Tricks and “lifehacks” that help getting into a better college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your child is in high school already, it’s too late to do any of this, but:

-Train your child in an expensive, niche sport
-Have somebody with an elite pedigree adopt your child so they can be a legacy
-Send your child to really good private school for k-8, then to a very middling public high school, and supplement with tutoring & private college counseling

such as?

Squash, rowing (particularly women's), fencing, golf, men's volleyball, women's Ice Hockey, Sailing, women's equestrianism/polo

Equestrian/polo are not good recruiting sports. Many schools have eliminated these teams and do not prioritize them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:3:2 engineering programs.

Is there a path from community college to this? From my beginning research, it looks like DC could do 2 years NOVA (earning an AS), 2 years Longwood, 2 years UVA.

Why not go straight from NOVA to UVA? https://admission.virginia.edu/transfer/guaranteed-transfer-admission

Because my DC won't be able to complete all of the UVA Engineering pre-reqs at NOVA. DC is a late bloomer, academically. Has anyone done the progression described above - 2 years NOVA (earning an AS), 2 years Longwood, 2 years UVA?

Your kid can’t go to three colleges. UVA isn’t going to accept a transfer applicant who has 70+ credits. If it is going to take them 6+ years to finish a B.S. in engineering, that major isn’t a good fit for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am currently pregnant. The baby will be half white and half Middle Eastern, so technically white for US census purposes. I plan to check the Hispanic box from birth.

So you will be teaching your child to lie?

[Anonymous]

-Give away all your money when DC turns 16. DC then gets a fast food job and writes an application essay about supporting his/her family while in high school. DC gets admitted and a full ride.

-Find a desirable college with a dean who is single. Divorce so that the appropriate spouse can pursue/marry the dean.

-Invent something brilliant and put DC's name on patent.

-Go to war-torn area and enroll child in school for refugees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am currently pregnant. The baby will be half white and half Middle Eastern, so technically white for US census purposes. I plan to check the Hispanic box from birth.

So you will be teaching your child to lie?

Nope. We have trace Spanish ancestry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am currently pregnant. The baby will be half white and half Middle Eastern, so technically white for US census purposes. I plan to check the Hispanic box from birth.

So you will be teaching your child to lie?

These days you can even pick your gender however you feel like.
It makes much more sense to pick your cultural preference

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This gotta be one of the best

1 take a gap year

2 apply Columbia as GS

Acceptance rate over 30%

You won’t be looked at the same in terms of job recruiting.

And GS FA is incredibly poor. I ran their own net price calculator. It's at most $10,000 discount off the sticker price, no matter the income. Basically, students must fund their GS diploma.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:XC/distance track is a sport that your child can start doing around 8th-10th grade and still become good enough to be recruited at, especially if you’re a girl. If they’ve been into swimming, soccer or basketball before thar, that will be very helpful. I would recommend your daughter train intensively (including with private coaching) and run on her schools XC & track teams in 9th-12th. You want her to peak around 11th grade. Aim for around 5:00 1600 time for NESCAC, UAA & Patriot League schools.

No problem. Just have your daughter run a 5 minute mile. Easy peasey.

Just have your kid grow an extra 8 inches, hire a private coach and make sure they play club and varsity basket ball for at least 6 years.

In some of the most affluent parts of the USA, parents delay their kid's entry to kindergarten by 1 or 2 years. By HS junior year, the average HS kids are actually competing with college-age athletes. These kids who delayed their school year(s) are taller, bigger, and stronger than their younger classmates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apply as a minority even if you're white.

This can have consequences though
Stretching the truth yes, but outright lying?

Better yet would be to marry a minority so your kid would be half minority. Then there’s no lie.

Well the kid is born already so that ship has sailed
I can get him a minority stepdad though if I try hard!

Yes, you just have to sleep with him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly? Well we checked the Hispanic box when we don't exactly "identify" as Hispanic. Son's grandmother is from Cuba, so we considered it legit. It probably helped.

Does your son have a Hispanic last name? Did you check the same box enrolling in high school? Did they ever try to question you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apply as a minority even if you're white.

This can have consequences though
Stretching the truth yes, but outright lying?

Better yet would be to marry a minority so your kid would be half minority. Then there’s no lie.

Well the kid is born already so that ship has sailed
I can get him a minority stepdad though if I try hard!

Yes, you just have to sleep with him.

Liar liar pants on fire

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:3:2 engineering programs.

What kinda hack is this? Not a good one that's for sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apply as a minority even if you're white.

This can have consequences though
Stretching the truth yes, but outright lying?

This thread is tongue-in-cheeck, but it's pretty hard to get caught. The application specifically asks which race you identify with, not with race you are. It's not like colleges will DNA-test students to see who's really mixed/one eighth native American.

But what if his HS enrollment says white?
Honesty that’s all very tempting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get an admin staff job at a top university. Preferably the lowest level job that still considers you an employee of the university (cleaning & food service are contracted out, so not those).

Or, get a graduate degree from a top university that considers children whose parents completed a grad degree from that a school a legacy.

Thank you for this! I have a graduate degree from a uni in the UK, and by a strange coincidence I think I CAN get a job at one or two very well known universities around where I live. Should I do it by the time my kid is a junior in HS?

You should ensure it would actually lead to an admissions benefit before taking a job there

Oh, of course.
It just somehow never occurred to me at all

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:3:2 engineering programs.

What kinda hack is this? Not a good one that's for sure.

It was described in detail upthread. Make your own judgements on it.