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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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

Development kids provide the financial aid that need blind schools need and the facilities that they use to pitch themselves.

[Anonymous]

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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

God, this is old. Every Asian kid in my social circle is at an Ivy.

[Anonymous]

Wouldn’t you want your kid to attend school with a mix of old-money blue bloods, the well-connected, super-duper smarties, the already well-accomplished, and a few under-privileged kids who may not come in with the tip top creds but are likely to thrive? Seems like a good mix. Fact is, a few unhooked kids do get into these schools and that they are surrounded by the mix described above is certainly to their advantage versus one based on hard metrics alone.


Of course it’s all academic if your unhooked kid is dinged, but I reason that the experience of the unhooked admits is no less a valid consideration than the unfortunate many rejects. I mean, if you manage to get in, you kind of want Harvard to be, well…“Harvard,” bastion of elite privilege and all, right? Why else are we dying to get in?

Sorry, but if my unhooked kids got into Harvard (fat chance), you better believe I want them to have well-connected old money peers! New money peers are great too! Fellow unhooked students are fine, but they aren’t really doing much for my kids.

[Anonymous]

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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.

perhaps i should have been more specific. colleges appear to be much more intentional in composing a class, paying more attention to where the future change makers may come from in society. or that leadership can come from more than varsity athletes. sadly it took a pandemic and a video capturing the murder of George Floyd to push admissions offices to shake up their criteria.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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

They fall under “rich and connected” which we complain about ALL the time.

[Anonymous]

My kid attends a well regarded dmv area public. Three students have been admitted to Ivies and all three are African American. They are all very accomplished students.

[Anonymous]

Most of the kids that we know that have gotten into Ivys have been in the LGBTQ world. Several in my own family are gay and one is trans.

Get a clue kids, if you're straight, ivys ain't your fate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of the kids that we know that have gotten into Ivys have been in the LGBTQ world. Several in my own family are gay and one is trans.

Get a clue kids, if you're straight, ivys ain't your fate.

Eff off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn’t you want your kid to attend school with a mix of old-money blue bloods, the well-connected, super-duper smarties, the already well-accomplished, and a few under-privileged kids who may not come in with the tip top creds but are likely to thrive? Seems like a good mix. Fact is, a few unhooked kids do get into these schools and that they are surrounded by the mix described above is certainly to their advantage versus one based on hard metrics alone.


Of course it’s all academic if your unhooked kid is dinged, but I reason that the experience of the unhooked admits is no less a valid consideration than the unfortunate many rejects. I mean, if you manage to get in, you kind of want Harvard to be, well…“Harvard,” bastion of elite privilege and all, right? Why else are we dying to get in?

Sorry, but if my unhooked kids got into Harvard (fat chance), you better believe I want them to have well-connected old money peers! New money peers are great too! Fellow unhooked students are fine, but they aren’t really doing much for my kids.

Guessing that's what a lot of Barry's Columbia classmates thought - "he's fun, but he is really not doing much for me."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn’t you want your kid to attend school with a mix of old-money blue bloods, the well-connected, super-duper smarties, the already well-accomplished, and a few under-privileged kids who may not come in with the tip top creds but are likely to thrive? Seems like a good mix. Fact is, a few unhooked kids do get into these schools and that they are surrounded by the mix described above is certainly to their advantage versus one based on hard metrics alone.


Of course it’s all academic if your unhooked kid is dinged, but I reason that the experience of the unhooked admits is no less a valid consideration than the unfortunate many rejects. I mean, if you manage to get in, you kind of want Harvard to be, well…“Harvard,” bastion of elite privilege and all, right? Why else are we dying to get in?

Sorry, but if my unhooked kids got into Harvard (fat chance), you better believe I want them to have well-connected old money peers! New money peers are great too! Fellow unhooked students are fine, but they aren’t really doing much for my kids.

Not going to be chumming around with others outside their class. Sorry. It so not like that with a few exceptions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

perhaps i should have been more specific. colleges appear to be much more intentional in composing a class, paying more attention to where the future change makers may come from in society. or that leadership can come from more than varsity athletes. sadly it took a pandemic and a video capturing the murder of George Floyd to push admissions offices to shake up their criteria.

they better move fast. This is the last class year they have until the Supreme Court strikes it down

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

perhaps i should have been more specific. colleges appear to be much more intentional in composing a class, paying more attention to where the future change makers may come from in society. or that leadership can come from more than varsity athletes. sadly it took a pandemic and a video capturing the murder of George Floyd to push admissions offices to shake up their criteria.

they better move fast. This is the last class year they have until the Supreme Court strikes it down

Strikes what down? Admitting kids who aren’t straight rich white males?

[Anonymous]

The young people I know who went to Ivy school have had mediocre career success post graduation. Some have gone back to school for JDs or masters, but there are people from much lesser schools in the same programs so WTF. Maybe Ivys are like most designer labels, they don't = quality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The young people I know who went to Ivy school have had mediocre career success post graduation. Some have gone back to school for JDs or masters, but there are people from much lesser schools in the same programs so WTF. Maybe Ivys are like most designer labels, they don't = quality.

I don’t think they do much for most of the kids. Parents just want bragging rights.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most of the kids that we know that have gotten into Ivys have been in the LGBTQ world. Several in my own family are gay and one is trans.

Get a clue kids, if you're straight, ivys ain't your fate.

Eff off.

Like Jazz got into Harvard, while your straight arrows fell to the earth (at mediocre schools).