Parents of Ivy admits — what were their ECs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DC is at Princeton. He was not pointy. Big public high school. Strong GPA, class rigor, test scores, etc. He played a varsity sport throughout HS, was in the audition-only jazz choir. Strong writer, enjoyed learning, good relationships with his teachers. Not a legacy, not a recruited athlete, not URM. We joke that maybe he got in because he was homecoming king.

Private school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP- your kid really needs to have a genuine love of learning and that needs to come across in the application, in addition to high stats, good ECs, good recs and strong essays. Interest in sports, sneakers and girls is just not enough, sorry. Is he bringing anything special to the campus community. If not, the odds are low. If your kid is very smart but not intellectually curious, the admission committees see that IMO.

I believe this and struggle with it. My kid is very bright but lack curiosity. I don't get it, but there is only so much I can do about it. He is provided every possible opportunity; every interest is nurtured, has access to everything. Just doesn't care.

My kids too. Living a comfortable life makes them not care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So tired of all the advice that kids have to be pointy. My kid rising sophomore is a regular kid with interests in sports, sneakers, and girls.

Somehow in the next two years, he’s supposed to develop deep intellectual interests, do innovative research, or somehow be the best in his field at something.

Is this real, or do normal kids have a chance at Ivy admissions? Parents of Ivy admits, can you share what your kids ECs were?

We have gotten to know many ivy friends of my rising junior ivy student. They have visited our home or we have spent time with them on campus. Almost all did a fine art/music and did it for years before high school and had state or regional accolades. Some were also top debaters/model UN, or did legitimate research (not pay to play). They are all engineers and premeds and only one out of 8 is hooked: rest are white or asian nonlegacy kids, not recruited, most were Val or Sal unless from a feeder private but still top5%. They all talk about being top in their school winning high school awards or getting into prestigious NJ/other summer governors school, then coming there and being above average and they joke about it. They all are highly intelligent: to just listen to them is amazing, but they are almost all humble. They are from all over the country, and one from Canada. Most got in to at least one other T10(this ivy is in the T10). Every one speaks and has a demeanor that is mature beyond their years.

[Anonymous]

^more than half of them did post-BC calculus in high school and seemingly took every AP that existed especially Stem. They are all stem but it still surprised us that this many high schools had access to post BC calculus as a normal part of the curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So tired of all the advice that kids have to be pointy. My kid rising sophomore is a regular kid with interests in sports, sneakers, and girls.

Somehow in the next two years, he’s supposed to develop deep intellectual interests, do innovative research, or somehow be the best in his field at something.

Is this real, or do normal kids have a chance at Ivy admissions? Parents of Ivy admits, can you share what your kids ECs were?

Read Excellent Sheep

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People seem to make a lot of assumptions about kids they know, but the reality is you really don’t. You may know stats or extracurriculars, but can’t possibly know how the student’s voice came through via essays, letters of recommendation, and having a compelling narrative.

Also it’s hard for dumb or just regular bright people to recognize true brilliance in another kid. Your own child may not be able to tell or report to you who is actually the best writer, smartest, most incisive, brilliant mathematician or scientist or whatever in his class.

+1

Some kids and parents are humble too. They downplay things. They don’t brag.

[Anonymous]

I would describe my unhooked kid as fairly typical. He is an athlete, but was not 'coach-supported' or recruited. His sport was a big deal to him. He did community service, picked a club Freshmen year that he stayed in all 4 years. He had a summer job. He has a clear area of interest which he has been curious about for a long time--showed up in his course selections and the stuff he wrote about. He is very well-read and will pick up a newspaper, interested in the world. We really limited our kids' time on electronics/xbox/iphones throughout childhood, little if any SM presence. School work came easy, very big participator in classroom discussions (via teachers), well-liked, really nice kid, empathetic. Well-rounded. No spikes. He is our firstborn and, frankly, we worried about him getting into the state flagships after reading this forum and listening to friends. lol. He ended up getting in two Ivies, Hopkins, top SLAC and some T20s. I do think the AP 5s and the high test scores, and unweighted 4.0 helped from a tough HS. I am still utterly shocked at his acceptances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So tired of all the advice that kids have to be pointy. My kid rising sophomore is a regular kid with interests in sports, sneakers, and girls.

Somehow in the next two years, he’s supposed to develop deep intellectual interests, do innovative research, or somehow be the best in his field at something.

Is this real, or do normal kids have a chance at Ivy admissions? Parents of Ivy admits, can you share what your kids ECs were?

We have gotten to know many ivy friends of my rising junior ivy student. They have visited our home or we have spent time with them on campus. Almost all did a fine art/music and did it for years before high school and had state or regional accolades. Some were also top debaters/model UN, or did legitimate research (not pay to play). They are all engineers and premeds and only one out of 8 is hooked: rest are white or asian nonlegacy kids, not recruited, most were Val or Sal unless from a feeder private but still top5%. They all talk about being top in their school winning high school awards or getting into prestigious NJ/other summer governors school, then coming there and being above average and they joke about it. They all are highly intelligent: to just listen to them is amazing, but they are almost all humble. They are from all over the country, and one from Canada. Most got in to at least one other T10(this ivy is in the T10). Every one speaks and has a demeanor that is mature beyond their years.

The bolded describes the non-hooked/non-legacy kids that I know were accepted this year. Unassuming. Kind. Genuine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So tired of all the advice that kids have to be pointy. My kid rising sophomore is a regular kid with interests in sports, sneakers, and girls.

Somehow in the next two years, he’s supposed to develop deep intellectual interests, do innovative research, or somehow be the best in his field at something.

Is this real, or do normal kids have a chance at Ivy admissions? Parents of Ivy admits, can you share what your kids ECs were?

Know a kid accepted to an Ivy that started a business reselling limited edition sneakers...probably netted about $100k (i.e. profit) during HS.

Kid had great scores and grades, but I am sure this was part of the application.

There are lots of sneaker reselling teen boys out there. I know of 2 enrollees to Michigan Ross who had such businesses.

Do they score them based on profit? Maybe kids should submit Schedule C's.

Agreed....just making the point that even just a kid "interested in sneakers" can do something more than 99% of other kids interested in sneakers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So tired of all the advice that kids have to be pointy. My kid rising sophomore is a regular kid with interests in sports, sneakers, and girls.

Somehow in the next two years, he’s supposed to develop deep intellectual interests, do innovative research, or somehow be the best in his field at something.

Is this real, or do normal kids have a chance at Ivy admissions? Parents of Ivy admits, can you share what your kids ECs were?

This depends what you mean by "normal". If you mean average HS student then no. One has to be exceptional in within their high school and AO region to be considered, whatever that means for the high school(does less than 1% get into ivies each year? or 10% of the unhooked high school class?).
The data shows the vast majority of unhooked kids have top scores and are at the very top handful of their high school. The ones who get into ivies do not have to have crazy ECs: many have 2-3 that they are able to write about intelligently and explain their impact. Intellectual curiosity is a common theme in "what we look for". I think the LOR from teachers can show this., as can essays, and the interview. Colleges want students to participate in class and in the community and ivies also want the brightest (or a hooked demographic or recruited athlete).
Read MIT applying sideways. Every Ivy/T10 kid I know who got in unhooked happens to fit the description perfectly, organically, without parental help, AND they are at the top of their class: they have the intellectual interest and the desire to dive deep into ECs in addition to studies on their own. I do not think it can be crafted so if the kid does not have it, they do not, and they will still have schools that accept them. The harsh reality is that every year there are kids who organically have all of the above and still do not get into ivies/t10, yet peers who seem similar do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So tired of all the advice that kids have to be pointy. My kid rising sophomore is a regular kid with interests in sports, sneakers, and girls.

Somehow in the next two years, he’s supposed to develop deep intellectual interests, do innovative research, or somehow be the best in his field at something.

Is this real, or do normal kids have a chance at Ivy admissions? Parents of Ivy admits, can you share what your kids ECs were?

We have gotten to know many ivy friends of my rising junior ivy student. They have visited our home or we have spent time with them on campus. Almost all did a fine art/music and did it for years before high school and had state or regional accolades. Some were also top debaters/model UN, or did legitimate research (not pay to play). They are all engineers and premeds and only one out of 8 is hooked: rest are white or asian nonlegacy kids, not recruited, most were Val or Sal unless from a feeder private but still top5%. They all talk about being top in their school winning high school awards or getting into prestigious NJ/other summer governors school, then coming there and being above average and they joke about it. They all are highly intelligent: to just listen to them is amazing, but they are almost all humble. They are from all over the country, and one from Canada. Most got in to at least one other T10(this ivy is in the T10). Every one speaks and has a demeanor that is mature beyond their years.

The bolded describes the non-hooked/non-legacy kids that I know were accepted this year. Unassuming. Kind. Genuine.

Same with our high school the last couple yrs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP- your kid really needs to have a genuine love of learning and that needs to come across in the application, in addition to high stats, good ECs, good recs and strong essays. Interest in sports, sneakers and girls is just not enough, sorry. Is he bringing anything special to the campus community. If not, the odds are low. If your kid is very smart but not intellectually curious, the admission committees see that IMO.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has it ever occurred to any of you that if “packaging” is what gets a kid into an Ivy, maybe students at Ivies aren’t more exceptional than smart kids at other elite schools who packaged less or not at all? People set on Ivies seem to think it’s the student cohort - not the education, per se - that makes the Ivies great, but if the cohort is mostly smart kids artificially made to look amazing, maybe the cohort is more like the emperor with few clothes. Just something to consider.

I think that is true. Packaged networkers with no substance are getting in, not the best and brightest.

That does not fit our experience. None of their ivy friends are packaged networkers, nor is DC. They are all extremely bright and driven but in different ways. A lot are from middle class backgrounds on aid, not pretentious wealthy kids like folks on Dcum tend to assume

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is at Princeton. He was not pointy. Big public high school. Strong GPA, class rigor, test scores, etc. He played a varsity sport throughout HS, was in the audition-only jazz choir. Strong writer, enjoyed learning, good relationships with his teachers. Not a legacy, not a recruited athlete, not URM. We joke that maybe he got in because he was homecoming king.

Private school?

I'm a new poster, but the poster you're asking about specifically said "Big public high school."

[Anonymous]

Kid spent a summer at a big newspaper organization, had national awards for creative writing, started and led a big recycling club they started and got a grant for,, and got experience as a museum curator. All to major in math, but they connected by talking about their natural curiosity and interest in building strong communities.