College advising at area privates

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes - private schools limit applications. I have also heard firsthand that they also limit which schools certain kids apply to -- e.g., if they four stellar kids and one wants Harvard, another Stanford, the third Princeton, the fourth Yale, they will try hard to keep all those kids from applying to each other's schools to avoid what happens if one of those kids gets in everywhere -- but only really wanted one spot --- and the other three are left out in the cold.

This hasn't been our experience. The counseling department at our school has taken the view that a regional, practical constraint is far more important than any mythical "cap" or "quota" from one specific school. To understand this you need to look at the math of the situation; almost 1,000 kids from the DC area will apply to Harvard this year, with perhaps 75 to 90 likely to gain acceptance (higher than the overall 6% acceptance rate due primarily to higher than average concentration of legacies). This number has been fairly consistent year to year recently If you look at the volatile acceptance patterns at any one school (in our school's case, 5 or 6 acceptances in one year and 1 or 2 in another), it becomes clear that the pool you are competing against is not your fellow classmates but instead the group of highly qualified kids in the region. With the probability of acceptance for an individual candidate at a specific college very low, the college counselors would have to be dopes not to encourage their best and most ambitious students to apply to several of the most competitive schools, with the hopes that they might get lucky with one or best case a few. Trying to overly engineer the process through aggressive steering of candidates is a formula for failure, even if it might avoid some of the intramural competition on the front end.

The exception to this might be in the EA or ED process where by definition the candidate must make a tough, narrowing choice. In this case, students are encouraged to consider strategies that improve their odds. As it applies to the regular pool, expect a free-for-all.

[Anonymous]

PP clarifying my point. At the very micro level (candidate A versus candidate B from the same school), college acceptances are not a zero sum game. It is a shame that so many students and parents look at it this way.

[Anonymous]

Our school doesn't limit which schools the kids are applying to and also doesn't encourage early decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes - private schools limit applications. I have also heard firsthand that they also limit which schools certain kids apply to -- e.g., if they four stellar kids and one wants Harvard, another Stanford, the third Princeton, the fourth Yale, they will try hard to keep all those kids from applying to each other's schools to avoid what happens if one of those kids gets in everywhere -- but only really wanted one spot --- and the other three are left out in the cold.

I heard that a lady came back from Mexico thinking she had brought back a Chihuahua when it was really a RAT!

C'mon everyone, let's keep the Urban Myths going!

[Anonymous]

Just went through the process at NCS last year. I have posted many times on multiple threads what a positive experience my daughter had at the school. However, college counseling was not a positive experience for me. It is my opinion that the high turnover rate has so far not been widespread enough. As to which schools are better I suggest you google the individual school's profile. It is not an answer but, it is an indication of the student quality. NCS does well in placement because the student body is impressive. The college counseling office has only to not mess up in order to suceed.

[Anonymous]

succeed

[Anonymous]

Field has fantastic college guidance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our school doesn't limit which schools the kids are applying to and also doesn't encourage early decision. [/quote

woudl be really interested to know which school this is. evidence clearly favors going ED of you are trying ot get in to the most competitive schools.

[Anonymous]

For LACs and schools like U Penn that is certainly true. It is less clear with the most selective schools that do not even offer ED. Schools like H,Y, P, have single choice early action -- you can only apply to one private school EA, but you are free to apply to others regular decision. Some schools, like U of Chicago, and Georgetown, have EA that is not single choice -- you can apply to both at the same time and still apply to other ED. When you take out the recruited athletes and legacies who apply EA to these schools, it is less clear that you really have a statistical advantage. Yes, the story is very different at most of the ED schools (although you still need to factor our the recruits which can be quite a few students at a small LAC).

[Anonymous]

We attended the open house for SAAS yesterday and I spoke with a college counselor. I was pleased with his answers to my questions. My husband and I are graduates of historically black colleges(HBCUs) and would like our children to attend HBCUs as well. We were provided with a brochure that listed where students had been accepted in the past few years. There was a wide range of schools listed, including many HBCUs. While walking through the building there were letters from colleges posted on student lockers (including one from West Point)- not acceptance letters but letters that were clearly responses to requests for information from students. Obviously this is not first hand experience but they appear to be focused on making certain all students are accepted to colleges that suit their interests and needs. Additionally, they have two people who serve as college counselors for a senior class of about 40.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We attended the open house for SAAS yesterday and I spoke with a college counselor. I was pleased with his answers to my questions. My husband and I are graduates of historically black colleges(HBCUs) and would like our children to attend HBCUs as well. We were provided with a brochure that listed where students had been accepted in the past few years. There was a wide range of schools listed, including many HBCUs. While walking through the building there were letters from colleges posted on student lockers (including one from West Point)- not acceptance letters but letters that were clearly responses to requests for information from students. Obviously this is not first hand experience but they appear to be focused on making certain all students are accepted to colleges that suit their interests and needs. Additionally, they have two people who serve as college counselors for a senior class of about 40.

Do they really post the letters from schools they've written to, requesting information? I'm sure thats student-driven but its a really, really bad idea. It just cranks up the competition and anxiety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We attended the open house for SAAS yesterday and I spoke with a college counselor. I was pleased with his answers to my questions. My husband and I are graduates of historically black colleges(HBCUs) and would like our children to attend HBCUs as well. We were provided with a brochure that listed where students had been accepted in the past few years. There was a wide range of schools listed, including many HBCUs. While walking through the building there were letters from colleges posted on student lockers (including one from West Point)- not acceptance letters but letters that were clearly responses to requests for information from students. Obviously this is not first hand experience but they appear to be focused on making certain all students are accepted to colleges that suit their interests and needs. Additionally, they have two people who serve as college counselors for a senior class of about 40.

Do they really post the letters from schools they've written to, requesting information? I'm sure thats student-driven but its a really, really bad idea. It just cranks up the competition and anxiety.

+1. We've had one go through the proces and another is getting ready to do so. The last thing your kid wants is for everybody else to know where s/he's applying! Because, of course, lots of great kids get turned down from the top colleges due to lack of slots, but that doesn't make it feel better in April, when kids are going to what are obviously not their first choices after having talked hopefully about HYP the previous fall. There's enough competition already without putting it down on paper. You can be sure that if your kid is even remotely in the running for selective colleges, all the other kids who are interested in the same selective colleges will be trying to get him to verbally list his applications.

Which school is this?

[Anonymous]

Is it worth hiring a private counselor? Can they call the colleges on a students behalf?

[Anonymous]

How much do the private counselors charge?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes - private schools limit applications. I have also heard firsthand that they also limit which schools certain kids apply to -- e.g., if they four stellar kids and one wants Harvard, another Stanford, the third Princeton, the fourth Yale, they will try hard to keep all those kids from applying to each other's schools to avoid what happens if one of those kids gets in everywhere -- but only really wanted one spot --- and the other three are left out in the cold.

This definitely happens...for those who refuse to believe it...you are only kidding yourself. They will "steer" top candidates so as to avoid multiple acceptances for one of the students....