Lessons Learned- College Admissions- If you had to do it all again.....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're wrong. Graduating doesn't mean anything if your degree is in sociology or gender studies. Upper-middle class White/Asian kids dominate the high-paying majors at Ivies (CS, Econ, Math, Engineering). Plus most rodeo kids didn't do so well in corporate recruiting due to their lower GPAs and weaker class schedules.

-Ivy alum

OK, maybe you are right. You have provided unimpeachable proof the ivies graduate imbeciles. Mea Culpa.

It’s not just Ivies. Harvard graduated everyone. But many other schools are also difficult for rodeo girl.

Graduation rates for recipients of Pell grants vs. others at a few non-Ivy schools. Not seeing anything here that makes me think poor kids shouldn't attend high-ranked schools.

Williams
Pell--84% in 4 years, 94% in 6 years
no Pell--89%, 95%

Rice
Pell--76%, 89%
non--85%, 93%

UCLA
Pell--74%, 89%
non--83%, 91%

Wesleyan
Pell--86%, 90%
non--88%, 92%

UVA
Pell--84%, 93%
non--91%, 95%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're wrong. Graduating doesn't mean anything if your degree is in sociology or gender studies. Upper-middle class White/Asian kids dominate the high-paying majors at Ivies (CS, Econ, Math, Engineering). Plus most rodeo kids didn't do so well in corporate recruiting due to their lower GPAs and weaker class schedules.

-Ivy alum

OK, maybe you are right. You have provided unimpeachable proof the ivies graduate imbeciles. Mea Culpa.

It’s not just Ivies. Harvard graduated everyone. But many other schools are also difficult for rodeo girl.

Graduation rates for recipients of Pell grants vs. others at a few non-Ivy schools. Not seeing anything here that makes me think poor kids shouldn't attend high-ranked schools.

Williams
Pell--84% in 4 years, 94% in 6 years
no Pell--89%, 95%

Rice
Pell--76%, 89%
non--85%, 93%

UCLA
Pell--74%, 89%
non--83%, 91%

Wesleyan
Pell--86%, 90%
non--88%, 92%

UVA
Pell--84%, 93%
non--91%, 95%

Again, graduation rates don't mean anything. Everyone graduates, even the dumb jocks. It's major and GPA that counts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC and my DH both went to Ivies. Those kids from the “rodeo” backgrounds had a very hard time at those difficult schools. High level of dropping out and mental breakdowns. Those social experiments are not very kind in the end.

You just made that up and it is not true. The graduation rates prove it.

Of course they eventually graduate them. The schools don’t want to feel like losers for their social experiment. Then they go on to the job market and employers go WTH? And they end up well whatever. They also have a great deal of difficulty with the professional entrance exams. However they populate SJW and low pay non profits.

You are wrong, full stop. They do not "eventually" graduate them. Poor kids at Harvard graduate at almost the same rate as other kids. And research has clearly shown that going to an elite school confers advantages on poor students and POC much more than on wealthier and white students. Facts matter.

From Harvard's common data set for freshmen starting fall 2013 (most recent data available)

First-time, full-time freshmen receiving Pell Grant= 273
graduated in 4 years or less: 224 (82%)
graduated in 6 years or less: 260 (95%)

First-time, full-time freshmen, no Pell = 1378
graduated in 4 years or less: 1176 (85%)
graduated in 6 years or less: 1343 (97%)

You're wrong. Graduating doesn't mean anything if your degree is in sociology or gender studies. Upper-middle class White/Asian kids dominate the high-paying majors at Ivies (CS, Econ, Math, Engineering). Plus most rodeo kids didn't do so well in corporate recruiting due to their lower GPAs and weaker class schedules.

-Ivy alum

Sounds like your Ivy failed to give you a decent education if you came away thinking money is the only arbiter of success.

I’ll take my life spent in a lower paying but much more fulfilling and interesting field over the corporate world any day.

—a other Ivy alum, who took classes that made me think about what it all means to be human

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're wrong. Graduating doesn't mean anything if your degree is in sociology or gender studies. Upper-middle class White/Asian kids dominate the high-paying majors at Ivies (CS, Econ, Math, Engineering). Plus most rodeo kids didn't do so well in corporate recruiting due to their lower GPAs and weaker class schedules.

-Ivy alum

OK, maybe you are right. You have provided unimpeachable proof the ivies graduate imbeciles. Mea Culpa.

It’s not just Ivies. Harvard graduated everyone. But many other schools are also difficult for rodeo girl.

Graduation rates for recipients of Pell grants vs. others at a few non-Ivy schools. Not seeing anything here that makes me think poor kids shouldn't attend high-ranked schools.

Williams
Pell--84% in 4 years, 94% in 6 years
no Pell--89%, 95%

Rice
Pell--76%, 89%
non--85%, 93%

UCLA
Pell--74%, 89%
non--83%, 91%

Wesleyan
Pell--86%, 90%
non--88%, 92%

UVA
Pell--84%, 93%
non--91%, 95%

Again, graduation rates don't mean anything. Everyone graduates, even the dumb jocks. It's major and GPA that counts.

DP. Again, you are wrong. This is the data. It does not lie. And it shows extremely similar success between the classes.

So here’s some more data:

You - 100% proved wrong by data.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Silly summer programs. Yale Young Global Scholars. Waste of time/money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My suggestions of what I would do if I could start over (and some things DCs and I did that I think were successful).

Start saving for college very early (by age 5).
Prep for the SAT or ACT the summer after sophomore year and plan to take the 1st SAT or Act in the fall of the junior year. The prep for the SAT/ACT will help the PSAT score, and you will have plenty of time to retake and improve your score.
Focus on taking the most challenging courses offered beginning in 9th grade. Doing well is the top priority.
Find a passion and excel or consistently engage in the passion at school and over the summer.
Focus on one significant charitable project that will fit into the common app.
Visit enough schools so that your DC is able to pick one to apply to ED.
Carefully review course offerings and write about the program DC will enter and the courses they will take in the "Why this college" question on the common app.
Write the common app essay and as many other essays as possible the summer before senior year.
Do not use Naviance- the matches do not make sense and because you can't figure out the entire picture from 2 data points, its anxiety producing.
Apply ED and EA. Guide the choices as best you can, making sure DC picks a place with many good courses of study so DC will not have to transfer if DC changes their mind about what they want to do.
Be prepared for disappointment. Be supportive of other families who are going through this process, sharing things you learn along the way.
The college admissions process is the worst thing we do to our children. Try not to be too hard on them while they are going through it.

Veteran of 2 college admission processes and glad to be done

While I agree with your suggestions for parents doing all they can as early as possible to ease access to college (most notably start saving early), I find your suggestions for student focus on apparent altruism for the sake of building appeal of profile appalling.

It's only appalling b/c schools have focused on those types of things to differentiate between students. That's why you see all these kids "founding a charity" . . . to appeal to college.

Look, kids cannot control their own SES, their family's privilege/income, the fact that they aren't "first gen", and a host of other factors that now screen out highly qualified children. If this is something they can control and contributes to their community AND helps them with college . . . oh well. That's the game, and if you find it appalling, take it up with the colleges that have made it this way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If I had to do it all over again, I'd tell my kids to look at schools where they think they'll fit in socially and make good friends. I wouldn't focus on majors during the application process (since their interests changed dramatically in college) or prestige.

I'd also take a closer look at what the school can offer the student. One of my children went to a school that's "prestigious" in the DMV but is poor as dirt. There is money for a certain activity, but beyond that, there's not much going on in terms of speakers, campus events, etc. Even the available course list each semester is pretty lackluster and repetitive. So while my kid went to a more "prestigious" school, it certainly wasn't a very enjoyable experience for them.

Please name that school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're wrong. Graduating doesn't mean anything if your degree is in sociology or gender studies. Upper-middle class White/Asian kids dominate the high-paying majors at Ivies (CS, Econ, Math, Engineering). Plus most rodeo kids didn't do so well in corporate recruiting due to their lower GPAs and weaker class schedules.

-Ivy alum

OK, maybe you are right. You have provided unimpeachable proof the ivies graduate imbeciles. Mea Culpa.

It’s not just Ivies. Harvard graduated everyone. But many other schools are also difficult for rodeo girl.

Graduation rates for recipients of Pell grants vs. others at a few non-Ivy schools. Not seeing anything here that makes me think poor kids shouldn't attend high-ranked schools.

Williams
Pell--84% in 4 years, 94% in 6 years
no Pell--89%, 95%

Rice
Pell--76%, 89%
non--85%, 93%

UCLA
Pell--74%, 89%
non--83%, 91%

Wesleyan
Pell--86%, 90%
non--88%, 92%

UVA
Pell--84%, 93%
non--91%, 95%

Again, graduation rates don't mean anything. Everyone graduates, even the dumb jocks. It's major and GPA that counts.

This Ivy bozo touting the earning power of CS grads seems unaware that the most highly paid folks at every software firm at the sales staff, who are overwhelmingly highly social, confident people who didn’t major in CS. Most of them are accomplished high school or college athletes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those that mentioned getting merit aid, can you please ID a few of the schools?

Muhlenberg offered 25k “President’s Scholarship” and 5k scholarship for their honors program. If son chooses to attend, we’ll be paying 15k below EFC. Look at the schools ranked 40-100 in the USNWR liberal arts rankings. There’s gold in dem dar hills for the high stats kids.

This is great advice. My DS got merit aid at all his likelies - including Whitman College, Dickinson, Beloit, Union College. He was happy with all of them and ended up at Dickinson which he loved from the first visit. He got waitlisted from his target schools and nos from all his reaches.

His advice to his sister? concentrate on safeties and super-safties that are great fits for you and only a couple target/reaches (but you won't get in) so love those safeties. Sister is on her way to a stress-free college experience.

Writer is correct - there are some real gems in the 40-100 rankings of US News. That's where we are living with the next two kids.

Good luck everyone!

[Anonymous]

Remember that money is real and go somewhere affordable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're wrong. Graduating doesn't mean anything if your degree is in sociology or gender studies. Upper-middle class White/Asian kids dominate the high-paying majors at Ivies (CS, Econ, Math, Engineering). Plus most rodeo kids didn't do so well in corporate recruiting due to their lower GPAs and weaker class schedules.

-Ivy alum

OK, maybe you are right. You have provided unimpeachable proof the ivies graduate imbeciles. Mea Culpa.

everyone has to have a STEM degree because otherwise you'll be a barista. It doesn't matter if the sociology degree is from Yale and you get accepted to Harvard law- you'll still be a barista. To PP, you might want to dig deeper- it's been years since I looked or cared, but I remember philosophy majors doing very well

Rodeo kids don't major in philosophy -- too hard.

I always chuckle when people suggest philosophy is easy. They clearly never took a class past intro.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're wrong. Graduating doesn't mean anything if your degree is in sociology or gender studies. Upper-middle class White/Asian kids dominate the high-paying majors at Ivies (CS, Econ, Math, Engineering). Plus most rodeo kids didn't do so well in corporate recruiting due to their lower GPAs and weaker class schedules.

-Ivy alum

OK, maybe you are right. You have provided unimpeachable proof the ivies graduate imbeciles. Mea Culpa.

everyone has to have a STEM degree because otherwise you'll be a barista. It doesn't matter if the sociology degree is from Yale and you get accepted to Harvard law- you'll still be a barista. To PP, you might want to dig deeper- it's been years since I looked or cared, but I remember philosophy majors doing very well

Rodeo kids don't major in philosophy -- too hard.

I always chuckle when people suggest philosophy is easy. They clearly never took a class past intro.

Seriously one of my hardest classes. That's partially, though, b/c I was bored to tears with it. Those who can push through a Philosophy degree get a hat's off from me. Tough stuff, imo.

[Anonymous]

More safeties.

Take the test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're wrong. Graduating doesn't mean anything if your degree is in sociology or gender studies. Upper-middle class White/Asian kids dominate the high-paying majors at Ivies (CS, Econ, Math, Engineering). Plus most rodeo kids didn't do so well in corporate recruiting due to their lower GPAs and weaker class schedules.

-Ivy alum

OK, maybe you are right. You have provided unimpeachable proof the ivies graduate imbeciles. Mea Culpa.

It’s not just Ivies. Harvard graduated everyone. But many other schools are also difficult for rodeo girl.

Graduation rates for recipients of Pell grants vs. others at a few non-Ivy schools. Not seeing anything here that makes me think poor kids shouldn't attend high-ranked schools.

Williams
Pell--84% in 4 years, 94% in 6 years
no Pell--89%, 95%

Rice
Pell--76%, 89%
non--85%, 93%

UCLA
Pell--74%, 89%
non--83%, 91%

Wesleyan
Pell--86%, 90%
non--88%, 92%

UVA
Pell--84%, 93%
non--91%, 95%

Again, graduation rates don't mean anything. Everyone graduates, even the dumb jocks. It's major and GPA that counts.

This Ivy bozo touting the earning power of CS grads seems unaware that the most highly paid folks at every software firm at the sales staff, who are overwhelmingly highly social, confident people who didn’t major in CS. Most of them are accomplished high school or college athletes.

You mean scam artists?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're wrong. Graduating doesn't mean anything if your degree is in sociology or gender studies. Upper-middle class White/Asian kids dominate the high-paying majors at Ivies (CS, Econ, Math, Engineering). Plus most rodeo kids didn't do so well in corporate recruiting due to their lower GPAs and weaker class schedules.

-Ivy alum

OK, maybe you are right. You have provided unimpeachable proof the ivies graduate imbeciles. Mea Culpa.

It’s not just Ivies. Harvard graduated everyone. But many other schools are also difficult for rodeo girl.

Graduation rates for recipients of Pell grants vs. others at a few non-Ivy schools. Not seeing anything here that makes me think poor kids shouldn't attend high-ranked schools.

Williams
Pell--84% in 4 years, 94% in 6 years
no Pell--89%, 95%

Rice
Pell--76%, 89%
non--85%, 93%

UCLA
Pell--74%, 89%
non--83%, 91%

Wesleyan
Pell--86%, 90%
non--88%, 92%

UVA
Pell--84%, 93%
non--91%, 95%

Again, graduation rates don't mean anything. Everyone graduates, even the dumb jocks. It's major and GPA that counts.

This Ivy bozo touting the earning power of CS grads seems unaware that the most highly paid folks at every software firm at the sales staff, who are overwhelmingly highly social, confident people who didn’t major in CS. Most of them are accomplished high school or college athletes.

You mean scam artists?

You know the difference between a tech salesperson and a used car salesperson?

The used car salesperson understands that he is lying.

/lifetime tech sales person