I’m worried DD got into too elite of a college

[Anonymous]

Let her give it a whirl. Listen as she talks throughout the year and be supportive as she works through the transition. Be open if she give inklings about wanting to transfer if she truly is overwhelmed and be supportive if she’s happy but maybe not doing quite as well as you hoped. You aren’t going to know until she tries!!

[Anonymous]

It sounds like you have a case of impostor syndrome. It's prevalent, and your kid will likely do just fine. At DC's UChicago orientation, the president acknowledged the phenomenon and made a point of telling the incoming students that none of them had been admitted by mistake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My best friend’s hooked daughter got into University of Chicago off the waitlist. She struggled the entire way through and graduated with right at a two point. The college kept telling her her gpa didn’t matter “at Chicago” so she wouldn’t transfer out. She got no job offers. After working for the university for a few months she’s back home and tutors little kids for peanuts through some federal non-profit program.

So maybe she won’t fail out but she could be in a difficult spot in recruiting with an awful gpa.

She needs to broaden her application pool. Most smaller companies don’t care about GPA or even ask.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My best friend’s hooked daughter got into University of Chicago off the waitlist. She struggled the entire way through and graduated with right at a two point. The college kept telling her her gpa didn’t matter “at Chicago” so she wouldn’t transfer out. She got no job offers. After working for the university for a few months she’s back home and tutors little kids for peanuts through some federal non-profit program.

So maybe she won’t fail out but she could be in a difficult spot in recruiting with an awful gpa.

She needs to broaden her application pool. Most smaller companies don’t care about GPA or even ask.

Agreed. For grad school, yes, she’s hosed. But I’ve hired lots of people and never once had access to GPA. Wouldn’t even know how.

Way, way more to this story than what’s been shared.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like you have a case of impostor syndrome. It's prevalent, and your kid will likely do just fine. At DC's UChicago orientation, the president acknowledged the phenomenon and made a point of telling the incoming students that none of them had been admitted by mistake.

Sometimes there’s just a mismatch. So, yeah, both applicant and admissions made a mistake. Doesn't mean applicant was an imposter. Just that admissions isn’t infallible and applicants don’t always understand what they’re getting into (and/or what kinds of support they’d previously relied upon). In OP’s scenario, it doesn’t sound like imposter syndrome since it’s Mom (or Dad) who is wondering whether there has been a mistake — not the student herself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My best friend’s hooked daughter got into University of Chicago off the waitlist. She struggled the entire way through and graduated with right at a two point. The college kept telling her her gpa didn’t matter “at Chicago” so she wouldn’t transfer out. She got no job offers. After working for the university for a few months she’s back home and tutors little kids for peanuts through some federal non-profit program.

So maybe she won’t fail out but she could be in a difficult spot in recruiting with an awful gpa.

What was her major?

[Anonymous]

HYPS grad here. I was an extremely pointy applicant with top SATs but, due to serious ADHD, grades that weren't quite as good. College grades were poor , though in a demanding major. No matter. The degree opened doors for my years, both in elite banking/consulting positions, at startups, and, later, in academia--both at the PhD and faculty stages.

I'd try to help her find supports. The more 1 on 1 tutoring she can get, the better off she'll be. (And no, it's not free at most universities, but the cost is relatively low.)

[Anonymous]

Son had 2.5 GPA in high school and was admitted into HYPS because my brother donated 2M to the school. Son graduated from college with C average but it really did not matter. He got a job through networking and now is at PWC consulting with 200K+ salary. College GPA means nothing. It is the connection that counts.

Your DD will do fine at those elite colleges. If she works hard and have 1-1 tutoring, she will graduate with an unbelievable job waiting for her. Is your DD going to be Marissa Mayer? Probably not but she will do well.

[Anonymous]

1. Getting a good job through networking really depends on field and personality and demographics.

2. Advice about seeking out support is the crucial bit here (and the ease into freshman year point may be important as well). The first part is knowing when you need help (and asking early enough that it can make a difference). The second part is knowing where to get it.

As a parent, I familiarized myself with some of the campus resources for tutoring so that if/when DC was struggling, I had a concrete suggestion to offer. (e.g. I think if you go to library X at time Y, there is free drop-in tutoring. It’s called Z, so look it up to confirm details). OTOH, offered in advance, that info might have looked like a vote of no confidence. OTOH, in real time I didn’t expect a kid feeling overwhelmed and unaccustomed to using tutors to take time to research what was available.

If your DC would be interested in/open to a self-help book on academic strategies for college, I’d recommend Cal Newport’s How to Become Straight A Student in College.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Son had 2.5 GPA in high school and was admitted into HYPS because my brother donated 2M to the school. Son graduated from college with C average but it really did not matter. He got a job through networking and now is at PWC consulting with 200K+ salary. College GPA means nothing. It is the connection that counts.

Your DD will do fine at those elite colleges. If she works hard and have 1-1 tutoring, she will graduate with an unbelievable job waiting for her. Is your DD going to be Marissa Mayer? Probably not but she will do well.

That’s ridiculous & hopefully doesn’t happen anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Son had 2.5 GPA in high school and was admitted into HYPS because my brother donated 2M to the school. Son graduated from college with C average but it really did not matter. He got a job through networking and now is at PWC consulting with 200K+ salary. College GPA means nothing. It is the connection that counts.

Your DD will do fine at those elite colleges. If she works hard and have 1-1 tutoring, she will graduate with an unbelievable job waiting for her. Is your DD going to be Marissa Mayer? Probably not but she will do well.

That’s ridiculous & hopefully doesn’t happen anymore.

New poster. Of course it still does. How naive are you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My best friend’s hooked daughter got into University of Chicago off the waitlist. She struggled the entire way through and graduated with right at a two point. The college kept telling her her gpa didn’t matter “at Chicago” so she wouldn’t transfer out. She got no job offers. After working for the university for a few months she’s back home and tutors little kids for peanuts through some federal non-profit program.

So maybe she won’t fail out but she could be in a difficult spot in recruiting with an awful gpa.

She needs to broaden her application pool. Most smaller companies don’t care about GPA or even ask.

That’s just not true. Chicago’s recruiting portal asks for SAT score and college GPA. Bottom kids there are screwed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Son had 2.5 GPA in high school and was admitted into HYPS because my brother donated 2M to the school. Son graduated from college with C average but it really did not matter. He got a job through networking and now is at PWC consulting with 200K+ salary. College GPA means nothing. It is the connection that counts.

Your DD will do fine at those elite colleges. If she works hard and have 1-1 tutoring, she will graduate with an unbelievable job waiting for her. Is your DD going to be Marissa Mayer? Probably not but she will do well.

That’s ridiculous & hopefully doesn’t happen anymore.

New poster. Of course it still does. How naive are you?

+1 lol! Of course it does. I have a wealthy friend who got his one kid into an Ivy using this method, the other kid got into another Ivy as a legacy. The legacy kid was smart. The other he got in thru donation was not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My best friend’s hooked daughter got into University of Chicago off the waitlist. She struggled the entire way through and graduated with right at a two point. The college kept telling her her gpa didn’t matter “at Chicago” so she wouldn’t transfer out. She got no job offers. After working for the university for a few months she’s back home and tutors little kids for peanuts through some federal non-profit program.

So maybe she won’t fail out but she could be in a difficult spot in recruiting with an awful gpa.

She needs to broaden her application pool. Most smaller companies don’t care about GPA or even ask.

That’s just not true. Chicago’s recruiting portal asks for SAT score and college GPA. Bottom kids there are screwed.

Presumably on campus recruiters aren’t the only employers she could look at.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My best friend’s hooked daughter got into University of Chicago off the waitlist. She struggled the entire way through and graduated with right at a two point. The college kept telling her her gpa didn’t matter “at Chicago” so she wouldn’t transfer out. She got no job offers. After working for the university for a few months she’s back home and tutors little kids for peanuts through some federal non-profit program.

So maybe she won’t fail out but she could be in a difficult spot in recruiting with an awful gpa.

She needs to broaden her application pool. Most smaller companies don’t care about GPA or even ask.

That’s just not true. Chicago’s recruiting portal asks for SAT score and college GPA. Bottom kids there are screwed.

Holy crap - one does not have to use the recruiting portal. There are many ways to find a job!