SLAC Legacy Admission

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I recall talking to a neighbor whose son was one of the top graduates at our fairly competitive public high school a few years back and ended up at Williams. She said he was shocked at how much more intense it was than high school (and he thought he went to a pretty intense high school.) I don’t know how I would make the decision you’re considering but it does seem to be that how a young person feels about themselves and their academic growth over four years might be more important the name prestige. So many kids struggle with depression and anxiety in college specifically as pertains to the workload. I think ultimately I would want my kid in the school that was best fit vs most prestigious.

This.

College work is harder than high school? Who knew???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: you didn't mention where she is in high school. Stats like from one of the area highly rigorous privates show that she can in fact hack the work of probably any school. Stats like that from a local public would indidace that she may not. 1380 is a strong score, it's the grades that are the issue.

No, 1380 is a weak score at W-A-S. Below the bottom 25% at all three. Williams 25% = 1420, Amherst 25% = 1420, Swat 25% = 1390,

Possibly dumb question. Let me understand. Based on this 25% of the students scored lower. That suggests that the OP's kid could hack the work.

The 25% at Williams and Amherst (1420) indicates that maybe 10-15% of students scored 1380 or lower like OP. Much of the bottom decile is likely filed with recruited athletes who will take easier majors. So perhaps OP could hack the work and graduate in an easier major ... but OP's SAT score is definitely a weak one for ED legacy admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up with professor parents and was always told that picking among decent or good or excellent LACs isn’t about the work or education - you can get a good education at many schools or a crappy one. It’s much much more about the makeup of the student body. Who attends? Are those people the ones you want to be friends with? Your peers for life?

Elitism.

Fascinating that this is your take.

I had the opposite reaction. My son attends an urban charter school and has been nudged by the college counselor to consider SLACs with very rich, very white student bodies. Reading the previous post made me think "Do I really want him to be limited to only rich white kids as friends for the next 4 years? As a white, somewhat wealthy kid, wouldn't he end up placed in the same box as his peers. Maybe a large public school with a diverse student body would be better for him?

Just goes to show two people can read the same words and come away with very different interpretations of the subtext of those words!

Upon consideration, I suspect that your take is more likely than my own, but perhaps the poster can come back and say more about what they were thinking here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up with professor parents and was always told that picking among decent or good or excellent LACs isn’t about the work or education - you can get a good education at many schools or a crappy one. It’s much much more about the makeup of the student body. Who attends? Are those people the ones you want to be friends with? Your peers for life?

Elitism.

Fascinating that this is your take.

I had the opposite reaction. My son attends an urban charter school and has been nudged by the college counselor to consider SLACs with very rich, very white student bodies. Reading the previous post made me think "Do I really want him to be limited to only rich white kids as friends for the next 4 years? As a white, somewhat wealthy kid, wouldn't he end up placed in the same box as his peers. Maybe a large public school with a diverse student body would be better for him?

Just goes to show two people can read the same words and come away with very different interpretations of the subtext of those words!

Your reaction doesn’t really make sense. Amherst is approx 44% white while schools you may be thinking of such as Michigan (59% white) or Temple (56% white) are less diverse.

Upon consideration, I suspect that your take is more likely than my own, but perhaps the poster can come back and say more about what they were thinking here.

[Anonymous]

Indeed. If your child is looking for racial diversity, they would probably be better served at Amherst (44% white) or Williams (50% white) as opposed to large urban universities such as Temple (56% white) or Pitt (72% white).

[Anonymous]

Amherst has spent at least 30 years aggressively recruiting students of color and those from underserved communities. When I applied in the late 80s, they would pay to fly students across the country for visits, recognizing that many kids from those backgrounds were not going to up and move to rural Massachusetts to a school their parents had never heard of.

[Anonymous]

What did she decide?

[Anonymous]

Williams grad. Legacy can have two negative unintended effects - I have seen both with my classmates' kids, especially with the more than one generation legacy families. First, your DD may feel like she only got in because of legacy and feel insecure being there. Second, some legacy kids felt like the experience was not their own - that their parents were always telling them about where to live, what classes to take, what sports to play, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Williams grad. Legacy can have two negative unintended effects - I have seen both with my classmates' kids, especially with the more than one generation legacy families. First, your DD may feel like she only got in because of legacy and feel insecure being there. Second, some legacy kids felt like the experience was not their own - that their parents were always telling them about where to live, what classes to take, what sports to play, etc.

Great post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Williams grad. Legacy can have two negative unintended effects - I have seen both with my classmates' kids, especially with the more than one generation legacy families. First, your DD may feel like she only got in because of legacy and feel insecure being there. Second, some legacy kids felt like the experience was not their own - that their parents were always telling them about where to live, what classes to take, what sports to play, etc.

Great post.

This is not true of many legacies or alums (at least at other colleges).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Williams grad. Legacy can have two negative unintended effects - I have seen both with my classmates' kids, especially with the more than one generation legacy families. First, your DD may feel like she only got in because of legacy and feel insecure being there. Second, some legacy kids felt like the experience was not their own - that their parents were always telling them about where to live, what classes to take, what sports to play, etc.

Great post.

This is not true of many legacies or alums (at least at other colleges).

Might be useful if you expand on your point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Williams grad. Legacy can have two negative unintended effects - I have seen both with my classmates' kids, especially with the more than one generation legacy families. First, your DD may feel like she only got in because of legacy and feel insecure being there. Second, some legacy kids felt like the experience was not their own - that their parents were always telling them about where to live, what classes to take, what sports to play, etc.

Great post.

This is not true of many legacies or alums (at least at other colleges).

Might be useful if you expand on your point.

Most adults are not obsessed with their colleges in the way PP described. And Williams might be unique re insecurities. There are plenty of kids at SLACs who aren’t at the tippy top. There is definitely a range and plenty of kids who get in with hooks.

[Anonymous]

Those schools have phenomenal graduation rates. If they admit her, she can graduate. The bigger issue might be what major she wants to pursue and how strong she is in it.

[Anonymous]

She ended up not applying early, and likely won’t apply to the top 3 RD either. The tipping point was that she said there is a possibility she wants to be pre-med (or at least pre-health) and we are concerned that she would place in the lower half of pre-meds and not be able to pursue her interest, if that is what she pursues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She ended up not applying early, and likely won’t apply to the top 3 RD either. The tipping point was that she said there is a possibility she wants to be pre-med (or at least pre-health) and we are concerned that she would place in the lower half of pre-meds and not be able to pursue her interest, if that is what she pursues.

Wise decision then