Craziest “pointy” narratives that worked this cycle

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How can college admissions officers fall for this cr*p? A blog? Seriously?

If I was back in college and choosing classmates, I'd love to have one who was interested and enthusiastic enough about something to create a blog with regular and thoughtful writing or videos. But not one who was doing it just to get into college or with the assistance of a college counselor.

No you wouldn’t. Because the actually pointy kids (I have one) are often neurodivergent and not polished with great social skills.

I (poster who endorsed blogging) also have a neurodivergent kid with truly lousy social skills, but blogging about Irish dancing or ancient history or math puzzles or unicyling or another weird passion does not require social skills. (My kid doesn't have a passion nor does he blog, so he's going to whatever school takes kids with good grades but no hobbies other than watching Youtube.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:dont' envy BFS. it's a shit show.

and I disagree about connections. remember, these tops schools have a lot of first gen, etc. it's better for everything but connections. those first gen kids may grow up to be useful connections, but right now they're in grad school or starting at google.

the tutors who are 28 are going nowhere fast.

My favorite St Ann's quote was from a 40 yo st Ann's grad who was a SAHM and said "it's weird but I sort of assumed I win an Oscar one day". I mean .. wtf.

Sure she wasn't Jennifer Connolly or something? Lol.

(I think she went there.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How can college admissions officers fall for this cr*p? A blog? Seriously?

If I was back in college and choosing classmates, I'd love to have one who was interested and enthusiastic enough about something to create a blog with regular and thoughtful writing or videos. But not one who was doing it just to get into college or with the assistance of a college counselor.

No you wouldn’t. Because the actually pointy kids (I have one) are often neurodivergent and not polished with great social skills.

I (poster who endorsed blogging) also have a neurodivergent kid with truly lousy social skills, but blogging about Irish dancing or ancient history or math puzzles or unicyling or another weird passion does not require social skills. (My kid doesn't have a passion nor does he blog, so he's going to whatever school takes kids with good grades but no hobbies other than watching Youtube.)

Totally get it.

My pointy novel-writer did great with college admissions essay (I mean great by our standards not dcurbanmom), but my main objective in a school is finding one where someone will make them shower and the other kids are kinda like them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How can college admissions officers fall for this cr*p? A blog? Seriously?

If I was back in college and choosing classmates, I'd love to have one who was interested and enthusiastic enough about something to create a blog with regular and thoughtful writing or videos. But not one who was doing it just to get into college or with the assistance of a college counselor.

No you wouldn’t. Because the actually pointy kids (I have one) are often neurodivergent and not polished with great social skills.

I (poster who endorsed blogging) also have a neurodivergent kid with truly lousy social skills, but blogging about Irish dancing or ancient history or math puzzles or unicyling or another weird passion does not require social skills. (My kid doesn't have a passion nor does he blog, so he's going to whatever school takes kids with good grades but no hobbies other than watching Youtube.)

Totally get it.

My pointy novel-writer did great with college admissions essay (I mean great by our standards not dcurbanmom), but my main objective in a school is finding one where someone will make them shower and the other kids are kinda like them.

Let me know where your novel-writer kid ends up because my novel-writer kid needs the same.

[Anonymous]

I’ve just seen ppl taking an interest to an extreme (interested in x, take x to the farthest place you can imagine a well resourced teen)….

I think it can work if authentic and aligned with intended major. Even if kid drops 50% of the interest in college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How can college admissions officers fall for this cr*p? A blog? Seriously?

If I was back in college and choosing classmates, I'd love to have one who was interested and enthusiastic enough about something to create a blog with regular and thoughtful writing or videos. But not one who was doing it just to get into college or with the assistance of a college counselor.

No you wouldn’t. Because the actually pointy kids (I have one) are often neurodivergent and not polished with great social skills.

I (poster who endorsed blogging) also have a neurodivergent kid with truly lousy social skills, but blogging about Irish dancing or ancient history or math puzzles or unicyling or another weird passion does not require social skills. (My kid doesn't have a passion nor does he blog, so he's going to whatever school takes kids with good grades but no hobbies other than watching Youtube.)

Totally get it.

My pointy novel-writer did great with college admissions essay (I mean great by our standards not dcurbanmom), but my main objective in a school is finding one where someone will make them shower and the other kids are kinda like them.

Let me know where your novel-writer kid ends up because my novel-writer kid needs the same.

I will do! I started that College That Change Lives Thread for that reason!

FWIW, Ursinus just started a Creative Writing major this year. Yes, this being dcurbanmom, there are many people who would scoff at majoring in creative writing, and I get it, I do. But in terms of shepherding our quirky kids into adulthood, there are worse majors, and probably worse colleges. Writing is writing. They didn't give us as much merit as some other schools that are, technically, higher-ranked, but it does look like an interesting choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this is not the beginning of this approach.

I live in Brooklyn a stone's throw from St Ann's and my own kids are at a "top tier" HS in Manhattan. Lots of blogs, NFPs, YouTube channels and podcasts started in junior year and abandoned 12 months later.

But I've also seen plenty of these kids get into HYP - yay! - and graduate and then, because they don't have another consultant (yet) they end up being SAT tutors themselves.

Not sure this is the outcome you want for your kids

And then their connections get them a real job and then go on and the circle of affluent NYC life continues. Yeah, it doesn't change that much.

As former New Yorker, I still have a lot of friends there with kids, some at BFS and St Anne's, etc. I think I envy that world more than I like to admit to myself, but I'm also relieved not to have to deal with it. So much that is done because everyone else is doing it.

I don't think the shifts that have abandoned elite schools to the very wealthy and the very poor have been all that great for academic thought, also. Lots of armchair revolutionary kids who suffer no consequences, and kids with genuine grievances who have some of the worst examples of capitalism living next door.

THIS.

Also, the PP who commented about it trickling down to the "not as rich"... so true. I have seen this first hand (and was even guilty getting caught up in it myself for a hot second until a gave myself a proverbial slap across the face). We live really well but we aren't multiple homes and private plane rich and honestly, we have no business getting caught up in all this. Not to mention, DC's private has a great group of college counselors.

These independent companies are getting paid by very wealthy families with kids who have the kind of resources and free time to start three NFP's that a lot of regular teens don't have and likely, would be getting into top tier schools anyway (even if it meant falling up) because the schools see donation written all over them. In some cases they might be part of the tipping point of a certain kid getting in but let's be real - their percentage of acceptance is mostly wholey based on the wealth of the families and the access it affords these students to begin with. These companies get to take "credit" for the admission and it drives more parents to flock to them to drop six figures on years long programs around blogs and b.s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this is not the beginning of this approach.

I live in Brooklyn a stone's throw from St Ann's and my own kids are at a "top tier" HS in Manhattan. Lots of blogs, NFPs, YouTube channels and podcasts started in junior year and abandoned 12 months later.

But I've also seen plenty of these kids get into HYP - yay! - and graduate and then, because they don't have another consultant (yet) they end up being SAT tutors themselves.

Not sure this is the outcome you want for your kids

And then their connections get them a real job and then go on and the circle of affluent NYC life continues. Yeah, it doesn't change that much.

As former New Yorker, I still have a lot of friends there with kids, some at BFS and St Anne's, etc. I think I envy that world more than I like to admit to myself, but I'm also relieved not to have to deal with it. So much that is done because everyone else is doing it.

I don't think the shifts that have abandoned elite schools to the very wealthy and the very poor have been all that great for academic thought, also. Lots of armchair revolutionary kids who suffer no consequences, and kids with genuine grievances who have some of the worst examples of capitalism living next door.

THIS.

Also, the PP who commented about it trickling down to the "not as rich"... so true. I have seen this first hand (and was even guilty getting caught up in it myself for a hot second until a gave myself a proverbial slap across the face). We live really well but we aren't multiple homes and private plane rich and honestly, we have no business getting caught up in all this. Not to mention, DC's private has a great group of college counselors.

These independent companies are getting paid by very wealthy families with kids who have the kind of resources and free time to start three NFP's that a lot of regular teens don't have and likely, would be getting into top tier schools anyway (even if it meant falling up) because the schools see donation written all over them. In some cases they might be part of the tipping point of a certain kid getting in but let's be real - their percentage of acceptance is mostly wholey based on the wealth of the families and the access it affords these students to begin with. These companies get to take "credit" for the admission and it drives more parents to flock to them to drop six figures on years long programs around blogs and b.s.

Nah. Pre varsity blues maybe. Now?

There’s a lot more $$$ than you can imagine and very wealthy ppl (think NW btw $50-200 million) get dinged all the time. Billionaires and celebrities are diff tho.

They’ll be fine and end up at NYU; BC; Wake; Tulane etc….but you are not getting into T25 just bc you have deep pockets bc schools see “donation”. The rest has to be there - and fully baked out.

[Anonymous]

My kids did. They do have rather extraordinary circumstances and unique interests. DS wrote about being adopted as a teen and art therapy. You can’t manufacture that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's very common among the 1% and despite everyone here saying "AOs are smart! they know! they see right through this" the fact is, they don't.

I think it will work for a while. Teen tours also worked for a lot longer than we remember. Colleges scoff they can see through that and I wish someone would say: "you didn't for 20 years so let's not be so smug! and now you love the passion project some adult made up for the kids"

Also true that colleges need the 1%. They can come up with all sorts of reasons that they're only taking the smart or the nice ones, but they want the money.

‘Nuff said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's very common among the 1% and despite everyone here saying "AOs are smart! they know! they see right through this" the fact is, they don't.

I think it will work for a while. Teen tours also worked for a lot longer than we remember. Colleges scoff they can see through that and I wish someone would say: "you didn't for 20 years so let's not be so smug! and now you love the passion project some adult made up for the kids"

Also true that colleges need the 1%. They can come up with all sorts of reasons that they're only taking the smart or the nice ones, but they want the money.

‘Nuff said.

1% is that much tbh. $400k??

0.1% also isn’t that much ($1.5M+ HHI)….
We’ve got 3x this in HHI and don’t get a preferential treatment in the college app process bc “they want the money”. How does that manifest itself? Come on. There’s no box to check.

Yes, they’ll see our “titles” in parents’ employment, but they’re not getting a letter or anything else that indicates “oh maybe they’ll donate a few million” down the road?

Plus, people in this income bracket are not the ones donating $50 million sports facilities. That’s the billionaire class.

The “working wealthy”, even if making $5m+ a year are not being overtly or covertly targeted. At least we aren’t.

I just think this analysis is dead wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reading the NY mag article today (https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/college-admissions-educational-consultants-command-education.html)

And it made me wonder what were the successful, pointy (or otherwise surprising) narratives that you saw that worked in your student community this year?
Both authentic and manufactured narrative's?
Private school or public?
Region?

Not because I want to emulate them (and I have a senior anyway)… But bc I think more widespread visibility into these types of practices / shenanigans will be helpful to all.

It would help to define "worked" and "pointy" so us plebes can understand the standard associated with "worked" and what a "pointy" narrative is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's very common among the 1% and despite everyone here saying "AOs are smart! they know! they see right through this" the fact is, they don't.

I think it will work for a while. Teen tours also worked for a lot longer than we remember. Colleges scoff they can see through that and I wish someone would say: "you didn't for 20 years so let's not be so smug! and now you love the passion project some adult made up for the kids"

Also true that colleges need the 1%. They can come up with all sorts of reasons that they're only taking the smart or the nice ones, but they want the money.

‘Nuff said.

1% is that much tbh. $400k??

0.1% also isn’t that much ($1.5M+ HHI)….
We’ve got 3x this in HHI and don’t get a preferential treatment in the college app process bc “they want the money”. How does that manifest itself? Come on. There’s no box to check.

Yes, they’ll see our “titles” in parents’ employment, but they’re not getting a letter or anything else that indicates “oh maybe they’ll donate a few million” down the road?

Plus, people in this income bracket are not the ones donating $50 million sports facilities. That’s the billionaire class.

The “working wealthy”, even if making $5m+ a year are not being overtly or covertly targeted. At least we aren’t.

I just think this analysis is dead wrong.

Can’t they guess income and lookup history of giving? Though I agree most universities seperare the giving dept from admissions.

[Anonymous]

Wall Street income alone isn’t a differentiator; but combined with other things (legacy) it could be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How can college admissions officers fall for this cr*p? A blog? Seriously?

You can’t fake 500 blog posts over 3-4 years.