Common App: EC list review and counseling

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You all are crazy. DD included everything she did which were random but were she had done for years. No curation or hiring of consultants and still managed to get into a top school. Her friends who did hire a consultant really struggled. They actually had higher GPA and scores than DD. But I think everything looks too fake and artificial when you outsource help. Essays and activities look contrived. Just be yourself.

Curation typically is the only option for kids with some sort of deficiency (no test scores, one lower grade) applying to super-reaches to show a cohesive and strong applicant profile.

Top stats/scores/rigor kids in top 5% (who are NOT CS, business, engineering), don’t need this curation. They’ll do fine without it. The reason the others need this curation is they are filling a void/institutional need (if curated well) in spite of a (minor) deficiency.

It’s not one size fits all people.
Get smarter about this process. Do some research, off this site.

This is wholly dependent on what you mean by “fine.” If you’re thinking too rigor, gpa, and scores get you into an ivy, you’re wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You all are crazy. DD included everything she did which were random but were she had done for years. No curation or hiring of consultants and still managed to get into a top school. Her friends who did hire a consultant really struggled. They actually had higher GPA and scores than DD. But I think everything looks too fake and artificial when you outsource help. Essays and activities look contrived. Just be yourself.

Curation typically is the only option for kids with some sort of deficiency (no test scores, one lower grade) applying to super-reaches to show a cohesive and strong applicant profile.

Top stats/scores/rigor kids in top 5% (who are NOT CS, business, engineering), don’t need this curation. They’ll do fine without it. The reason the others need this curation is they are filling a void/institutional need (if curated well) in spite of a (minor) deficiency.

It’s not one size fits all people.
Get smarter about this process. Do some research, off this site.

Almost every boy I know is either business, CS or engineering. Sure, you can lie and say history, classics, english or economics. But they all want CS, Business or engineering. A few want pre-med.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’d add YYGS or northwestern but not others

Always add the summer program onto the application to the host school, regardless of what your CCO says.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You all are crazy. DD included everything she did which were random but were she had done for years. No curation or hiring of consultants and still managed to get into a top school. Her friends who did hire a consultant really struggled. They actually had higher GPA and scores than DD. But I think everything looks too fake and artificial when you outsource help. Essays and activities look contrived. Just be yourself.

Curation typically is the only option for kids with some sort of deficiency (no test scores, one lower grade) applying to super-reaches to show a cohesive and strong applicant profile.

Top stats/scores/rigor kids in top 5% (who are NOT CS, business, engineering), don’t need this curation. They’ll do fine without it. The reason the others need this curation is they are filling a void/institutional need (if curated well) in spite of a (minor) deficiency.

It’s not one size fits all people.
Get smarter about this process. Do some research, off this site.

Almost every boy I know is either business, CS or engineering. Sure, you can lie and say history, classics, english or economics. But they all want CS, Business or engineering. A few want pre-med.

Those top stats kids usually have the most disappointing results.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You all are crazy. DD included everything she did which were random but were she had done for years. No curation or hiring of consultants and still managed to get into a top school. Her friends who did hire a consultant really struggled. They actually had higher GPA and scores than DD. But I think everything looks too fake and artificial when you outsource help. Essays and activities look contrived. Just be yourself.

Curation typically is the only option for kids with some sort of deficiency (no test scores, one lower grade) applying to super-reaches to show a cohesive and strong applicant profile.

Top stats/scores/rigor kids in top 5% (who are NOT CS, business, engineering), don’t need this curation. They’ll do fine without it. The reason the others need this curation is they are filling a void/institutional need (if curated well) in spite of a (minor) deficiency.

It’s not one size fits all people.
Get smarter about this process. Do some research, off this site.

This is wholly dependent on what you mean by “fine.” If you’re thinking too rigor, gpa, and scores get you into an ivy, you’re wrong.

t25? For non-stem or business major with top 5%/scores and rigor?

Yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You all are crazy. DD included everything she did which were random but were she had done for years. No curation or hiring of consultants and still managed to get into a top school. Her friends who did hire a consultant really struggled. They actually had higher GPA and scores than DD. But I think everything looks too fake and artificial when you outsource help. Essays and activities look contrived. Just be yourself.

Curation typically is the only option for kids with some sort of deficiency (no test scores, one lower grade) applying to super-reaches to show a cohesive and strong applicant profile.

Top stats/scores/rigor kids in top 5% (who are NOT CS, business, engineering), don’t need this curation. They’ll do fine without it. The reason the others need this curation is they are filling a void/institutional need (if curated well) in spite of a (minor) deficiency.

It’s not one size fits all people.
Get smarter about this process. Do some research, off this site.

This is wholly dependent on what you mean by “fine.” If you’re thinking too rigor, gpa, and scores get you into an ivy, you’re wrong.

t25? For non-stem or business major with top 5%/scores and rigor?

Yes.

Sure, high stats with high rigor for a non stem and non business major can absolutely get into a UVA type school. Kids who want higher ranked schools than that? ECs play a major part.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our consultant is insisting my DC leave their college summer program off the activity list because it indicates privilege. It is a huge point of contention. DC wants it on the activity list because it is related to her major and the program has a low admit rate. DC is at a private school and parents professions indicate HHI, so privilege seems obvious whether DC lists the summer program or not. Not sure how we will proceed.

We've heard that too, for programs with a difficult admissions process and very low acceptance rate. DC is attending anyway, but curious to hear what others think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our consultant is insisting my DC leave their college summer program off the activity list because it indicates privilege. It is a huge point of contention. DC wants it on the activity list because it is related to her major and the program has a low admit rate. DC is at a private school and parents professions indicate HHI, so privilege seems obvious whether DC lists the summer program or not. Not sure how we will proceed.

We've heard that too, for programs with a difficult admissions process and very low acceptance rate. DC is attending anyway, but curious to hear what others think.

I think k if it’s actually a competitive admit (vs anyone with a credit card) and it’s related to other ECs or to potential major, go ahead and include. Just because you have to pay to go to an arts workshop or a comp sci boot camp or whatever doesn’t mean it’s not a relevant EC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our consultant is insisting my DC leave their college summer program off the activity list because it indicates privilege. It is a huge point of contention. DC wants it on the activity list because it is related to her major and the program has a low admit rate. DC is at a private school and parents professions indicate HHI, so privilege seems obvious whether DC lists the summer program or not. Not sure how we will proceed.

We've heard that too, for programs with a difficult admissions process and very low acceptance rate. DC is attending anyway, but curious to hear what others think.

My DC attended a program with a 10% admit rate that is run by the university, not an outside company. Transcript, 2 essays and a teacher recommendation was required. They do provide scholarships for those with financial need. The program relates to major. DC is listing it on all her applications. Should she include the admit rate in the activity description? Seems like a waste of words.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our consultant is insisting my DC leave their college summer program off the activity list because it indicates privilege. It is a huge point of contention. DC wants it on the activity list because it is related to her major and the program has a low admit rate. DC is at a private school and parents professions indicate HHI, so privilege seems obvious whether DC lists the summer program or not. Not sure how we will proceed.

We've heard that too, for programs with a difficult admissions process and very low acceptance rate. DC is attending anyway, but curious to hear what others think.

My DC attended a program with a 10% admit rate that is run by the university, not an outside company. Transcript, 2 essays and a teacher recommendation was required. They do provide scholarships for those with financial need. The program relates to major. DC is listing it on all her applications. Should she include the admit rate in the activity description? Seems like a waste of words.

Super striverish to mention admit rate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our consultant is insisting my DC leave their college summer program off the activity list because it indicates privilege. It is a huge point of contention. DC wants it on the activity list because it is related to her major and the program has a low admit rate. DC is at a private school and parents professions indicate HHI, so privilege seems obvious whether DC lists the summer program or not. Not sure how we will proceed.

We've heard that too, for programs with a difficult admissions process and very low acceptance rate. DC is attending anyway, but curious to hear what others think.

My DC attended a program with a 10% admit rate that is run by the university, not an outside company. Transcript, 2 essays and a teacher recommendation was required. They do provide scholarships for those with financial need. The program relates to major. DC is listing it on all her applications. Should she include the admit rate in the activity description? Seems like a waste of words.

Maybe say selective or competitive instead. They probably will be aware of how selective it is anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The ad-hoc services are the way to go imo. Will cover ECs and Honors. Usually 1-2k depending on how much work is needed. If its on the higher end, it will usually come with more “packaging” for the applicant’s overall story?

You want to have the honors & ECs show alignment w/major, impact, passion, personality and evidence of your “story”.

Ex. Sara H charges $2k for 2 hours on EC /Honors review 1-on-1.

Whoa! SH prices are crazy. AN member here. I do not think those prices are justified even though I love Sara.

Yes! I joined AN for my ‘26 student but left after one month because I saw that everything worthwhile was like this: $2000 extra here, $1000 extra there, it was crazy! I think she has good advice, buuuuut, buyer beware.

People join AN instead of paying $12,000-$15,000 for a private college counselor. Shelling out $4,000 or $5,000 total for various add ons is a bargain.

Pp here who spoke to Chris at Command before joining AN. Did not need any of her add-ons. I love SH and am glad I found her, but the add-ons…no way!

And she actually edits the essays — which is awful and not ethical. One kid’s mom said they loved the edits, but could not understand what it meant!!!! Imagine the rest of the essays that were not edited by SH! And the English grades etc. will reflect the kid’s writing. Needless to say, that kid did not do well in the process.

Many, many counselors are heavily editing and re-writing the essays. This is the norm.

This. They all do it.

So glad that my kid’s essay consultant limited herself to things like “this paragraph confused me”, “do you really need this?” and “can you say more about this? It seems cool”. Even so, my kid bridled at having someone look at essays at all. The essays came out great, DS was admitted to his reach school, and the admission letter actually mentioned the essay. You don’t have to have someone rewrite kids’ essays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The ad-hoc services are the way to go imo. Will cover ECs and Honors. Usually 1-2k depending on how much work is needed. If its on the higher end, it will usually come with more “packaging” for the applicant’s overall story?

You want to have the honors & ECs show alignment w/major, impact, passion, personality and evidence of your “story”.

Ex. Sara H charges $2k for 2 hours on EC /Honors review 1-on-1.

Whoa! SH prices are crazy. AN member here. I do not think those prices are justified even though I love Sara.

Yes! I joined AN for my ‘26 student but left after one month because I saw that everything worthwhile was like this: $2000 extra here, $1000 extra there, it was crazy! I think she has good advice, buuuuut, buyer beware.

People join AN instead of paying $12,000-$15,000 for a private college counselor. Shelling out $4,000 or $5,000 total for various add ons is a bargain.

Pp here who spoke to Chris at Command before joining AN. Did not need any of her add-ons. I love SH and am glad I found her, but the add-ons…no way!

And she actually edits the essays — which is awful and not ethical. One kid’s mom said they loved the edits, but could not understand what it meant!!!! Imagine the rest of the essays that were not edited by SH! And the English grades etc. will reflect the kid’s writing. Needless to say, that kid did not do well in the process.

Many, many counselors are heavily editing and re-writing the essays. This is the norm.

This. They all do it.

So glad that my kid’s essay consultant limited herself to things like “this paragraph confused me”, “do you really need this?” and “can you say more about this? It seems cool”. Even so, my kid bridled at having someone look at essays at all. The essays came out great, DS was admitted to his reach school, and the admission letter actually mentioned the essay. You don’t have to have someone rewrite kids’ essays.

Right? So unethical!

[Anonymous]

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