WSJ article on your child's chances of getting into an IVY are slim

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Now it largely means you won the diversity lottery. Which is fine but the degrees don’t carry as much weight.

This is bullshit and diminishes the hard work of so many kids.

No, it isn't.

It's understood that the Ivies largely see themselves now as engines of social change, and favor URMs over other students with stronger records. There are Ivies that, for years, have only admitted students from some DC-area schools who are minorities.

That's OK. The Ivies are private universities and they can change their admissions policies as they see fit. And their current approach may well be preferable to their approach in earlier periods where students were admitted simply based on their pedigree and social status.

But the flip side is that their current graduates don't garner the same respect as Ivy graduates from the 70s to early 00s. Many employers would just as happily hire someone from Maryland or Virginia Tech now as from Princeton or Brown. Sure, they remain incredibly selective, and they are still the brass ring for some families. But others fully understand that they aren't nearly as meritocratic as they were.

It’s the opposite.

You forgot the /S

PP is right. There was a time when gentleman's Cs from the right prep school got you into Harvard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Now it largely means you won the diversity lottery. Which is fine but the degrees don’t carry as much weight.

This is bullshit and diminishes the hard work of so many kids.

No, it isn't.

It's understood that the Ivies largely see themselves now as engines of social change, and favor URMs over other students with stronger records. There are Ivies that, for years, have only admitted students from some DC-area schools who are minorities.

That's OK. The Ivies are private universities and they can change their admissions policies as they see fit. And their current approach may well be preferable to their approach in earlier periods where students were admitted simply based on their pedigree and social status.

But the flip side is that their current graduates don't garner the same respect as Ivy graduates from the 70s to early 00s. Many employers would just as happily hire someone from Maryland or Virginia Tech now as from Princeton or Brown. Sure, they remain incredibly selective, and they are still the brass ring for some families. But others fully understand that they aren't nearly as meritocratic as they were.

Sorry your rich white suburban kid has to compete now.

But they're not even able to compete, they are simply shut out now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Now it largely means you won the diversity lottery. Which is fine but the degrees don’t carry as much weight.

This is bullshit and diminishes the hard work of so many kids.

No, it isn't.

It's understood that the Ivies largely see themselves now as engines of social change, and favor URMs over other students with stronger records. There are Ivies that, for years, have only admitted students from some DC-area schools who are minorities.

That's OK. The Ivies are private universities and they can change their admissions policies as they see fit. And their current approach may well be preferable to their approach in earlier periods where students were admitted simply based on their pedigree and social status.

But the flip side is that their current graduates don't garner the same respect as Ivy graduates from the 70s to early 00s. Many employers would just as happily hire someone from Maryland or Virginia Tech now as from Princeton or Brown. Sure, they remain incredibly selective, and they are still the brass ring for some families. But others fully understand that they aren't nearly as meritocratic as they were.

Sorry your rich white suburban kid has to compete now.

But they're not even able to compete, they are simply shut out now.

That’s why Ballou is sending so many kids top schools and Whitman isn’t sending any

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Now it largely means you won the diversity lottery. Which is fine but the degrees don’t carry as much weight.

This is bullshit and diminishes the hard work of so many kids.

No, it isn't.

It's understood that the Ivies largely see themselves now as engines of social change, and favor URMs over other students with stronger records. There are Ivies that, for years, have only admitted students from some DC-area schools who are minorities.

That's OK. The Ivies are private universities and they can change their admissions policies as they see fit. And their current approach may well be preferable to their approach in earlier periods where students were admitted simply based on their pedigree and social status.

But the flip side is that their current graduates don't garner the same respect as Ivy graduates from the 70s to early 00s. Many employers would just as happily hire someone from Maryland or Virginia Tech now as from Princeton or Brown. Sure, they remain incredibly selective, and they are still the brass ring for some families. But others fully understand that they aren't nearly as meritocratic as they were.

Sorry your rich white suburban kid has to compete now.

But they're not even able to compete, they are simply shut out now.

Dumbest comment of the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid had a 4.0UW at TJHSST, a 1580 SAT, double digit number of APs with 5s on all the exams, state-level academic awards, club leadership, varsity athlete, and didn't get into HYPSM.

Should I call the WSJ?

Agree 100%. There are so many of these "average excellent" students like the subject of the article with all the grade inflation in HSs nationwide, and the vast majority won't get into the Ivy League. Straight A's, solid extracurriculars and top test scores just don't cut it for most students. My daughter graduated TJHSST in 2018, had a superscored 1600 SAT and was also a 2 sport varsity athlete with first or second team all conference honors (but not good enough to play either sport in the Ivy League D1) and was likely in the top 10% of the class at TJ. She had an excellent guidance counselor at TJ who gave her good advice about her chances and how she should present herself to the colleges she applied to. She too was shut out of Stanford and the 3 Ivys she applied to but she wasn't surprised and took it in stride. Still she had a fantastic outcome and was accepted to Duke, UChicago and UVA Echols and is now a few weeks from graduating from Duke w/a great job waiting for her. She wouldn't have traded her 4 years at Duke for ANY of the Ivys at this point. Outside of the covid year, she loved her 4 years at Duke and the group of friends she made there.

Congratulations to your daughter but with all of the changes in admissions such as TO, emphasis on recruitment of first-gen and/or URM students, increasing #s of applications, etc. the high school class of 2018 admissions aren’t relevant.

so many posters here do not grasp the sea change in college admissions in just the last two years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m sorry but this column is idiotic. A student with a history of depression who wants to study business is not a fit for nearly every Ivy. Most don’t have a business school and they are looking for students who want to change the world, but go into business. She’s top third of her class in grades, not top 5%, meaning that its not just the one B that dragged down her GPA, but the fact that many of her peers took a more rigorous course schedule. Getting into the top schools is nearly impossible, but they really should have found a better candidate to build the narrative around.

If she was a Kennedy cousin, she would be in easily

Given that he lives in Texas, the Bushes are a more apt comparison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid had a 4.0UW at TJHSST, a 1580 SAT, double digit number of APs with 5s on all the exams, state-level academic awards, club leadership, varsity athlete, and didn't get into HYPSM.

Should I call the WSJ?

Agree 100%. There are so many of these "average excellent" students like the subject of the article with all the grade inflation in HSs nationwide, and the vast majority won't get into the Ivy League. Straight A's, solid extracurriculars and top test scores just don't cut it for most students. My daughter graduated TJHSST in 2018, had a superscored 1600 SAT and was also a 2 sport varsity athlete with first or second team all conference honors (but not good enough to play either sport in the Ivy League D1) and was likely in the top 10% of the class at TJ. She had an excellent guidance counselor at TJ who gave her good advice about her chances and how she should present herself to the colleges she applied to. She too was shut out of Stanford and the 3 Ivys she applied to but she wasn't surprised and took it in stride. Still she had a fantastic outcome and was accepted to Duke, UChicago and UVA Echols and is now a few weeks from graduating from Duke w/a great job waiting for her. She wouldn't have traded her 4 years at Duke for ANY of the Ivys at this point. Outside of the covid year, she loved her 4 years at Duke and the group of friends she made there.

Congratulations to your daughter but with all of the changes in admissions such as TO, emphasis on recruitment of first-gen and/or URM students, increasing #s of applications, etc. the high school class of 2018 admissions aren’t relevant.

so many posters here do not grasp the sea change in college admissions in just the last two years.

That inequality has widened in the past two years significantly? I agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course the WSJ picked a white girl from Texas for this so they could make it seem like the reason why she didn’t get in was because of “those” kids.

Yet a basically meh one in comparison to many HYPSM applicants. She is not a truly outstanding applicant when I think of the ones admitted in my DC's senior class this year, including published science research, running a relief operation for essential workers in COVID, etc. And for a kid focused on an Ivy, it's mystifying at why she wrote about her B grades and depression in her essay. College Confidential and nearly every college essay web site wave students off that topic, including "successful" stories of a student not getting a learning diagnosis until middle school/early high school and being able to turn around their learning trajectory after better understanding their strengths and weaknesses.

I think the girl's 300 plays she played in and/or "directed" goes to the issue of the veracity of her grandiose claim. PP's claim of HS classmate kids who are already published research scientists just takes it to another level. It's like forcing a 10 year old boy to tag along on a trek to the Himalayas to become the youngest ever. It's on the level of Greta Thunberg. It's cringey.

Some kids luck out and intern in a lab right before the work is published. My daughter missed that window - too early by a few years, but knows a few kids who were part of a team. Another friend invented a test that is now used to diagnose an iron deficiency not detected in the more common tests.

I get forcing the kid on a trek to be the youngest but Greta Thunberg appears to be self driven. I don't know how one calls that cringey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course the WSJ picked a white girl from Texas for this so they could make it seem like the reason why she didn’t get in was because of “those” kids.

Yet a basically meh one in comparison to many HYPSM applicants. She is not a truly outstanding applicant when I think of the ones admitted in my DC's senior class this year, including published science research, running a relief operation for essential workers in COVID, etc. And for a kid focused on an Ivy, it's mystifying at why she wrote about her B grades and depression in her essay. College Confidential and nearly every college essay web site wave students off that topic, including "successful" stories of a student not getting a learning diagnosis until middle school/early high school and being able to turn around their learning trajectory after better understanding their strengths and weaknesses.

I think the girl's 300 plays she played in and/or "directed" goes to the issue of the veracity of her grandiose claim. PP's claim of HS classmate kids who are already published research scientists just takes it to another level. It's like forcing a 10 year old boy to tag along on a trek to the Himalayas to become the youngest ever. It's on the level of Greta Thunberg. It's cringey.

Some kids luck out and intern in a lab right before the work is published. My daughter missed that window - too early by a few years, but knows a few kids who were part of a team. Another friend invented a test that is now used to diagnose an iron deficiency not detected in the more common tests.

I get forcing the kid on a trek to be the youngest but Greta Thunberg appears to be self driven. I don't know how one calls that cringey.

Intern in a lab lol. That is a ridiculous expectation of college applicants. Most kids don’t live anywhere near a research university or lab.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Now it largely means you won the diversity lottery. Which is fine but the degrees don’t carry as much weight.

This is bullshit and diminishes the hard work of so many kids.

No, it isn't.

It's understood that the Ivies largely see themselves now as engines of social change, and favor URMs over other students with stronger records. There are Ivies that, for years, have only admitted students from some DC-area schools who are minorities.

That's OK. The Ivies are private universities and they can change their admissions policies as they see fit. And their current approach may well be preferable to their approach in earlier periods where students were admitted simply based on their pedigree and social status.

But the flip side is that their current graduates don't garner the same respect as Ivy graduates from the 70s to early 00s. Many employers would just as happily hire someone from Maryland or Virginia Tech now as from Princeton or Brown. Sure, they remain incredibly selective, and they are still the brass ring for some families. But others fully understand that they aren't nearly as meritocratic as they were.

This is complete BS. What Ivy is only admitting students from DC schools who are minorities?
Interesting then that my daughter who started at an Ivy last year was amazed at the number of white and Asian wealthy kids she encountered. She had never before come across such extreme wealth. And a ton of private school kids. There are still not that many poor, first generation and Minority kids at these top schools. She also has met many recruited athletes. The football team alone at her Ivy has over 100 kids on the roster.

All the Harvard admits from Ballou HS have been black in recent years. White kids ay Ballou can’t catch a break! Asians…not a chance!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Now it largely means you won the diversity lottery. Which is fine but the degrees don’t carry as much weight.

This is bullshit and diminishes the hard work of so many kids.

No, it isn't.

It's understood that the Ivies largely see themselves now as engines of social change, and favor URMs over other students with stronger records. There are Ivies that, for years, have only admitted students from some DC-area schools who are minorities.

That's OK. The Ivies are private universities and they can change their admissions policies as they see fit. And their current approach may well be preferable to their approach in earlier periods where students were admitted simply based on their pedigree and social status.

But the flip side is that their current graduates don't garner the same respect as Ivy graduates from the 70s to early 00s. Many employers would just as happily hire someone from Maryland or Virginia Tech now as from Princeton or Brown. Sure, they remain incredibly selective, and they are still the brass ring for some families. But others fully understand that they aren't nearly as meritocratic as they were.

This is complete BS. What Ivy is only admitting students from DC schools who are minorities?
Interesting then that my daughter who started at an Ivy last year was amazed at the number of white and Asian wealthy kids she encountered. She had never before come across such extreme wealth. And a ton of private school kids. There are still not that many poor, first generation and Minority kids at these top schools. She also has met many recruited athletes. The football team alone at her Ivy has over 100 kids on the roster.

All the Harvard admits from Ballou HS have been black in recent years. White kids ay Ballou can’t catch a break! Asians…not a chance!

There are no Harvard admits from Ballou. But there are plenty from private high schools and elite suburbs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course the WSJ picked a white girl from Texas for this so they could make it seem like the reason why she didn’t get in was because of “those” kids.

Yet a basically meh one in comparison to many HYPSM applicants. She is not a truly outstanding applicant when I think of the ones admitted in my DC's senior class this year, including published science research, running a relief operation for essential workers in COVID, etc. And for a kid focused on an Ivy, it's mystifying at why she wrote about her B grades and depression in her essay. College Confidential and nearly every college essay web site wave students off that topic, including "successful" stories of a student not getting a learning diagnosis until middle school/early high school and being able to turn around their learning trajectory after better understanding their strengths and weaknesses.

I think the girl's 300 plays she played in and/or "directed" goes to the issue of the veracity of her grandiose claim. PP's claim of HS classmate kids who are already published research scientists just takes it to another level. It's like forcing a 10 year old boy to tag along on a trek to the Himalayas to become the youngest ever. It's on the level of Greta Thunberg. It's cringey.

Some kids luck out and intern in a lab right before the work is published. My daughter missed that window - too early by a few years, but knows a few kids who were part of a team. Another friend invented a test that is now used to diagnose an iron deficiency not detected in the more common tests.

I get forcing the kid on a trek to be the youngest but Greta Thunberg appears to be self driven. I don't know how one calls that cringey.

You can live in any city in America, without the right connections, a high school kid is not getting an internship in a research lab. Maybe this is just a way for schools to screen for connected kids more likely to succeed after graduation?
Intern in a lab lol. That is a ridiculous expectation of college applicants. Most kids don’t live anywhere near a research university or lab.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Now it largely means you won the diversity lottery. Which is fine but the degrees don’t carry as much weight.

This is bullshit and diminishes the hard work of so many kids.

No, it isn't.

It's understood that the Ivies largely see themselves now as engines of social change, and favor URMs over other students with stronger records. There are Ivies that, for years, have only admitted students from some DC-area schools who are minorities.

That's OK. The Ivies are private universities and they can change their admissions policies as they see fit. And their current approach may well be preferable to their approach in earlier periods where students were admitted simply based on their pedigree and social status.

But the flip side is that their current graduates don't garner the same respect as Ivy graduates from the 70s to early 00s. Many employers would just as happily hire someone from Maryland or Virginia Tech now as from Princeton or Brown. Sure, they remain incredibly selective, and they are still the brass ring for some families. But others fully understand that they aren't nearly as meritocratic as they were.

No, what it means is that Ivy League schools are primarily for rich, connected kids and kids who benefit the school or help social change. It’s all BS but at least when a perfect black kid is accepted over a perfect white kid, it’s making up for past wrongs and helping to get more diversity in the big boardrooms in the future . The 50% that’s rich, connected, or athletes is the big problem.

[Anonymous]

All crickets on development kids, kids in $$$$$$$$ obscure sports getting recruited, and legacies but plenty of crapping on kids who went urban high schools that would’ve eaten your kid alive

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Now it largely means you won the diversity lottery. Which is fine but the degrees don’t carry as much weight.

This is bullshit and diminishes the hard work of so many kids.

No, it isn't.

It's understood that the Ivies largely see themselves now as engines of social change, and favor URMs over other students with stronger records. There are Ivies that, for years, have only admitted students from some DC-area schools who are minorities.

That's OK. The Ivies are private universities and they can change their admissions policies as they see fit. And their current approach may well be preferable to their approach in earlier periods where students were admitted simply based on their pedigree and social status.

But the flip side is that their current graduates don't garner the same respect as Ivy graduates from the 70s to early 00s. Many employers would just as happily hire someone from Maryland or Virginia Tech now as from Princeton or Brown. Sure, they remain incredibly selective, and they are still the brass ring for some families. But others fully understand that they aren't nearly as meritocratic as they were.

Sorry your rich white suburban kid has to compete now.

But they're not even able to compete, they are simply shut out now.

Dumbest comment of the day.

Tell that to UMC Asian families