies. Just insecure and batsh*t moms and dads with debilitating status and class obsessions trying to live through their teens.

You sound distinctly like sour grapes pp. What college did you go to? Describe your own ultra-success

[Anonymous]

Not opting out at all. I was talking tonight about how families each have a unique money culture. Some families value a big house and nice cars and don’t save for college. Some families value travel and will pull their kids out of school for experiences. I realized while talking to her that our family values coaches. I hired someone to help me write my resume recently. I use an interior designer to make big ticket decisions about my house. My kids have music lessons and private lessons for sports. My husband goes to physical therapy not for an injury, but to manage a chronic condition. At times we’ve both used therapy and personal trainers. In general, my family loves to hire an expert. When the time comes in a few years I fully assume we’ll be all-in on test prep and application advisory services. We’ve always been like this, but I listened to the Coaching session of Michael Lewis’s podcast Against the Rules and that supported my belief in paying for advice and coaching when you can.

[Anonymous]

All of life is a game isn’t it? You either get in the ring and play, give it a go, or you are fine sitting on the periphery mostly watching. And if you are fine being fine, you do you OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of life is a game isn’t it? You either get in the ring and play, give it a go, or you are fine sitting on the periphery mostly watching. And if you are fine being fine, you do you OP.

No. Life is not a game. At least, not one with "winners" and "losers." I'm really sorry for you that you don't know this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You don’t need to do all of “the things” but to do nothing, seems neglectful.

and the kids are going to be full of resent when they realize their colleagues are getting into T100s and they can't. Sorry. It is a game. A game of life. Like paying taxes and the other things we do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of life is a game isn’t it? You either get in the ring and play, give it a go, or you are fine sitting on the periphery mostly watching. And if you are fine being fine, you do you OP.

No. Life is not a game. At least, not one with "winners" and "losers." I'm really sorry for you that you don't know this.

Life is a game and college admissions is now a game. If you chose not to play, that's fine, but your kids will be at a disadvantage when it comes time to apply