This is what unhooked umc kids are against

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Without giving up too many details ...

I have a friend whose kid went to a fancy NJ private. The kid has learning struggles and emotional struggles.

Yes, his whole college admissions packet was very curated. I wasn't surprised about that.

What I WAS surprised about was how the school had engineered a lot of their extracurriculars to be well over-the-top and more impressive-sounding than what most public schools offer. Like, a service organization was probably the same amount of hours, but it was much higher-profile and kind of exotic. It would make an impression.

He aimed really high and got into a couple of T20s. The reason I mentioned that he had had some struggles is that I think my struggling public school kid wouldn't get in anywhere near where he did!

It's all about context. To whom much is given, much is expected. Kids who go to private schools are EXPECTED to have more impressive ECs/narrative than those who don't have the same resources.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I"m sure you're right that kids with tons of resources have tons of opportunities, but I think about my unhooked, public school kid who just graduated from HYP and may of her friends I met along the way, and many of the kids from our good (but not famous) public school and think - well there's still spots out there for some regular kids, they are hard to get but not impossible.

I agree with you - but what the counselors do curating these rich kid applications definitely filters down to regular smart unhooked kids. They too are no longer just doing the regular ECs, the stuff they enjoy like sports and theater etc. They too are entering competitions, doing "research" in HS, and starting "passion projects." They are watching the social media posts that outline all this stuff, doing online research, etc. They aren't having it spoon-fed to them but they've still gotten the memo.

[Anonymous]

The colleges and universities do see through this to an extent. Any programs that are pay-to-play are generally discounted. Competitive programs like the MIT summer research programs or Telluride are more highly valued.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The colleges and universities do see through this to an extent. Any programs that are pay-to-play are generally discounted. Competitive programs like the MIT summer research programs or Telluride are more highly valued.

Mountain school just has a semester away tuition. It’s for an entire semester and it’s a very rigorous admissions process. The others I’m not sure about.

[Anonymous]

Meh. I didn't read the article, but too much is assumed about why certain kids get in.

We are plenty well-off, at potential-big-donor level. Kids didn't do any special ECs. Kids did not submit a resume. No research, no internship. Two attend T10s. Their essays were genuine and written by them (I am the only person who reviewed them), and they had great academic stats. Was wealth a factor? If it was, we didn't need to signal any of the above special stuff.

Admissions consultants are here to sell their services, which they do by convincing people that their services are necessary. Consider whether their services are truly necessary.

Personally, I suspect their services are most helpful for kids with unique needs, but that is a different topic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Meh. I didn't read the article, but too much is assumed about why certain kids get in.

We are plenty well-off, at potential-big-donor level. Kids didn't do any special ECs. Kids did not submit a resume. No research, no internship. Two attend T10s. Their essays were genuine and written by them (I am the only person who reviewed them), and they had great academic stats. Was wealth a factor? If it was, we didn't need to signal any of the above special stuff.

Admissions consultants are here to sell their services, which they do by convincing people that their services are necessary. Consider whether their services are truly necessary.

Personally, I suspect their services are most helpful for kids with unique needs, but that is a different topic.

^And in the category of admissions consultants, I am including pay-to-play programs. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've had two kids at a very top all-boys private school in nyc and I see some of this. But parents were fixated on getting the kid into the right k-12 or k-8/9 and then the right HS. There were counselors for that. Once that was locked it, it was mostly about fostering the right peer group, not building a resume. They would get the guys out for a weekend at our place out east". My kids aren't the rich ones (we get FA), But these parents encourage their kids mixing with the kids they approve of. And that's a mix of wealth and/or bright in some way (math winners or debate champs or student government heads). Drinking is fine, drugs are not. The billionaire son whose spending too many weekends doing club drugs is greeted with a hug and may be invited to the box at the Yankees game, but won't be asked on the trip to the Bermuda house.

For college - if their double legacy, sure. They may work hard for that. But these families are also doing REA to Notre Dame or okay if the kid wants USC or perfectly happy with Middlebury.

TLDR, I'm fascinated more with the social engineering and protecting the downside in HS than the college stuff, which doesnt seem off the charts.

You have lost perspective. To most of the world, it’s off the charts.

I think you missed the point

[Anonymous]

I think this stuff helps the most for kids with some weakness in the application elsewhere. At least it did for mine.

[Anonymous]

More than ever schools will be looking for wealthy prospective donors.

[Anonymous]

I don't think these pay to play programs listed in the app are how colleges find wealthy prospective donors. AOs are too busy to deal with that. The advancement office would do that, using tools like DonorSearch, and then provide such list to the admissions director.

[Anonymous]

I am surprised that people are shocked, shocked that money and connections can buy you an edge even when the measures are “objective”.

I have a friend who is a tenured professor at a well respected school. When his and his friends’ kids were of HS age, they ran a round robin of research internships. You take my kid and make sure they produce and publish something, and I’ll take yours. Impressive, right?

When my son was in [public] HS, he was a TOC level debater. That circle is very much dominated by private school kids, and some came to the tournaments with as many as 8 coaches. When they got to quarterfinals, the coaches fan out to watch the competitors, take notes and report on their weaknesses. Super helpful if your parents can pay for the time, food lodging and airfare for 8 people.

[Anonymous]

I almost wish colleges were just completely transparent and offered a $1MM admission ticket to anyone with say at least a 1200 SAT.

Maybe even do a reverse-auction and just say we will sell 50 admission slots per year to the 50 highest bidders, and after that all this curating is meaningless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The colleges and universities do see through this to an extent. Any programs that are pay-to-play are generally discounted. Competitive programs like the MIT summer research programs or Telluride are more highly valued.

Mountain school just has a semester away tuition. It’s for an entire semester and it’s a very rigorous admissions process. The others I’m not sure about.

It is also favors celebrity kids. IYKYK

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Knowing this, it seems like a waste to even try to get into an Ivy

https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-ivy-league-prep-ultrawealthy-30k-schools-and-resumes-2025-9

On the other hand, why do billionaires even need this kind of college counseling service when they can just use their influence and connections?

Someone sold them a bill of goods. The article is a sales job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These kids are extreme outliers. I have two kids at T10s and they're just normal kids (we get substantial financial aid as well) I've met several of their friends who also are just average kids. I am also a teacher at a local high school that sends 2-4 kids to a T10 every year Yes, they are smart and hardworking, but they aren't rich and doing anything crazy to get into these schools.

Two at different ivies. Same experience: mostly normal but super bright kids. Down to earth and dedicated to their studies, good supportive friends.
Less than half there are full pay, and among the full pay most are the kids of doctors and lawyers 400kHHI full pay, not 10 million net worth uber rich. With the majority who are on aid, the ivies have much more SES diversity than my kids private high school.