Perfect scores, no interest in Ivys

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why?

If your kid can articulate a decent rationale as to why they want certain universities and not others, then that's fine. The heart wants what the heart wants, as long as the wallet can follow.

But refusing to apply to Ivies just because they're Ivies is bizarre.

Not these days it's not.

[Anonymous]

They could be trying to be cool, pretending they don't care because they're scared. Maybe take them for tours anyway and see if something clicks for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This will cause entertaining responses I'm sure, but what would be your reaction if your 36 ACT/4.8W GPA student didn't want to apply to an Ivy? I respect it but am surprised.

This is my kid. I also don’t want her to apply to an Ivy, both to support her reasons and because I don’t believe the outcomes justify paying $100k/year for an Ivy or any other school, except in the most truly unique cases.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They could be trying to be cool, pretending they don't care because they're scared. Maybe take them for tours anyway and see if something clicks for them.

Or they could be a level-headed smart kid who has other reasons for wanting to go to different schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a horrible example of vague posting. My initial response is "so?" Next question is "Do they not want Ivies but they want Williams/Pomona/Stanford/MIT/etc." or "Do they want to go to state U for free and be a superstar?" - though guess what - no guarantee they will be a superstar and being average at state U is a lot worse than being average at an Ivy so there will be a lot more pressure to succeed.

But frankly I don't think I generally care so I will move on. Best of luck.

That is no longer true. MIT took one kid out of 50 from my kid's STEM magnet. At least 30 kids who were better in academics, SAT scores, ECs than that one kid, chose UMD. UMD has more top students from the various magnet programs in MD, VA, DC, NJ, Delaware and NY - coming for some of its reputed majors. The sheer volume of top performers in UMD in certain majors should give anxiety to applicants. UMD is not a small, cosy, boutique college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why?

If your kid can articulate a decent rationale as to why they want certain universities and not others, then that's fine. The heart wants what the heart wants, as long as the wallet can follow.

But refusing to apply to Ivies just because they're Ivies is bizarre.

Not these days it's not.

Dear Lord, are you referring to political reasons? That would be a very stupid reason to turn down any school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why?

If your kid can articulate a decent rationale as to why they want certain universities and not others, then that's fine. The heart wants what the heart wants, as long as the wallet can follow.

But refusing to apply to Ivies just because they're Ivies is bizarre.

Not these days it's not.

Dear Lord, are you referring to political reasons? That would be a very stupid reason to turn down any school.

I don't know if I agree with that. If you believe the Earth is flat, Harvard or MIT or a lot of other schools might not be the right fit for you, even if you did really well on your standardized test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a horrible example of vague posting. My initial response is "so?" Next question is "Do they not want Ivies but they want Williams/Pomona/Stanford/MIT/etc." or "Do they want to go to state U for free and be a superstar?" - though guess what - no guarantee they will be a superstar and being average at state U is a lot worse than being average at an Ivy so there will be a lot more pressure to succeed.

But frankly I don't think I generally care so I will move on. Best of luck.

That is no longer true. MIT took one kid out of 50 from my kid's STEM magnet. At least 30 kids who were better in academics, SAT scores, ECs than that one kid, chose UMD. UMD has more top students from the various magnet programs in MD, VA, DC, NJ, Delaware and NY - coming for some of its reputed majors. The sheer volume of top performers in UMD in certain majors should give anxiety to applicants. UMD is not a small, cosy, boutique college.

This is true because MIT/Stanford/Ivies are not based on primarily academic merit anymore. MIT and Harvard doth protest too much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This will cause entertaining responses I'm sure, but what would be your reaction if your 36 ACT/4.8W GPA student didn't want to apply to an Ivy? I respect it but am surprised.

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏. BRAVO
The only way to fight the unfair practises of Ivies is to send brilliant student to other colleges and bring prestige to those colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This will cause entertaining responses I'm sure, but what would be your reaction if your 36 ACT/4.8W GPA student didn't want to apply to an Ivy? I respect it but am surprised.

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏. BRAVO
The only way to fight the unfair practises of Ivies is to send brilliant student to other colleges and bring prestige to those colleges.

Lots of other colleges besides the Ivies have prestige. If you hate the ivies for some reason, don't go to them.

[Anonymous]

Making a post saying not applying boosts prestige more not less.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This will cause entertaining responses I'm sure, but what would be your reaction if your 36 ACT/4.8W GPA student didn't want to apply to an Ivy? I respect it but am surprised.

I'd be delighted! Lots of merit opportunities and ivies don't take everyone with high stats. They look for a bunch of other junk you can't predict or control.

[Anonymous]

I'm assuming they want to attend school in the South? That locale is very hot right now.

Plus Vandy, Duke, U Chicago, WashU, Rice, etc. are all rising in popularity.

Or maybe they want to go instate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm assuming they want to attend school in the South? That locale is very hot right now.

Plus Vandy, Duke, U Chicago, WashU, Rice, etc. are all rising in popularity.

Or maybe they want to go instate?

Agree, those schools are rising and popularity.

Also add on:
Northwestern
Wake
SLACs!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This will cause entertaining responses I'm sure, but what would be your reaction if your 36 ACT/4.8W GPA student didn't want to apply to an Ivy? I respect it but am surprised.

Weighted gpa means nothing.
Perfect scores are no big deal.
I would say your thinking these would be the main criteria for Ivy admission means you have a lot to learn.