Does your Big3 preferentially advocate for the kids of big donors at college application time?

[Anonymous]

Hmm, interesting question. I worked at a big 3 and I wouldn’t say they advocated at colleges for the big donors kids BUT often the people who are big donors are also legacy and also development cases at many top colleges which are hooks. Other things I observed, the big donor kids tended to get the “better” of the college counselors, or the head of department etc. also without exception they had independent college counselors that guided the student and family through the process with kid gloves and polished the applications. That matters more than the school counselor who can only do so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely true at SFS. No sour grapes here because our kids did great in college admissions, but, yes, of course there's special treatment for the children of big donors in college admissions and in every respect except serious disciplinary matters.

Nope. That might be your perception but it isn't reality.

I've had three kids at SFS; two of whom have graduated, and I stand by my statement. Your perception might be different from mine, but that doesn't mean you've got the bead on reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely true at SFS. No sour grapes here because our kids did great in college admissions, but, yes, of course there's special treatment for the children of big donors in college admissions and in every respect except serious disciplinary matters.

Nope. That might be your perception but it isn't reality.

I've had three kids at SFS; two of whom have graduated, and I stand by my statement. Your perception might be different from mine, but that doesn't mean you've got the bead on reality.

DP. If this is reality, it should be easy for you to provide some facts about what this special treatment entails.

Personally, having gone through the process with one student so far, I don’t see how it’s possible that SFS could pull off something like that. They are way too disorganized and incompetent administratively, all the way up to Bryan’s office, to do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely true at SFS. No sour grapes here because our kids did great in college admissions, but, yes, of course there's special treatment for the children of big donors in college admissions and in every respect except serious disciplinary matters.

Nope. That might be your perception but it isn't reality.

I've had three kids at SFS; two of whom have graduated, and I stand by my statement. Your perception might be different from mine, but that doesn't mean you've got the bead on reality.

DP. If this is reality, it should be easy for you to provide some facts about what this special treatment entails.

Personally, having gone through the process with one student so far, I don’t see how it’s possible that SFS could pull off something like that. They are way too disorganized and incompetent administratively, all the way up to Bryan’s office, to do it.

Shots fired!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely true at SFS. No sour grapes here because our kids did great in college admissions, but, yes, of course there's special treatment for the children of big donors in college admissions and in every respect except serious disciplinary matters.

Nope. That might be your perception but it isn't reality.

I've had three kids at SFS; two of whom have graduated, and I stand by my statement. Your perception might be different from mine, but that doesn't mean you've got the bead on reality.

DP. If this is reality, it should be easy for you to provide some facts about what this special treatment entails.

Personally, having gone through the process with one student so far, I don’t see how it’s possible that SFS could pull off something like that. They are way too disorganized and incompetent administratively, all the way up to Bryan’s office, to do it.

Not to mention that the colleges are independent actors here. They don’t just take what’s offered so the idea that SFS could do anything here is kind of silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely true at SFS. No sour grapes here because our kids did great in college admissions, but, yes, of course there's special treatment for the children of big donors in college admissions and in every respect except serious disciplinary matters.

Nope. That might be your perception but it isn't reality.

I've had three kids at SFS; two of whom have graduated, and I stand by my statement. Your perception might be different from mine, but that doesn't mean you've got the bead on reality.

DP. If this is reality, it should be easy for you to provide some facts about what this special treatment entails.

Personally, having gone through the process with one student so far, I don’t see how it’s possible that SFS could pull off something like that. They are way too disorganized and incompetent administratively, all the way up to Bryan’s office, to do it.

Shots fired!

Pass the popcorn, honey!

[Anonymous]

OP, frankly, I think PITA DCs and parents are probably a bigger thumb on the scale than anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, frankly, I think PITA DCs and parents are probably a bigger thumb on the scale than anything.

What about parents that manage to put themselves front and center at every moment they can? They can’t volunteer or do a single good deed at their schools or in their community without making sure it gets on the schools social media page highlighting themselves and their children. Is every deed for show and attention? More importantly does this work in college admissions or can schools see through this sort of thing? I find it nauseating.

[Anonymous]

This whole thread is unhelpful speculation and unfounded commentary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hmm, interesting question. I worked at a big 3 and I wouldn’t say they advocated at colleges for the big donors kids BUT often the people who are big donors are also legacy and also development cases at many top colleges which are hooks. Other things I observed, the big donor kids tended to get the “better” of the college counselors, or the head of department etc. also without exception they had independent college counselors that guided the student and family through the process with kid gloves and polished the applications. That matters more than the school counselor who can only do so much.

The bolded is your answer. School counseling office does not need to advocate for these kids. They are already on the T10/Ivy radar screen. They also will have been using a private college counselor since freshman year so will have perfectly curated college application with the right activities/essays/classes/test scores/etc. Your big 3 counselors are really not able to advocate for kids like they were up until the early 2000s. College admissions just doesn't work this way anymore. Buyer beware if this is what you think you are paying a big3 for.

[Anonymous]

A good friend has three kids at a Big 3 school. She realized you have to look at the grade level your child is in and see how many recruited athletes and big donors there are. Her oldest had really good college acceptances and she feels like there weren’t a lot of really big donors/athletes in that graduating class. But her next child was stacked with athletes/big donors and feels like it hurt her child’s chances at certain colleges even though he had amazing stats. She felt like he was discouraged from some schools that athletes/donors’ kids were applying too.

Her youngest child she felt like it was another stacked year and her son wasn’t that into the private school. She moved him to public for high school and he ended up doing great in college admissions. She kept n touch with some of the moms and her bunch was correct. It looked like the private school did well in college admissions at elite schools but in reality so many were recruited athletes and big donors. A lot of really good students without hooks did not do very well that year in the private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely true at SFS. No sour grapes here because our kids did great in college admissions, but, yes, of course there's special treatment for the children of big donors in college admissions and in every respect except serious disciplinary matters.

Nope. That might be your perception but it isn't reality.

I've had three kids at SFS; two of whom have graduated, and I stand by my statement. Your perception might be different from mine, but that doesn't mean you've got the bead on reality.

DP. If this is reality, it should be easy for you to provide some facts about what this special treatment entails.

Personally, having gone through the process with one student so far, I don’t see how it’s possible that SFS could pull off something like that. They are way too disorganized and incompetent administratively, all the way up to Bryan’s office, to do it.

Well, I didn't say they were effective in their advocacy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely true at SFS. No sour grapes here because our kids did great in college admissions, but, yes, of course there's special treatment for the children of big donors in college admissions and in every respect except serious disciplinary matters.

Nope. That might be your perception but it isn't reality.

I've had three kids at SFS; two of whom have graduated, and I stand by my statement. Your perception might be different from mine, but that doesn't mean you've got the bead on reality.

DP. If this is reality, it should be easy for you to provide some facts about what this special treatment entails.

Personally, having gone through the process with one student so far, I don’t see how it’s possible that SFS could pull off something like that. They are way too disorganized and incompetent administratively, all the way up to Bryan’s office, to do it.

Not to mention that the colleges are independent actors here. They don’t just take what’s offered so the idea that SFS could do anything here is kind of silly.

Not judging, but it’s not 1999. Are colleges seriously accepting calls on behalf of students nowadays?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely true at SFS. No sour grapes here because our kids did great in college admissions, but, yes, of course there's special treatment for the children of big donors in college admissions and in every respect except serious disciplinary matters.

Nope. That might be your perception but it isn't reality.

I've had three kids at SFS; two of whom have graduated, and I stand by my statement. Your perception might be different from mine, but that doesn't mean you've got the bead on reality.

DP. If this is reality, it should be easy for you to provide some facts about what this special treatment entails.

Personally, having gone through the process with one student so far, I don’t see how it’s possible that SFS could pull off something like that. They are way too disorganized and incompetent administratively, all the way up to Bryan’s office, to do it.

Not to mention that the colleges are independent actors here. They don’t just take what’s offered so the idea that SFS could do anything here is kind of silly.

Not judging, but it’s not 1999. Are colleges seriously accepting calls on behalf of students nowadays?

Many Genx and Boomer parents at the Big3s just can't seem to wrap their minds around this, despite the college counseling office being up front about it. Your kid is getting into an ivy because of their accomplishments and your connections. Not the school's connections.

[Anonymous]

Folks with that sorta bank don’t need college counselors as the middle man.