Tricks and “lifehacks” that help getting into a better college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Community college -> top instate flagship. Works in VA, CA, FL and TX at least.

NP here - can you explain? Is this just applying to a top flagship as a transfer, or is there more to this? Does this give you a better chance of admission?

Most states have guaranteed transfer programs from community college to the public universities in that state if you have X GPA and have taken Y courses.

The “catches” so-to-speak are that you’re not surrounded by the peer group you might be at a 4-year, you miss out on research opportunities (if you’re in STEM), one bad grade could tank your chances of transferring to a particular college (although there would still be others you could transfer to) and general low average success rates of students transferring. You also may not be guaranteed to be allowed to join a particular major once you transfer. Your child needs to be highly motivated, organized & know exactly what classes they need to take to transfer successfully + graduate in-time.

Why is the success rate low average?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:XC/distance track is a sport that your child can start doing around 8th-10th grade and still become good enough to be recruited at, especially if you’re a girl. If they’ve been into swimming, soccer or basketball before thar, that will be very helpful. I would recommend your daughter train intensively (including with private coaching) and run on her schools XC & track teams in 9th-12th. You want her to peak around 11th grade. Aim for around 5:00 1600 time for NESCAC, UAA & Patriot League schools.

No problem. Just have your daughter run a 5 minute mile. Easy peasey.

Just have your kid grow an extra 8 inches, hire a private coach and make sure they play club and varsity basket ball for at least 6 years.

XC/track is the only sport where you can start in 9th grade and still be recruited to do in college, and does not require you do be on a private travel team. Plenty of top runners are average height.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Community college -> top instate flagship. Works in VA, CA, FL and TX at least.

NP here - can you explain? Is this just applying to a top flagship as a transfer, or is there more to this? Does this give you a better chance of admission?

Most states have guaranteed transfer programs from community college to the public universities in that state if you have X GPA and have taken Y courses.

The “catches” so-to-speak are that you’re not surrounded by the peer group you might be at a 4-year, you miss out on research opportunities (if you’re in STEM), one bad grade could tank your chances of transferring to a particular college (although there would still be others you could transfer to) and general low average success rates of students transferring. You also may not be guaranteed to be allowed to join a particular major once you transfer. Your child needs to be highly motivated, organized & know exactly what classes they need to take to transfer successfully + graduate in-time.

Why is the success rate low average?

Because most community college students aren’t upper middle class, and are facing life issues like parenting a child, transportation issues, working 2 jobs, stressful home life, non-traditional age etc. If your child isn’t facing those problems, their odds are better. So if you’re looking at raw stats of how many students in a given period started at a CC & ended up completing a 4-year degree, you have to take those factors into account.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Community college -> top instate flagship. Works in VA, CA, FL and TX at least.

NP here - can you explain? Is this just applying to a top flagship as a transfer, or is there more to this? Does this give you a better chance of admission?

Most states have guaranteed transfer programs from community college to the public universities in that state if you have X GPA and have taken Y courses.

The “catches” so-to-speak are that you’re not surrounded by the peer group you might be at a 4-year, you miss out on research opportunities (if you’re in STEM), one bad grade could tank your chances of transferring to a particular college (although there would still be others you could transfer to) and general low average success rates of students transferring. You also may not be guaranteed to be allowed to join a particular major once you transfer. Your child needs to be highly motivated, organized & know exactly what classes they need to take to transfer successfully + graduate in-time.

Why is the success rate low average?

The “transfer rate” based on the % of all CC attendees who successfully transferred erroneously assumes that everyone who starts at a CC cares about getting a 4-year degree at all. A lot don’t; they are there as elderly or high school students, or people taking a classes in random subjects to decide if college is for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get an admin staff job at a top university. Preferably the lowest level job that still considers you an employee of the university (cleaning & food service are contracted out, so not those).

Or, get a graduate degree from a top university that considers children whose parents completed a grad degree from that a school a legacy.

Thank you for this! I have a graduate degree from a uni in the UK, and by a strange coincidence I think I CAN get a job at one or two very well known universities around where I live. Should I do it by the time my kid is a junior in HS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok we all know about the straightforward things like good grades and extracurricular achievements, right?
What are some other things that aren’t obvious, may not be exactly ethical (but are legal!) and maybe cumbersome but that help?
So far I have thought about:
- quitting jobs and becoming low income for 6 years (2 years before college and 4 years of college)
- moving to a state that sends few people to certain colleges
- homeschooling
- giving the kid a Hispanic last name and not checking the race on application (no lying involved so..)
- transferring kid to a mediocre but safe high school

I mean I know most of these sound crazy but let’s entertain the thoughts?

Number one would be to make sure the kid comes from a good family. It might be too late for your kids, OP.

Come on don’t be a bore

[Anonymous]

If your child is in high school already, it’s too late to do any of this, but:

-Train your child in an expensive, niche sport
-Have somebody with an elite pedigree adopt your child so they can be a legacy
-Send your child to really good private school for k-8, then to a very middling public high school, and supplement with tutoring & private college counseling

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apply as a minority even if you're white.

This can have consequences though
Stretching the truth yes, but outright lying?

Better yet would be to marry a minority so your kid would be half minority. Then there’s no lie.

Well the kid is born already so that ship has sailed
I can get him a minority stepdad though if I try hard!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have sex with an admissions officer or someone high up in the administration. Take video and use it against them if necessary.

LOL now that’s not exactly legal is it

[Anonymous]

Be and stay full-pay. This helps if your child gets waitlisted, transfers or wants to apply to a school in April that has openings on the NACAC list.

Send your kid to the absolute best high school they can get into & afford so that they are extremely well-prepared for anything they might want to major in, including, say, chemical engineering. Don’t worry too much about which college they get into as a freshman. Which ever one it is, tell them to get a 4.0 starting in their first semester, and if they want to, apply to transfer to a top school ASAP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apply as a minority even if you're white.

This can have consequences though
Stretching the truth yes, but outright lying?

This could be a Federal offense, depending. At the very least, it can get your child thrown out of school, and a permanent notation on their transcript (ie: the transfer credits would be no good).

Boy, are you people more stupid than I suspected!

[Anonymous]

Send your kid to the UK, or even easier, to Canada for uni. Top Canadian universities like McGill, U of Toronto & University of British Columbia are surprisingly easy to get into as an international student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apply as a minority even if you're white.

This can have consequences though
Stretching the truth yes, but outright lying?

This could be a Federal offense, depending. At the very least, it can get your child thrown out of school, and a permanent notation on their transcript (ie: the transfer credits would be no good).

Boy, are you people more stupid than I suspected!

I honestly don’t know, unless you are someone fairly well known (Warren) or have a falling out with your parents (that pretend black girl, forgot her name), who is going to investigate? Do they even call high schools to check?

[Anonymous]

It is possible for your child to establish instate residency in any state for the purposes of getting instate tuition if your child is willing to take 1-2 gap years after high school. I don’t know if that would help with admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Send your kid to the UK, or even easier, to Canada for uni. Top Canadian universities like McGill, U of Toronto & University of British Columbia are surprisingly easy to get into as an international student.

Must be expensive though