Letters from Board members

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hearing of multiple situations where applicants got board /influential donors’ (named buildings) letters to submit in “support of their application”.
Both public and private colleges & universities.

In the cases of OOS flagships, it’s worked at Mich/Wisc/UT/UVA this year - all OOS and all applicants I personally know (or my kid knows).

Also, know of kids who got similar board “letters of support” at Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Yale and Barnard this year. All ED/EA/REA kids - all admitted.
Yes, we are at a private school. Small classes = Kids talk.

Is this practice really that common? Does everyone mine their network to get this done? Does this happen every year or only this one bc it’s so unpredictable ?? Does it work for RD too or only EA/ED etc…

Counselors please weigh in as well.

Not surprising esp for private school kids. All about money and connections. Scary when these kids have to do something on their own.

They won't need to - their parents will have enough connections to get them a job somewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hearing of multiple situations where applicants got board /influential donors’ (named buildings) letters to submit in “support of their application”.
Both public and private colleges & universities.

In the cases of OOS flagships, it’s worked at Mich/Wisc/UT/UVA this year - all OOS and all applicants I personally know (or my kid knows).

Also, know of kids who got similar board “letters of support” at Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Yale and Barnard this year. All ED/EA/REA kids - all admitted.
Yes, we are at a private school. Small classes = Kids talk.

Is this practice really that common? Does everyone mine their network to get this done? Does this happen every year or only this one bc it’s so unpredictable ?? Does it work for RD too or only EA/ED etc…

Counselors please weigh in as well.

Not surprising esp for private school kids. All about money and connections. Scary when these kids have to do something on their own.

They won't need to - their parents will have enough connections to get them a job somewhere.

But that’s always been true. Story as old as time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hearing of multiple situations where applicants got board /influential donors’ (named buildings) letters to submit in “support of their application”.
Both public and private colleges & universities.

In the cases of OOS flagships, it’s worked at Mich/Wisc/UT/UVA this year - all OOS and all applicants I personally know (or my kid knows).

Also, know of kids who got similar board “letters of support” at Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Yale and Barnard this year. All ED/EA/REA kids - all admitted.
Yes, we are at a private school. Small classes = Kids talk.

Is this practice really that common? Does everyone mine their network to get this done? Does this happen every year or only this one bc it’s so unpredictable ?? Does it work for RD too or only EA/ED etc…

Counselors please weigh in as well.

Not surprising esp for private school kids. All about money and connections. Scary when these kids have to do something on their own.

They won't need to - their parents will have enough connections to get them a job somewhere.

But that’s always been true. Story as old as time.

NP here. The practice is more prevalent and more successful with jobs, than with T30 schools. If you don't have the specs to be admitted, a letter will make no difference.

[Anonymous]

Not sure if people saw this posted in snother thread:

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/75/1187936.page

8 different board members wrote your kid a letter for 8 diff schools?

+++++++++++++++

Yes and we somewhat embarrassed by it but this is a very unusual year. And we scrambled in Dec and Jan to get this done.
Non-DMV private.

Getting the college application read and evaluated has became critical.

Kid has scores and stats but have been told by private college counselor it’s about using any and all cards available this year. The influx of applications means most apps get a brief pre-read by the $15/hr pre-readers and 70%+ don’t make it to the next level.

Key is making sure app gets to committee. That requires letters of support - from various board members or large donors - which guarantees app is read by most senior AO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not sure if people saw this posted in snother thread:

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/75/1187936.page

8 different board members wrote your kid a letter for 8 diff schools?

+++++++++++++++

Yes and we somewhat embarrassed by it but this is a very unusual year. And we scrambled in Dec and Jan to get this done.
Non-DMV private.

Getting the college application read and evaluated has became critical.

Kid has scores and stats but have been told by private college counselor it’s about using any and all cards available this year. The influx of applications means most apps get a brief pre-read by the $15/hr pre-readers and 70%+ don’t make it to the next level.

Key is making sure app gets to committee. That requires letters of support - from various board members or large donors - which guarantees app is read by most senior AO.

What kind of colleges are these? Major?

How do you know the letters will help you or that they are even going to make a difference? Or is it more like another reference /rec letter?

Did your private college counselor recommend? How many people do something like this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your kid needs a competitive application to begin with…after that, these things absolutely make a difference.

This. A daughter's friend who was extremely academically weak, no honors/AP classes, 1200 SAT after prep, etc. basically said she was going to go to Bates College because her uncle was a board member and major donor. That did not work out. I would assume that if she had been somewhere in the ballpark for that school in the first place she would have been admitted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your kid needs a competitive application to begin with…after that, these things absolutely make a difference.

This. A daughter's friend who was extremely academically weak, no honors/AP classes, 1200 SAT after prep, etc. basically said she was going to go to Bates College because her uncle was a board member and major donor. That did not work out. I would assume that if she had been somewhere in the ballpark for that school in the first place she would have been admitted.

💯 agree with this.
Feel like these kinds of things give rich families the +1 rating that URM or 1G status gives to those applicants.

They are all on the border/cusp and are actually competitive applicants - in the 25-75% distro - but the special designation (URM; recruit; 1G; board letters) makes some sort of difference in the final scoring.

[Anonymous]

I'm pretty sure that's how I got into college. I graduated from RMIB so I would say I had the academic ability. But really I was just one of hundred kids there and nothing about me was special.

My mom was a nurse in nursing home. Over the years, I would go hang out with the residents on my moms floor. I had no idea who any of them were. I would also talk to the families when they visited. As I moved into Sr. year, a family member asked me where I was planning to apply. He happened to be on the board of one of the schools I was applying to. He wrote me a letter of recommendation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your kid needs a competitive application to begin with…after that, these things absolutely make a difference.

This. A daughter's friend who was extremely academically weak, no honors/AP classes, 1200 SAT after prep, etc. basically said she was going to go to Bates College because her uncle was a board member and major donor. That did not work out. I would assume that if she had been somewhere in the ballpark for that school in the first place she would have been admitted.

💯 agree with this.
Feel like these kinds of things give rich families the +1 rating that URM or 1G status gives to those applicants.

They are all on the border/cusp and are actually competitive applicants - in the 25-75% distro - but the special designation (URM; recruit; 1G; board letters) makes some sort of difference in the final scoring.

So is it all about that +1 rating? To make sure the kid’s application is read by the full admissions team, as someone on this board implied in another thread?

If so, you’d think CCO of private high schools would have told all their parents to do this and other shady things? Or is this the unspoken part?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your kid needs a competitive application to begin with…after that, these things absolutely make a difference.

This. A daughter's friend who was extremely academically weak, no honors/AP classes, 1200 SAT after prep, etc. basically said she was going to go to Bates College because her uncle was a board member and major donor. That did not work out. I would assume that if she had been somewhere in the ballpark for that school in the first place she would have been admitted.

💯 agree with this.
Feel like these kinds of things give rich families the +1 rating that URM or 1G status gives to those applicants.

They are all on the border/cusp and are actually competitive applicants - in the 25-75% distro - but the special designation (URM; recruit; 1G; board letters) makes some sort of difference in the final scoring.

So is it all about that +1 rating? To make sure the kid’s application is read by the full admissions team, as someone on this board implied in another thread?

If so, you’d think CCO of private high schools would have told all their parents to do this and other shady things? Or is this the unspoken part?

Yes, if slightly oversimplified.
And no one is telling us to get these letters.
Come back and tell us if it works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure if people saw this posted in snother thread:

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/75/1187936.page

8 different board members wrote your kid a letter for 8 diff schools?

+++++++++++++++

Yes and we somewhat embarrassed by it but this is a very unusual year. And we scrambled in Dec and Jan to get this done.
Non-DMV private.

Getting the college application read and evaluated has became critical.

Kid has scores and stats but have been told by private college counselor it’s about using any and all cards available this year. The influx of applications means most apps get a brief pre-read by the $15/hr pre-readers and 70%+ don’t make it to the next level.

Key is making sure app gets to committee. That requires letters of support - from various board members or large donors - which guarantees app is read by most senior AO.

What kind of colleges are these? Major?

How do you know the letters will help you or that they are even going to make a difference? Or is it more like another reference /rec letter?

Did your private college counselor recommend? How many people do something like this?

It’s just a rec letter. Some letters will carry more weight than others. You should all get them if you have the ability to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your kid needs a competitive application to begin with…after that, these things absolutely make a difference.

This. A daughter's friend who was extremely academically weak, no honors/AP classes, 1200 SAT after prep, etc. basically said she was going to go to Bates College because her uncle was a board member and major donor. That did not work out. I would assume that if she had been somewhere in the ballpark for that school in the first place she would have been admitted.

Uncle may not have advocated for her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm pretty sure that's how I got into college. I graduated from RMIB so I would say I had the academic ability. But really I was just one of hundred kids there and nothing about me was special.

My mom was a nurse in nursing home. Over the years, I would go hang out with the residents on my moms floor. I had no idea who any of them were. I would also talk to the families when they visited. As I moved into Sr. year, a family member asked me where I was planning to apply. He happened to be on the board of one of the schools I was applying to. He wrote me a letter of recommendation.

I think you deserved this positive attention.

People like to support others who are GENUINELY pro-social. That is why volunteering, charity work, and creating non-profits has become part of the college app process. Even if some of it is only done for personal benefit.

Your mother's pro-social profession also likely added to the person's wish to help you.

It is rare for unrelated teenagers to take an interest in the elderly. So you were indeed somewhat unique, and it's very nice that you were rewarded with this compliment/recommendation.

[Anonymous]

The fact that rich people do this for each other in many different aspects of life (not just education and jobs) is not news. It’s always been the case. I just wish said rich people would admit to their privilege vs. pretending it’s all due to hard work/intelligence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your kid needs a competitive application to begin with…after that, these things absolutely make a difference.

This. A daughter's friend who was extremely academically weak, no honors/AP classes, 1200 SAT after prep, etc. basically said she was going to go to Bates College because her uncle was a board member and major donor. That did not work out. I would assume that if she had been somewhere in the ballpark for that school in the first place she would have been admitted.

💯 agree with this.
Feel like these kinds of things give rich families the +1 rating that URM or 1G status gives to those applicants.

They are all on the border/cusp and are actually competitive applicants - in the 25-75% distro - but the special designation (URM; recruit; 1G; board letters) makes some sort of difference in the final scoring.

So is it all about that +1 rating? To make sure the kid’s application is read by the full admissions team, as someone on this board implied in another thread?

If so, you’d think CCO of private high schools would have told all their parents to do this and other shady things? Or is this the unspoken part?

Yes, if slightly oversimplified.
And no one is telling us to get these letters.
Come back and tell us if it works.

I have been a rec reader on a small scale for local scholarships. Recommendations from our local celebrities (politicians, judges) aren't very meaningful compared to an excellent recommendation from a teacher, an employer, or the student's own "voice". Even if these prominent locals know the kid, they know them from the neighborhood, or at best from coaching youth sports, etc. But not usually to the degree that a teacher does.

I know I'm extrapolating here...but think about it. If your kid loses out a +1 to somebody who has a rec from a powerful person (who probably doesn't know a lot about the kid and is just spouting platitudes), then your kid probably doesn't have very personal teacher recs and their "Why University X" essay is probably deficient.

What sounds believable here is that a VIP mention could get an app out of a lottery style situation (front-line review) to a next step. But having a strong/unique reason can do that also (pointiness, but not being hooked).

A couple examples above refer to unsolicited offers to recommend. In my life experience, those are rare. And I would say if such letters are genuine, perhaps they deserve a bit of weight.

In my company, I know a student who got a summer internship because a VP did a talk at her non-feeder school and she gave him her resume. He sent the resume to H.R. and they just made her an offer because they assumed that if a VP bothered to pass on the resume, that's what he wanted to happen.

There's a lot of randomness in life. You can never know what tips the scales at certain points. Personally, I wouldn't try to get help for my child from someone who never met them and doesn't actually care about their career plans.

Another thought about VIP/big donor children. The two I knew at my Top 20 MBA were well-qualified to be there. As qualified as me without any connections. Of course, they are rich and have great jobs, but that's hardly surprising. One invests his dad's (real estate fortune) money in startups.