Does your Big3 preferentially advocate for the kids of big donors at college application time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely true at SFS. No sour grapes here because our kids did great in college admissions, but, yes, of course there's special treatment for the children of big donors in college admissions and in every respect except serious disciplinary matters.

Nope. That might be your perception but it isn't reality.

I've had three kids at SFS; two of whom have graduated, and I stand by my statement. Your perception might be different from mine, but that doesn't mean you've got the bead on reality.

DP. If this is reality, it should be easy for you to provide some facts about what this special treatment entails.

Personally, having gone through the process with one student so far, I don’t see how it’s possible that SFS could pull off something like that. They are way too disorganized and incompetent administratively, all the way up to Bryan’s office, to do it.

Not to mention that the colleges are independent actors here. They don’t just take what’s offered so the idea that SFS could do anything here is kind of silly.

Not judging, but it’s not 1999. Are colleges seriously accepting calls on behalf of students nowadays?

Many Genx and Boomer parents at the Big3s just can't seem to wrap their minds around this, despite the college counseling office being up front about it. Your kid is getting into an ivy because of their accomplishments and your connections. Not the school's connections.

This is patently false. Colleges will absolutely answer the phone for the head of school or head of college counselling (depending on how the particular private does it) at one of the Big 3. I taught a competitive extracurricular activity for awhile post-college and private school counselors would often call me for specific talking points for individual kids at individual schools to deploy in those calls. One of them asked me to reach out to a particular person at my alma mater for a kid and the person was expecting my call at a time that was provided for me. You are *kidding* yourselves if you don't think Big 3 type schools still don't have an inside track.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely true at SFS. No sour grapes here because our kids did great in college admissions, but, yes, of course there's special treatment for the children of big donors in college admissions and in every respect except serious disciplinary matters.

Nope. That might be your perception but it isn't reality.

I've had three kids at SFS; two of whom have graduated, and I stand by my statement. Your perception might be different from mine, but that doesn't mean you've got the bead on reality.

DP. If this is reality, it should be easy for you to provide some facts about what this special treatment entails.

Personally, having gone through the process with one student so far, I don’t see how it’s possible that SFS could pull off something like that. They are way too disorganized and incompetent administratively, all the way up to Bryan’s office, to do it.

Not to mention that the colleges are independent actors here. They don’t just take what’s offered so the idea that SFS could do anything here is kind of silly.

Not judging, but it’s not 1999. Are colleges seriously accepting calls on behalf of students nowadays?

Bingo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely true at SFS. No sour grapes here because our kids did great in college admissions, but, yes, of course there's special treatment for the children of big donors in college admissions and in every respect except serious disciplinary matters.

Nope. That might be your perception but it isn't reality.

I've had three kids at SFS; two of whom have graduated, and I stand by my statement. Your perception might be different from mine, but that doesn't mean you've got the bead on reality.

DP. If this is reality, it should be easy for you to provide some facts about what this special treatment entails.

Personally, having gone through the process with one student so far, I don’t see how it’s possible that SFS could pull off something like that. They are way too disorganized and incompetent administratively, all the way up to Bryan’s office, to do it.

Not to mention that the colleges are independent actors here. They don’t just take what’s offered so the idea that SFS could do anything here is kind of silly.

Not judging, but it’s not 1999. Are colleges seriously accepting calls on behalf of students nowadays?

Many Genx and Boomer parents at the Big3s just can't seem to wrap their minds around this, despite the college counseling office being up front about it. Your kid is getting into an ivy because of their accomplishments and your connections. Not the school's connections.

This is patently false. Colleges will absolutely answer the phone for the head of school or head of college counselling (depending on how the particular private does it) at one of the Big 3. I taught a competitive extracurricular activity for awhile post-college and private school counselors would often call me for specific talking points for individual kids at individual schools to deploy in those calls. One of them asked me to reach out to a particular person at my alma mater for a kid and the person was expecting my call at a time that was provided for me. You are *kidding* yourselves if you don't think Big 3 type schools still don't have an inside track.

The kind of schools that will answer the phone are not the kind of school these donors want their kids to attend, but if everything goes wrong Tulane will take the call

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely true at SFS. No sour grapes here because our kids did great in college admissions, but, yes, of course there's special treatment for the children of big donors in college admissions and in every respect except serious disciplinary matters.

Nope. That might be your perception but it isn't reality.

I've had three kids at SFS; two of whom have graduated, and I stand by my statement. Your perception might be different from mine, but that doesn't mean you've got the bead on reality.

DP. If this is reality, it should be easy for you to provide some facts about what this special treatment entails.

Personally, having gone through the process with one student so far, I don’t see how it’s possible that SFS could pull off something like that. They are way too disorganized and incompetent administratively, all the way up to Bryan’s office, to do it.

Not to mention that the colleges are independent actors here. They don’t just take what’s offered so the idea that SFS could do anything here is kind of silly.

Not judging, but it’s not 1999. Are colleges seriously accepting calls on behalf of students nowadays?

Many Genx and Boomer parents at the Big3s just can't seem to wrap their minds around this, despite the college counseling office being up front about it. Your kid is getting into an ivy because of their accomplishments and your connections. Not the school's connections.

This is patently false. Colleges will absolutely answer the phone for the head of school or head of college counselling (depending on how the particular private does it) at one of the Big 3. I taught a competitive extracurricular activity for awhile post-college and private school counselors would often call me for specific talking points for individual kids at individual schools to deploy in those calls. One of them asked me to reach out to a particular person at my alma mater for a kid and the person was expecting my call at a time that was provided for me. You are *kidding* yourselves if you don't think Big 3 type schools still don't have an inside track.

Were you doing this in the last 5 years? The last 3 years?

The original question was about big donor families. These families have legacy connections, connections through boards of trustees, etc. These families have their own connections to the schools and never needed the high school counselor to go to bat for their kid (other than writing a good recommendation).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely true at SFS. No sour grapes here because our kids did great in college admissions, but, yes, of course there's special treatment for the children of big donors in college admissions and in every respect except serious disciplinary matters.

Nope. That might be your perception but it isn't reality.

I've had three kids at SFS; two of whom have graduated, and I stand by my statement. Your perception might be different from mine, but that doesn't mean you've got the bead on reality.

DP. If this is reality, it should be easy for you to provide some facts about what this special treatment entails.

Personally, having gone through the process with one student so far, I don’t see how it’s possible that SFS could pull off something like that. They are way too disorganized and incompetent administratively, all the way up to Bryan’s office, to do it.

Not to mention that the colleges are independent actors here. They don’t just take what’s offered so the idea that SFS could do anything here is kind of silly.

Not judging, but it’s not 1999. Are colleges seriously accepting calls on behalf of students nowadays?

Many Genx and Boomer parents at the Big3s just can't seem to wrap their minds around this, despite the college counseling office being up front about it. Your kid is getting into an ivy because of their accomplishments and your connections. Not the school's connections.

This is patently false. Colleges will absolutely answer the phone for the head of school or head of college counselling (depending on how the particular private does it) at one of the Big 3. I taught a competitive extracurricular activity for awhile post-college and private school counselors would often call me for specific talking points for individual kids at individual schools to deploy in those calls. One of them asked me to reach out to a particular person at my alma mater for a kid and the person was expecting my call at a time that was provided for me. You are *kidding* yourselves if you don't think Big 3 type schools still don't have an inside track.

The kind of schools that will answer the phone are not the kind of school these donors want their kids to attend, but if everything goes wrong Tulane will take the call

What is with the Tulane bashing? It is a great school. People on here suck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely true at SFS. No sour grapes here because our kids did great in college admissions, but, yes, of course there's special treatment for the children of big donors in college admissions and in every respect except serious disciplinary matters.

Nope. That might be your perception but it isn't reality.

I've had three kids at SFS; two of whom have graduated, and I stand by my statement. Your perception might be different from mine, but that doesn't mean you've got the bead on reality.

DP. If this is reality, it should be easy for you to provide some facts about what this special treatment entails.

Personally, having gone through the process with one student so far, I don’t see how it’s possible that SFS could pull off something like that. They are way too disorganized and incompetent administratively, all the way up to Bryan’s office, to do it.

Well, I didn't say they were effective in their advocacy.

OK, but if you are pp, you did say that Sidwell provides special treatment. So in your experience, what does this special treatment entail?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely true at SFS. No sour grapes here because our kids did great in college admissions, but, yes, of course there's special treatment for the children of big donors in college admissions and in every respect except serious disciplinary matters.

Nope. That might be your perception but it isn't reality.

I've had three kids at SFS; two of whom have graduated, and I stand by my statement. Your perception might be different from mine, but that doesn't mean you've got the bead on reality.

DP. If this is reality, it should be easy for you to provide some facts about what this special treatment entails.

Personally, having gone through the process with one student so far, I don’t see how it’s possible that SFS could pull off something like that. They are way too disorganized and incompetent administratively, all the way up to Bryan’s office, to do it.

Not to mention that the colleges are independent actors here. They don’t just take what’s offered so the idea that SFS could do anything here is kind of silly.

Not judging, but it’s not 1999. Are colleges seriously accepting calls on behalf of students nowadays?

Many Genx and Boomer parents at the Big3s just can't seem to wrap their minds around this, despite the college counseling office being up front about it. Your kid is getting into an ivy because of their accomplishments and your connections. Not the school's connections.

This is patently false. Colleges will absolutely answer the phone for the head of school or head of college counselling (depending on how the particular private does it) at one of the Big 3. I taught a competitive extracurricular activity for awhile post-college and private school counselors would often call me for specific talking points for individual kids at individual schools to deploy in those calls. One of them asked me to reach out to a particular person at my alma mater for a kid and the person was expecting my call at a time that was provided for me. You are *kidding* yourselves if you don't think Big 3 type schools still don't have an inside track.

Just look at the placement results for these schools. They are fine, certainly, but they plainly do no reflect the supposed power of the HOS call, unless s/he calls Denison a lot.

[Anonymous]

Denison has a 28 percent acceptance rate. So if the HOS can help a Big 3 student (who would otherwise be a borderline candidate at best) get into colleges which are not that easy for admissions, it's worth having that safety net for some parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely true at SFS. No sour grapes here because our kids did great in college admissions, but, yes, of course there's special treatment for the children of big donors in college admissions and in every respect except serious disciplinary matters.

Nope. That might be your perception but it isn't reality.

I've had three kids at SFS; two of whom have graduated, and I stand by my statement. Your perception might be different from mine, but that doesn't mean you've got the bead on reality.

DP. If this is reality, it should be easy for you to provide some facts about what this special treatment entails.

Personally, having gone through the process with one student so far, I don’t see how it’s possible that SFS could pull off something like that. They are way too disorganized and incompetent administratively, all the way up to Bryan’s office, to do it.

Not to mention that the colleges are independent actors here. They don’t just take what’s offered so the idea that SFS could do anything here is kind of silly.

Not judging, but it’s not 1999. Are colleges seriously accepting calls on behalf of students nowadays?

Many Genx and Boomer parents at the Big3s just can't seem to wrap their minds around this, despite the college counseling office being up front about it. Your kid is getting into an ivy because of their accomplishments and your connections. Not the school's connections.

This is patently false. Colleges will absolutely answer the phone for the head of school or head of college counselling (depending on how the particular private does it) at one of the Big 3. I taught a competitive extracurricular activity for awhile post-college and private school counselors would often call me for specific talking points for individual kids at individual schools to deploy in those calls. One of them asked me to reach out to a particular person at my alma mater for a kid and the person was expecting my call at a time that was provided for me. You are *kidding* yourselves if you don't think Big 3 type schools still don't have an inside track.

The kind of schools that will answer the phone are not the kind of school these donors want their kids to attend, but if everything goes wrong Tulane will take the call

What is with the Tulane bashing? It is a great school. People on here suck.

No one said it wasn’t. I think they were just suggesting they are one of the schools that still pays attention to who the kid is ($$$) not just how they did.