Question for parents of kids accepted at an Ivy League school

[Anonymous]

This thread is for sharing information with parents who have to go through the process of college admissions and sharing this is a way to figure out which high school admissions counsellors are better in helping children with the application process. With a million families in this area with kids in high school I really don't think it is too identifying in any respect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is for sharing information with parents who have to go through the process of college admissions and sharing this is a way to figure out which high school admissions counsellors are better in helping children with the application process. With a million families in this area with kids in high school I really don't think it is too identifying in any respect.

Knowing the HS will not be enough. Individual counselor abilities vary widely within each school too. Counselors are assigned not requested. So, you get what you get.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC1: MCPS Magnet HS; accepted to Princeton, Columbia, & Brown (and non-Ivy Stanford); no help from counselor who steered DC to applying to UMD, U of DE, and SUNY-Binghamton (of counselor-recommended colleges, DC only to apply UMD and was accepted into honors college & received merit scholarship). DC1 attends an Ivy.

DC2: MCPS "Red Zone" HS; accepted to Princeton, Yale & Dartmouth (and non-Ivy U of Chicago); counselor emphatically insisted that Ivies/20 top-ranked private schools were "beyond a reach" for DC but highly recommended top-ranked public schools like Berkeley, UVA, UNC-Chapel Hill, etc. (DC applied to counselor recommended colleges and was accepted). DC2 will attend an Ivy this fall.

For DC3 (MCPS MS) and DC4 (MCPS ES): We'll probably skip the college counseling altogether.

You must be a really proud parent....Why do you think your DC's High school counsellors discourage admission in an IVY league school. Are counsellors told to direct kids towards State colleges ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC1: MCPS Magnet HS; accepted to Princeton, Columbia, & Brown (and non-Ivy Stanford); no help from counselor who steered DC to applying to UMD, U of DE, and SUNY-Binghamton (of counselor-recommended colleges, DC only to apply UMD and was accepted into honors college & received merit scholarship). DC1 attends an Ivy.

DC2: MCPS "Red Zone" HS; accepted to Princeton, Yale & Dartmouth (and non-Ivy U of Chicago); counselor emphatically insisted that Ivies/20 top-ranked private schools were "beyond a reach" for DC but highly recommended top-ranked public schools like Berkeley, UVA, UNC-Chapel Hill, etc. (DC applied to counselor recommended colleges and was accepted). DC2 will attend an Ivy this fall.

For DC3 (MCPS MS) and DC4 (MCPS ES): We'll probably skip the college counseling altogether.

You must be a really proud parent....Why do you think your DC's High school counsellors discourage admission in an IVY league school. Are counsellors told to direct kids towards State colleges ?

I suspect it's because (1) the expectations are set low/lower for high-achieving non-magnet public school students, particularly at "red zone" schools like DC2's (i.e., pushed to apply to top publics but not Ivys/top privates), and (2) high-achieving magnet students are pushed to apply to schools were they're likely to get substantial merit aid/scholarships so that schools like DC1's can boast about the number of its students who, for example, received Banneker Key scholarships at UMD. I also think that getting into any Ivy/top-20 ranked school is pretty much a crap shoot (which is why I encouraged both DC1 and DC2 to apply to 4 of them, and was shocked that each was accepted to 3, including both being accepted and rejected/waitlisted by the same two Ivys they had in common--Princeton and Harvard). And finally, I think that the high school counselors really want their students to get accepted to college and don't want to see a student not get accepted anywhere; and as a result, they counsel the students to aim low/safe (we hadn't even heard of the majority of schools recommended by DC1's counselor!). But I will add that DC1's and DC2's counselors were fully onboard once we (parents+DCs) made the decision on where to apply (i.e., wrote glowing recommendations). By the way, both counselors also recommended that DC1 and DC2 only apply to 6 schools (with no more than 1 or 2 being "reach" schools); but we ignored their advice because I think it's a mistake to apply to so few schools if they include Ivys/top-20s, so DC1 and DC2 applied to 10 schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here , please specify the high school and also the Ivy League your DC got accepted in. Thanks

It was EA to one of H/P/S/Y, from a well-regarded private school. That's all I can say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here , please specify the high school and also the Ivy League your DC got accepted in. Thanks

It was EA to one of H/P/S/Y, from a well-regarded private school. That's all I can say.

And I just noticed that since I included one non-Ivy, that narrows it down even further for you.

[Anonymous]

Public school and not much guidance from the school. Yes, he had top grades, top scores and leadership positions -- but so do thousands of kids who get rejected from HYP.

I swear he got in because he had a few weird extracurricular activities (he plays the bagpipes and did a summer as an intern to a chocolatier in France) and wrote a funny essay about just being a nice guy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC was admitted to one of the top Ivy League universities/colleges. S/he attended a well-regarded private school, and the teachers and counselors were all very strong throughout high school. DC made the most of his/her high school years in numerous ways, and was/is very self-motivated to learn, accomplish, and achieve. I would say the college counseling was very strong, and the counselors informed and "gently supervised" or shepherded a process that the students took full ownership of and responsibility for.

Identical situation and similar experience.

[Anonymous]

MCPS "w" public. Counselor didn't hrlp much-- not harmful but not of much consequence either. I felt the school kept pushing either UMD or u Michigan. We did our own thing DS got into Cornell, Penn, Brown and Duke.

[Anonymous]

Sorry about typos^ I'm iPhone challenged.

[Anonymous]

DD went to Jeb Stuart as we live in Lake Barcroft.
She went to a HYP.

[Anonymous]

It was the same for me many years ago. Counselors just don't see enough top kids and they are primarily concerned with ensuring your kid gets in somewhere.

My recommendation to parents and kids in this situation is twofold. First, do your own research. Naviance type data was not available many years ago, and looking at the scattergrams for non-URM non-legacy non-recruited athlete is very revealing. Second, when the counselor suggests a bunch of schools in the good state school/SLAC/engineering school, use that as an excuse to apply to more schools. They can't really complain as long as you frame it as taking their advice.

[Anonymous]

Some parents get Private college counselors to do it all for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC was admitted to one of the top Ivy League universities/colleges. S/he attended a well-regarded private school, and the teachers and counselors were all very strong throughout high school. DC made the most of his/her high school years in numerous ways, and was/is very self-motivated to learn, accomplish, and achieve. I would say the college counseling was very strong, and the counselors informed and "gently supervised" or shepherded a process that the students took full ownership of and responsibility for.

Identical situation and similar experience.

+1 If a student really makes the most of what these top schools have to offer, it can help their chances of admittance to Ivies. That said, there are so many wonderful colleges, I do not believe admittance to an Ivy should be a goal.

[Anonymous]

Child went to Princeton. Top private h.s. counselor here suggested Villonova! Crazy and terrible college counseling. I think college counselor tried to "save the Princeton spot" for someone more desirable than my kid (we're not rich).