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Only if your kid got into an Ivy in last 5 yrs. - how'd you do it?
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Anonymous
Columbia. |
Anonymous
NP here. I'm confused by all the hatred and bile that people are spewing toward OP. It seems like she's just asking for an understanding of what type of kid gets admitted to top schools. Everyone here seems to assume she's trying to build a Frankenstein-monster child designed to win Ivy admission, but I don't get that from her question. For context, here's what she asked:
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Anonymous
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The reason, PP, is you're not allowed to ask anything on this forum with the words "get into". People don't like to think other parents are gaming the system.
OP, look online for some answers, not here. You only get raging disgust here, since it's clear you are trying to take away you're kid's childhood to vicariously achieve your own goals. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
Yeah right, only public school people would have the pp's attitude. (sarcasm) |
Anonymous
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Yes, my daughter was accepted to an Ivy. She was recruited to row. She had really good SAT scores and grades -- but so did everyone else at her top private school here in town. Being good enough to be recruited as an athlete is the best way to get into an Ivy (in most cases it's better to be a recruited athlete than a legacy). Only legacies with big donations will surpass the recruited athletes.
And, I think the question is a fair one. By the way, they call Wilson (DC public) -- "Yale or jail". If a student can distinguish themselves at such a tough place by getting top grades and scores -- the Ivies will love them over the private school kids who have had more advantages presented to them. Good luck to you. i'm sure others have the same question but are too afraid to ask since some of these DCUMers jump down people's throats about everything. |
Anonymous
| So what is the advice for boys? Everyone is mentioning girls who played interesting sports, but what kinds of things distinguish a boy? Or, worse yet, what kinds of things will distinguish a boy from other boys from a top private school with a lot of legacies, great test scores, and activities? |
Anonymous
How about generosity, kindness, and humility? |
Anonymous
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Boys will also be recruited at many Ivies for sports including crew, football, lacrosse, ice hockey, soccer, baseball, basketball, fencing, track, cross-country, wrestling, water polo, sailing ... and I'm sure I missed something.
Schools such as Landon, STA, G'town Prep have many boys recruited to Ivies for sports. Those are the ones I know of from this area. I'm sure some fellow DCUMers will make sure to respond with others. |
Anonymous
You can come down from the soapbox. You know nothing about me or my child. |
Anonymous
I wasn't suggesting you and your son don't have those qualities. I'm merely suggesting that the admissions office might use them to distinguish an applicant from the pack. Good luck! |
Anonymous
| For the snark who wrote about generosity, kindness, etc. -- those things go w/o saying. The Ivies are plenty smart -- they look at the whole candidate and the complete package. Of course they are going to take well-respected students. The problem is there are many more well-respected students with excellent characteristics than there are available spots. So, the students need to do a lot more to distinguish themselves beyond the obvious characteristics. |
Anonymous
Move to North Dakota. Seriously. Admissions offers want geographic diversity. And DC would be a better place without parents who are hyper-competitive. 
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Anonymous
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You can look at the athletic team rosters online for each of the Ivies to see how many boys and girls were recruited from the Greater DC area for sports. There are public and private school students -- boys & girls playing their respective sports for many of the 8 Ivies. If your child isn't good enough in a sport to be recruited for a DI Ivy...check out DIII "Little Ivies" -- Williams, Amherst & Weslyn. Good luck!
Please ignore some of the rude posters on this thread. It was clear that only Ivy parents were asked to respond -- several others couldn't resist jumping in to pounce on your discussion. |
Anonymous
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The preoccupation on this thread with getting recruited for sports is bizarre. What about other talents: musical instruments, writing, exceptional talent in an unusual area? I know, the OP doesn't care what Ivy grads think: but just to diversify this conversation a little, my freshman dorm at Princeton included a professional ballerina, a woman who spoke four languages fluently, a number of talented writers and singers...in addition to the usual assortment of crew jocks, nationally ranked squash players, etc. Think about what your child loves to do and encourage him/her to enjoy and excel at it. To me, this seems like a much better idea that forcing him/her to join the crew team just to get into an Ivy. Okay, I'm done. Bring on the bile. |