Pay-to-play EC

[Anonymous]

I thought of Regeneron awards as a "pure" EC, but then I met someone who paid for her kid to be mentored in a lab for the summer, in a different city - she paid for her child to fly and live there for 2 months while doing the research and offered the researchers funding as well.

[Anonymous]

Not to take away from the students' efforts, but let’s be honest — many of them are overloaded, high-achieving kids with a long list of accomplishments. Has this become the standard package for elite or competitive high school applicants? Wouldn’t admissions officers question whether these accomplishments are genuine passions, just box-checking, or simply the result of being resourceful upper-middle-class students?

[Anonymous]

I have interviewed for a top school and I generally prefer a kid who worked as a camp counselor or scooping ice cream or waiting tables over kids in these programs. Unless it is very, very clear that the internship/research opportunity is really legit. The burden of proof is on them to prove it - I will assume it is garbage.

Note that the counselor/scooper/waiter has to do it for the whole summer - I have interviewed kids who took a victory lap because they did one of those for a week or two. Not so fast.

[Anonymous]

I feel the same — when I interview for my alma mater, a lot of these high-achieving students basically scream, 'I come from wealth and privilege.'

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The two biggest ones I see are:
* Internships
* Research experiences

Genuinely curious but why would anyone pay for research experiences? So many university faculty that have NSF research grants would love to work with high school students and most universities have extensive high school research opportunity programs.

Many university faculty barely work with undergrads. They certainly do not want to work with high school students.

I haven't found any free research opportunity programs at universities for high school students. Could you please provide a few examples?

https://science.gmu.edu/assip
https://geog.umd.edu/high-school-hub/high-school-internship-program-hip
MIT Primes and Primes USA (the latter is remote)
http://jewell.umd.edu/outreach.html
https://www.ibbr.umd.edu/internship-application
APL has several high school research programs

And these are just a fraction. Many math professors at UMD run high school research activities. Some might be old pages but it doesn't hurt to reach out and ask.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not to take away from the students' efforts, but let’s be honest — many of them are overloaded, high-achieving kids with a long list of accomplishments. Has this become the standard package for elite or competitive high school applicants? Wouldn’t admissions officers question whether these accomplishments are genuine passions, just box-checking, or simply the result of being resourceful upper-middle-class students?

Kids are evaluated in the context of their schools. AOs are not evaluating them against kids from under-resourced schools.
If their school is UMC, there is no issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel the same — when I interview for my alma mater, a lot of these high-achieving students basically scream, 'I come from wealth and privilege.'

But, what if they do come from wealth and privilege? Why do they need to be something they aren’t to impress you. Why can’t they live their own authentic life. Can’t a kid who is high achieving just be recognized for their achievements. A 1600 on the SAT is still a 1600 even if you summer in Maine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which exactly did you have in mind? Ones where you can practically buy the win? If they're in niche fields, most college admissions officers won't even know they're pay-to-play.

Beyond those, I have to say, most extra-curriculars are pay-to-play to an extent.

Everyone's doing similar ones:
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1233143.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is also common for parents to fund nonprofits or startups for their kids.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With so many pay-to-play activities out there, can admissions officers at elite colleges tell the difference? Or do they not care because it shows the student is resourceful?

Why does it matter? I actually want AOs to know that we are full pay parents who do not need FA - that's going to be a boost in this admissions cycle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With so many pay-to-play activities out there, can admissions officers at elite colleges tell the difference? Or do they not care because it shows the student is resourceful?

Why does it matter? I actually want AOs to know that we are full pay parents who do not need FA - that's going to be a boost in this admissions cycle.

Sorry, but your post made me chuckle. It's great that you have resources—just like the countless parents around the world who are eager to get their kids into Harvard.