Big 3 College Placement 2018-19 Cycle

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I was directed here by the article I read today on The Atlantic. Hard to believe that you don't recognize how entitled and yet desperate so many of you sound. Do you realize that it's not always about the thousands of dollars that you spent on prep schools? Not to mention the pressure that you place upon your children and the school teachers and the counselors who help to navigate their college applications? I can't believe that you would put this kind of pressure upon your children. Think about the demands that you place upon your kids that likely make them feel like failures or fear failure at such an early and impressionable age. So what if they don't get into Harvard? We live in a small town in the North Puget Sound, Pacific Northwest. Farming country. My children grew up like real kids. They roamed farmland and played and ran quads and swam in lakes and rivers and fished and went crabbing and clamming and hiked and explored the great outdoors. They attended public schools. They all did well. Our youngest took a year and a half off from school after graduation. He didn't know what he wanted to BE. After that break, he attended a community college and graduated in the top 1% of the college. Phi Theta Kappa. He received offers from several Ivy League schools, without even having to put in an application. He was almost 22 when he graduated from a "mere" community college and was then accepted into a prestigious Engineering University in Colorado. Google the best Engineering School that you never heard of. Yes, it's that good. They don't have to advertise. He was one of 14 transfer students from WA State accepted into the Colorado School of Mines that year. It's the Ivy League Engineering University of the West. Our three older children all graduated from great Universities and are all well employed and happy in their lives. What is the goal? The goal is to give our children the best experience, the happiest childhoods. To encourage them in their interests and their endeavors, and to let them know that we, their parents, have faith in them and support them in what means the MOST to them. It's not all about you. Quit trying to curate your children's childhoods and let them go free. Take a deep breath and just let your children BE.

So kids who live in cities aren't "real kids"? Kind of a narrow point of view you've got there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hmmm...sounds like lots of posts from entitled and dull rich white kids kvetching about admissions, rather than working hard and and being talented and sharp like their indian and chinese friends

I wouldn't be surprised if many of the posters you mocked are actually non-white.....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Being a legacy is an enormous advantage. It gets kids admitted to schools that otherwise would not seriously consider them.

What you describe may have been true decades ago, but is no longer accurate in 2018. The applicant pools are way bigger now.

Legacies who are admitted, but they were already qualified on the merits and the legacy status was the tiebreaker in their favor. The notion that today's legacy applicants are somehow less qualified is a myth. This isn't to say that they didn't benefit, but on paper, they were almost certainly worthy of admission. There are too many qualified applicants vying for basically the same number of spots as when we were kids, and legacy status is one of the few ways to break ties or make close calls.

this is just wrong. seriously, go read up on the harvard suit. i mean, we don't have to speculate or surmise. the admissions folks talk about what a big deal it is if you're a legacy.

"But Harvard has not disputed the preference given to legacy students. A 2013 internal study, made public in the Friday documents, found a strong positive association between legacy status and an individual applicant’s odds of admission.

Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons ’67 previously defended the “tip” he says his office gives to legacy applicants—which he described in a 2011 interview as a “self-selecting group.”

“If you look at the credentials of Harvard alumni and alumnae sons and daughters, they are better candidates on average,” Fitzsimmons said. “Very few who apply have no chance of getting in.”

Harvard spokesperson Rachael Dane referred to a statement on the Admissions Office website about whether likelihood of admission is “enhanced if a relative has attended Harvard.”

“The application process is the same for all candidates,” the statement reads. “Among a group of similarly distinguished applicants, the daughters and sons of Harvard College alumni/ae may receive an additional look.”

Yes - it's a big deal. Yes - it helps immensely. But, you are taking the one fact we know, which is the legacy admit rate, and then assuming everything else. The lawsuit presented ZERO information on the point you are making - which is that legacy admits are less qualified.

Your quote says what most data has shown... legacies are usually more qualified than the average candidate. See above.

Also, not true. You're skipping the parts about the "Z List," the "Dean's Interest List," etc. The Boston Globe describes the Z List thusly:

"They are predominantly (70 percent) white students, and nearly half have parents who attended Harvard. Just a few are economically disadvantaged, and nearly 60 percent are drawn from a special list kept by the dean that includes children of significant donors and potential donors. As a group, their test scores and academic records fall somewhere in between students who were rejected from Harvard and those who got in."

Fair enough. About 50-60 students get in off the Z list per year so we’re taking about 25-30 legacy kids. Out of 2000 admitted students. 1.5% of overall admits and less than 5% of the legacy pool. Interesting but not significant

You fail at basic math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hmmm...sounds like lots of posts from entitled and dull rich white kids kvetching about admissions, rather than working hard and and being talented and sharp like their indian and chinese friends

I wouldn't be surprised if many of the posters you mocked are actually non-white.....

In fact, it's racist to assume they are white. The message is that POC don't care about college admissions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I was directed here by the article I read today on The Atlantic. Hard to believe that you don't recognize how entitled and yet desperate so many of you sound. Do you realize that it's not always about the thousands of dollars that you spent on prep schools? Not to mention the pressure that you place upon your children and the school teachers and the counselors who help to navigate their college applications? I can't believe that you would put this kind of pressure upon your children. Think about the demands that you place upon your kids that likely make them feel like failures or fear failure at such an early and impressionable age. So what if they don't get into Harvard? We live in a small town in the North Puget Sound, Pacific Northwest. Farming country. My children grew up like real kids. They roamed farmland and played and ran quads and swam in lakes and rivers and fished and went crabbing and clamming and hiked and explored the great outdoors. They attended public schools. They all did well. Our youngest took a year and a half off from school after graduation. He didn't know what he wanted to BE. After that break, he attended a community college and graduated in the top 1% of the college. Phi Theta Kappa. He received offers from several Ivy League schools, without even having to put in an application. He was almost 22 when he graduated from a "mere" community college and was then accepted into a prestigious Engineering University in Colorado. Google the best Engineering School that you never heard of. Yes, it's that good. They don't have to advertise. He was one of 14 transfer students from WA State accepted into the Colorado School of Mines that year. It's the Ivy League Engineering University of the West. Our three older children all graduated from great Universities and are all well employed and happy in their lives. What is the goal? The goal is to give our children the best experience, the happiest childhoods. To encourage them in their interests and their endeavors, and to let them know that we, their parents, have faith in them and support them in what means the MOST to them. It's not all about you. Quit trying to curate your children's childhoods and let them go free. Take a deep breath and just let your children BE.

So kids who live in cities aren't "real kids"? Kind of a narrow point of view you've got there.

I think this is probably the most sanctimonious and self-important post I’ve ever read on this site, and it’s not even from someone from DC!

[Anonymous]

I think the use of "Ivy" when we really mean HYP is a bit grasping on the part of the lesser schools.

It's not as though someone gets into Duke, MIT, or Stanford (alphabetical order so don't get distracted) but then says "Oh, but of course I'd really rather go to Cornell or Penn."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:And so we’re back where we started. Yes, GDS is the best school ever, and gets the most kids into the best tippy top schools ever. And they have the best colleg counseling office ever. Yeah GDS!

You forgot the part about how students and teachers are amazing, the expanded campus will be incredible and the social justice legacy is unique in DC.

GDS doesn't have exposes written about them in the Atlantic.

And I doubt they ever will since the editor of the Atlantic is a GDS parent.

Not to mention that when more than half the class goes to Harvard and other top Ivy universities, senior parents are rather chill and (self) satisfied, and not prone to vent their anxieties on the college counseling staff, which would result in articles in the press.

But that's the fear, dear. Will half the class go to HYP (not Ivys - HYP)? Is that the story the numbers tell?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being a legacy is an enormous advantage. It gets kids admitted to schools that otherwise would not seriously consider them.

What you describe may have been true decades ago, but is no longer accurate in 2018. The applicant pools are way bigger now.

Legacies who are admitted, but they were already qualified on the merits and the legacy status was the tiebreaker in their favor. The notion that today's legacy applicants are somehow less qualified is a myth. This isn't to say that they didn't benefit, but on paper, they were almost certainly worthy of admission. There are too many qualified applicants vying for basically the same number of spots as when we were kids, and legacy status is one of the few ways to break ties or make close calls.

this is just wrong. seriously, go read up on the harvard suit. i mean, we don't have to speculate or surmise. the admissions folks talk about what a big deal it is if you're a legacy.

"But Harvard has not disputed the preference given to legacy students. A 2013 internal study, made public in the Friday documents, found a strong positive association between legacy status and an individual applicant’s odds of admission.

Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons ’67 previously defended the “tip” he says his office gives to legacy applicants—which he described in a 2011 interview as a “self-selecting group.”

“If you look at the credentials of Harvard alumni and alumnae sons and daughters, they are better candidates on average,” Fitzsimmons said. “Very few who apply have no chance of getting in.”

Harvard spokesperson Rachael Dane referred to a statement on the Admissions Office website about whether likelihood of admission is “enhanced if a relative has attended Harvard.”

“The application process is the same for all candidates,” the statement reads. “Among a group of similarly distinguished applicants, the daughters and sons of Harvard College alumni/ae may receive an additional look.”

Yes - it's a big deal. Yes - it helps immensely. But, you are taking the one fact we know, which is the legacy admit rate, and then assuming everything else. The lawsuit presented ZERO information on the point you are making - which is that legacy admits are less qualified.

Your quote says what most data has shown... legacies are usually more qualified than the average candidate. See above.

Also, not true. You're skipping the parts about the "Z List," the "Dean's Interest List," etc. The Boston Globe describes the Z List thusly:

"They are predominantly (70 percent) white students, and nearly half have parents who attended Harvard. Just a few are economically disadvantaged, and nearly 60 percent are drawn from a special list kept by the dean that includes children of significant donors and potential donors. As a group, their test scores and academic records fall somewhere in between students who were rejected from Harvard and those who got in."

Fair enough. About 50-60 students get in off the Z list per year so we’re taking about 25-30 legacy kids. Out of 2000 admitted students. 1.5% of overall admits and less than 5% of the legacy pool. Interesting but not significant

You fail at basic math.

How?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the use of "Ivy" when we really mean HYP is a bit grasping on the part of the lesser schools.

Just to clarify, you think it's grasping to refer to 62.5% percent of the schools that are literally in the Ivy League as "Ivy"?

Unfortunately, since they are Ivy schools, I think we're stuck with it. But maybe we can think of something else for HYP. How about HYPer Ivy?

[Anonymous]

I always saw the top cohort referenced as HYPSM (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT)

[Anonymous]

Any brave Big 3 parent to share this year's matriculation list of schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I always saw the top cohort referenced as HYPSM (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT)

+1. Since when were Stanford and MIT considered as less prestigious? Never.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any brave Big 3 parent to share this year's matriculation list of schools?

It's not about being "brave." These schools don't release yearly matriculation lists so there's nothing to share.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any brave Big 3 parent to share this year's matriculation list of schools?

It's not about being "brave." These schools don't release yearly matriculation lists so there's nothing to share.

Smoke and mirrors and whispers in the shadows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any brave Big 3 parent to share this year's matriculation list of schools?

It's not about being "brave." These schools don't release yearly matriculation lists so there's nothing to share.

Smoke and mirrors and whispers in the shadows.

yes - we have a ritual all parents must go through before they may access this treasured information. you're way too smart for us.