ISO a college that really cares about leadership

[Anonymous]

Davidson, Hamilton and Vassar maybe?

Dartmouth, Georgetown as reaches?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our non-DMV private, this kid would:
ED to Vanderbilt (if it is in fact school leadership - like president)....shoe in

Agree on ND. That works for our HS too. Otherwise, add in: Cornell, WashU (ED2), Rice, UChicago (ED3) all work for us.

Add in Wake and a RD Stanford (sometimes we see our strong test scores, lower grade true humanities kids get in RD but need some sort of exceptional humanitarian/social impact/activism EC)

I don't understand. How is this good advice? If he "shoe in" Vandy then it's the end of the story why are you still talking about other schools?
Unless Vandy is his dream school, ED there makes sense. Absent a dream school, you need another strategy maximizing out.

Bc Vandy defers and admits in RD a lot of private school boys. Its just what they do.
So you need a longer-term RD plan.

Vandy actually defers very few kids, and didn’t defer any until the 2023 cycle.

We know 6 kids deferred ED this year (1 or 2) from Vanderbilt. All private HS.
In RD, 4 of them admitted, 2 were put on WL.

You do know the difference between anecdote and data. Vandy says they defer very few kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots of Vanderbilt discussion here. My two cents:

In the admitted students day this year, they said 100% of admitted students were class president or president of a top 5 HS club (what does that mean?), captain of a varsity team or had a national caliber EC/honor recognition. I can't find the link on the admissions page - but they were very upfront about it.

Last summer, when we went to pre-VU, the AO said they openly looked for kids with a certain leadership skillset because those kids tended to come onto campus and join, lead or form ECs on day 1. Unlike other schools, which seem to admit lots of different personalities, Vanderbilt seems to prefer one particular type of personality. These kids are generally very outgoing/social and extroverted. Some people might find it socially competitive bc everyone's outlook/approach is similar?

My kid ended up committing elsewhere.

Hope that helps.

So everyone has at least one leadership position, defining leadership broadly ? Not the same as saying a kid with a leadership position is a shoo in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our non-DMV private, this kid would:
ED to Vanderbilt (if it is in fact school leadership - like president)....shoe in

Agree on ND. That works for our HS too. Otherwise, add in: Cornell, WashU (ED2), Rice, UChicago (ED3) all work for us.

Add in Wake and a RD Stanford (sometimes we see our strong test scores, lower grade true humanities kids get in RD but need some sort of exceptional humanitarian/social impact/activism EC)

I don't understand. How is this good advice? If he "shoe in" Vandy then it's the end of the story why are you still talking about other schools?
Unless Vandy is his dream school, ED there makes sense. Absent a dream school, you need another strategy maximizing out.

Bc Vandy defers and admits in RD a lot of private school boys. Its just what they do.
So you need a longer-term RD plan.

Vandy actually defers very few kids, and didn’t defer any until the 2023 cycle.

We know 6 kids deferred ED this year (1 or 2) from Vanderbilt. All private HS.
In RD, 4 of them admitted, 2 were put on WL.

You do know the difference between anecdote and data. Vandy says they defer very few kids.

So six kids from one high school? And four were admitted? Curious as to where, please share.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, private feeder IS a hook.

my usual reminder to check out the HW college counseling book for their acceptances. they remove the hooked kids. you'll see Harvard will take a 3.5 kid every year and Middlebury won't.

this is from feeder schools only

https://students.hw.com/Portals/44/handbook0125.pdf?ver=mCSTXqyrt4IYDI-PvMShlQ%3d%3d

There are other factors to consider, AOs don't look at 3.5 in isolation. National awards? Highest rigor? High test scores? Recommendation? All these factors can prove academic competency.

I think that's what this whole post is about. But I think the point was that a lot of schools will automatically drop a 3.5 kid and, ironically, HYPS are not among those schools. this kid will be a long shot but considering the rest of the application has *some* shot.

PP. Agree, and I think all T20 don't autoreject 3.5.

But also HW is not just any regional feeder school. Unless OP's school is at HW level, I would think more realistically.

OP I think HW might be top 10 in America. Our HS is top 25. Not quite same league, but a feeder for sure. I wish our HS did what HW did - and produced a document taking out the most hooked. It's hard to look at Naviance knowing how skewed it can be with hooked.

If its T25, you are GOLDEN!!!
Don't worry.

Do you have access to (1) matriculation from your HS for last 1-3 years and (2) where kids were admitted (all admits) last year?
If so, take your HS matriculation on the college counseling website/portal, and download/save it to the paid Claude AI.
Then input your kids stats and grades, ECs, awards, majors, and guestimate of where in class.
Ask it for recommendations for schools based on customized historical data.
Also input any info you have on where kids with the similar "high level" leadership have gone in the past few years, any competition from your current HS senior class as far as legacy (e.g., if there are 3 Harvard legacies, 2 Yale legacies and 3 Stanford legacies in your class, your kid should not waste an REA at ANY of them).

I'd like to do this. I have a list of where kids went to college from past 5 years (from school profile) and an access to naviance, but not sure how to download that into something I could upload to Claude. Does anyone know how to do this?

[Anonymous]

Your kid has a fabulous profile:
- feeder private HS (this is a huge plus)
- humanities boy (another plus, depending on major)
- best in school EC
- best in school LOR (wow- this is big)
- 1550 ACT (great!)
- regional awards

Ok, so what classes were the lower grades in? If only Spanish, I'd still aim (strategically) for T10 with an ED (Penn (CAS); Northwestern, Duke (maybe - depending on your school data)) or Brown.

Depending on the major, I think this kid gets into Cornell RD, WashU RD, and maybe Rice RD (make sure to show demonstrated interest). Not getting into Vanderbilt unless ED2. Maybe one other Ivy in RD, if very well thought out application.

Your ED choice is extremely important. But no one outside your school can advise you because we can't see your Naviance/Maia/SCOIR.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Davidson, Hamilton and Vassar maybe?

Dartmouth, Georgetown as reaches?

Crazy different colleges to the point that you have to be trolling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Davidson, Hamilton and Vassar maybe?

Dartmouth, Georgetown as reaches?

Crazy different colleges to the point that you have to be trolling.

Agree. This place is filled with idiots today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your kid has a fabulous profile:
- feeder private HS (this is a huge plus)
- humanities boy (another plus, depending on major)
- best in school EC
- best in school LOR (wow- this is big)
- 1550 ACT (great!)
- regional awards

Ok, so what classes were the lower grades in? If only Spanish, I'd still aim (strategically) for T10 with an ED (Penn (CAS); Northwestern, Duke (maybe - depending on your school data)) or Brown.

Depending on the major, I think this kid gets into Cornell RD, WashU RD, and maybe Rice RD (make sure to show demonstrated interest). Not getting into Vanderbilt unless ED2. Maybe one other Ivy in RD, if very well thought out application.

Your ED choice is extremely important. But no one outside your school can advise you because we can't see your Naviance/Maia/SCOIR.

This makes sense, was written by someone familiar with feeder schools. Good advice. Northwestern has some real ED advantage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, private feeder IS a hook.

my usual reminder to check out the HW college counseling book for their acceptances. they remove the hooked kids. you'll see Harvard will take a 3.5 kid every year and Middlebury won't.

this is from feeder schools only

https://students.hw.com/Portals/44/handbook0125.pdf?ver=mCSTXqyrt4IYDI-PvMShlQ%3d%3d

There are other factors to consider, AOs don't look at 3.5 in isolation. National awards? Highest rigor? High test scores? Recommendation? All these factors can prove academic competency.

I think that's what this whole post is about. But I think the point was that a lot of schools will automatically drop a 3.5 kid and, ironically, HYPS are not among those schools. this kid will be a long shot but considering the rest of the application has *some* shot.

PP. Agree, and I think all T20 don't autoreject 3.5.

But also HW is not just any regional feeder school. Unless OP's school is at HW level, I would think more realistically.

OP I think HW might be top 10 in America. Our HS is top 25. Not quite same league, but a feeder for sure. I wish our HS did what HW did - and produced a document taking out the most hooked. It's hard to look at Naviance knowing how skewed it can be with hooked.

If its T25, you are GOLDEN!!!
Don't worry.

Do you have access to (1) matriculation from your HS for last 1-3 years and (2) where kids were admitted (all admits) last year?
If so, take your HS matriculation on the college counseling website/portal, and download/save it to the paid Claude AI.
Then input your kids stats and grades, ECs, awards, majors, and guestimate of where in class.
Ask it for recommendations for schools based on customized historical data.
Also input any info you have on where kids with the similar "high level" leadership have gone in the past few years, any competition from your current HS senior class as far as legacy (e.g., if there are 3 Harvard legacies, 2 Yale legacies and 3 Stanford legacies in your class, your kid should not waste an REA at ANY of them).

I'd like to do this. I have a list of where kids went to college from past 5 years (from school profile) and an access to naviance, but not sure how to download that into something I could upload to Claude. Does anyone know how to do this?

I did this last year too.
But I created a new document with the data for admits (our school circulated it) in an excel and also uploaded it.
Make sure you use paid AI and don't allow data sharing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your kid has a fabulous profile:
- feeder private HS (this is a huge plus)
- humanities boy (another plus, depending on major)
- best in school EC
- best in school LOR (wow- this is big)
- 1550 ACT (great!)
- regional awards

Ok, so what classes were the lower grades in? If only Spanish, I'd still aim (strategically) for T10 with an ED (Penn (CAS); Northwestern, Duke (maybe - depending on your school data)) or Brown.

Depending on the major, I think this kid gets into Cornell RD, WashU RD, and maybe Rice RD (make sure to show demonstrated interest). Not getting into Vanderbilt unless ED2. Maybe one other Ivy in RD, if very well thought out application.

Your ED choice is extremely important. But no one outside your school can advise you because we can't see your Naviance/Maia/SCOIR.

This makes sense, was written by someone familiar with feeder schools. Good advice. Northwestern has some real ED advantage.

Thank you
Experience private school parent with 2 out of 3 kids in college now/T20....3rd is only in 10th grade so still have some time to go with that one.

[Anonymous]

I hear leadership, i think West Point, Annapolis, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt. 3.75/1550 w/strong leadership ex + private hs I think USC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hear leadership, i think West Point, Annapolis, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt. 3.75/1550 w/strong leadership ex + private hs I think USC.

Come on ... OP's school is a T25 feeder. USC is almost for party guys/girls there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hear leadership, i think West Point, Annapolis, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt. 3.75/1550 w/strong leadership ex + private hs I think USC.

Come on ... OP's school is a T25 feeder. USC is almost for party guys/girls there.

Agree with this. People need to read the fact. A T25 private is a totally different ballgame than what all the pedestrian public school TJ parents are thinking. They have no idea.
https://www.niche.com/k12/search/best-private-high-schools/

[Anonymous]

the problem w top feeder is there are so many hooked people here. I'm at one in nyc.