AMA My smart but unremarkable & unhooked kid is heading to a Top 10 college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What an attacking tone most have taken with this poster.

I can only assume that they are angry, because he claims to have figured something out that they could not.

Give jealousy a rest.

That’s it. She has some super secret code. Sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What an attacking tone most have taken with this poster.

I can only assume that they are angry, because he claims to have figured something out that they could not.

Give jealousy a rest.

That’s it. She has some super secret code. Sure.

So super secret that he’s trying to explain it you. Except you’re too defensive to hear it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What an attacking tone most have taken with this poster.

I can only assume that they are angry, because he claims to have figured something out that they could not.

Give jealousy a rest.

That’s it. She has some super secret code. Sure.

So super secret that he’s trying to explain it you. Except you’re too defensive to hear it.

It’s called “fit”. It’s not new to the board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the things?

There are many facets of it but if I had to put a label on it, I’d call it “strategy.” Knowing your kid’s strengths and weaknesses and matching them to a school that values the strengths and that your kid likes. Approaching this as a game is a mind shift that pays dividends.

Interesting... what were your kids strengths, and which schools did they apply to?
How were you able to identify which ones value those strengths?

Just found out that my nephew is heading to one of the Ivies next week (not Brown, Cornell or Dartmouth or Columbia). According to him, he had neither a good grade (3.5 GPA with two AP classes) or SAT score (1400). He is, however, making a lot of money as a youtuber and tiktok influencer. He has about 500K subscribers on youtube and 200K of followers on tiktok. He didn't have any hooks or ECs in high school. I guess Ivies prefer him over someone with perfect SAT and GPAs.

So he’s going to UPenn?

Exactly - they love entrepreneurs

The story is getting old. I hope not all high school students will start a youtube or tiktok channel.

Anyone can start a youtube or tiktok channel but can you get people to view your channel? Starting a channel is the easy part. The hard part is content creation to get enough eyeballs to see your channel. If a HS kid can get >500K subscribers, he/she has more talents than another kid with a high SAT/GPA.

I agree it's getting old. Every kid and their cat has started a business, kept it going for two minutes, and used it to get into college. Either that, or they wrote a book that they then try to sell to classmates. Ugh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I asked what a parent brag sheet is. Sorry people are being mean to you, but could you tell me? Because I really don't know.

Many high schools ask parents and students to answer 5-10 questions and send that document back in. Things like “what is your kid’s greatest strength?” and “what is the first thing a college should know about your kid?”

I think you should give those questions some thought. Think about how the answers you give them, which they’ll probably just cut and paste into their recommendations, will fit with other things that you kid’s application would benefit from. If your kid is selling her application as “Smart kid who loves to tutor others in math,” then it isn’t helpful for the counselor to bang on about how your kid loves English classes and is part of the Model UN team.

It’s the old adage of tell them what you’re gonna tell them, tell them, and then tell the what you’ve told them. Admissions officers have 10 min tops to read an application, so lay it out for them. You want the to remember “oh that’s that interesting applicant who tutored some struggling students in math and turned around that one kid’s grade during the pandemic!” Or something like that.

PP you responded to. Thank you very much for this response, I think it makes a lot of sense. I am very happy for your child. Congratulations, this is an exciting time!

I think your approach makes a lot of sense, but I am curious. Did your child do well generally with top schools? I don't mean any disrespect, it's just that getting into one top school-- it could really be any random thing that got them in. Whereas, if they got into several top schools, it may indeed have a lot to do with the approach that was taken.

Yep, admitted to two Top 10 schools and then 2 other Top 20 schools. Part of the strategy was selecting schools that tend to value. Kid had high GPA and SAT, but we didn’t think that was enough alone. So we decided to present her as a kid who does 2 things well (one is pretty unusual, so it’d identify her if I said it—but these 2 things are def NOT national awards!). And then her essays and teacher recs and Common App activities all today variations on that theme. The schools are ones tha value quirky kids.

It’s really about getting in the mind of the incredibly slammed Admissions Officers and giving them a clear and concise story about your kid as an individual. You have to give them something to finish the sentence “Oh that’s that kid who …..”

I didn’t invent this of course, but a neighbor’s sister is an Adm Officer for an Ivy and was in town last summer. She chatted with us for 30 min and that completely changed our thinking. (Kid didn’t apply to that Ivy).

Don’t most people do this?

I think the differentiator here is coordinating with teachers on key points for their recs.

[Anonymous]

The schools are ones that value quirky kids.

which schools value quirky kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The schools are ones that value quirky kids.

which schools value quirky kids?

NP but I think the quirky kids who have top stats where I teach go to UChicago, Swarthmore, and Brown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What an attacking tone most have taken with this poster.

I can only assume that they are angry, because he claims to have figured something out that they could not.

Give jealousy a rest.

That’s it. She has some super secret code. Sure.

So super secret that he’s trying to explain it you. Except you’re too defensive to hear it.

It’s called “fit”. It’s not new to the board.

You’ve missed the point.

[Anonymous]

Troll thread, but DCUM catnip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I asked what a parent brag sheet is. Sorry people are being mean to you, but could you tell me? Because I really don't know.

Many high schools ask parents and students to answer 5-10 questions and send that document back in. Things like “what is your kid’s greatest strength?” and “what is the first thing a college should know about your kid?”

I think you should give those questions some thought. Think about how the answers you give them, which they’ll probably just cut and paste into their recommendations, will fit with other things that you kid’s application would benefit from. If your kid is selling her application as “Smart kid who loves to tutor others in math,” then it isn’t helpful for the counselor to bang on about how your kid loves English classes and is part of the Model UN team.

It’s the old adage of tell them what you’re gonna tell them, tell them, and then tell the what you’ve told them. Admissions officers have 10 min tops to read an application, so lay it out for them. You want the to remember “oh that’s that interesting applicant who tutored some struggling students in math and turned around that one kid’s grade during the pandemic!” Or something like that.

PP you responded to. Thank you very much for this response, I think it makes a lot of sense. I am very happy for your child. Congratulations, this is an exciting time!

I think your approach makes a lot of sense, but I am curious. Did your child do well generally with top schools? I don't mean any disrespect, it's just that getting into one top school-- it could really be any random thing that got them in. Whereas, if they got into several top schools, it may indeed have a lot to do with the approach that was taken.

Yep, admitted to two Top 10 schools and then 2 other Top 20 schools. Part of the strategy was selecting schools that tend to value. Kid had high GPA and SAT, but we didn’t think that was enough alone. So we decided to present her as a kid who does 2 things well (one is pretty unusual, so it’d identify her if I said it—but these 2 things are def NOT national awards!). And then her essays and teacher recs and Common App activities all today variations on that theme. The schools are ones tha value quirky kids.

It’s really about getting in the mind of the incredibly slammed Admissions Officers and giving them a clear and concise story about your kid as an individual. You have to give them something to finish the sentence “Oh that’s that kid who …..”

I didn’t invent this of course, but a neighbor’s sister is an Adm Officer for an Ivy and was in town last summer. She chatted with us for 30 min and that completely changed our thinking. (Kid didn’t apply to that Ivy).

It sounds like having an unusual interest and teachers and a counselor willing and able to write to the theme was key.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The schools are ones that value quirky kids.

which schools value quirky kids?

I assume she means Brown -- open curriculum.

I would quibble with the word "value" -- I think it's more "makes room for a couple of quirky kids that HYPSM wouldn't look twice at." Exhibit A: James Broderik (SJP's son.) "James attended The Mountain School of Milton Academy in rural Vermont, where students get back to basics by learning farming skills and participating in outdoor activities."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I asked what a parent brag sheet is. Sorry people are being mean to you, but could you tell me? Because I really don't know.

Many high schools ask parents and students to answer 5-10 questions and send that document back in. Things like “what is your kid’s greatest strength?” and “what is the first thing a college should know about your kid?”

I think you should give those questions some thought. Think about how the answers you give them, which they’ll probably just cut and paste into their recommendations, will fit with other things that you kid’s application would benefit from. If your kid is selling her application as “Smart kid who loves to tutor others in math,” then it isn’t helpful for the counselor to bang on about how your kid loves English classes and is part of the Model UN team.

It’s the old adage of tell them what you’re gonna tell them, tell them, and then tell the what you’ve told them. Admissions officers have 10 min tops to read an application, so lay it out for them. You want the to remember “oh that’s that interesting applicant who tutored some struggling students in math and turned around that one kid’s grade during the pandemic!” Or something like that.

PP you responded to. Thank you very much for this response, I think it makes a lot of sense. I am very happy for your child. Congratulations, this is an exciting time!

I think your approach makes a lot of sense, but I am curious. Did your child do well generally with top schools? I don't mean any disrespect, it's just that getting into one top school-- it could really be any random thing that got them in. Whereas, if they got into several top schools, it may indeed have a lot to do with the approach that was taken.

Yep, admitted to two Top 10 schools and then 2 other Top 20 schools. Part of the strategy was selecting schools that tend to value. Kid had high GPA and SAT, but we didn’t think that was enough alone. So we decided to present her as a kid who does 2 things well (one is pretty unusual, so it’d identify her if I said it—but these 2 things are def NOT national awards!). And then her essays and teacher recs and Common App activities all today variations on that theme. The schools are ones tha value quirky kids.

It’s really about getting in the mind of the incredibly slammed Admissions Officers and giving them a clear and concise story about your kid as an individual. You have to give them something to finish the sentence “Oh that’s that kid who …..”

I didn’t invent this of course, but a neighbor’s sister is an Adm Officer for an Ivy and was in town last summer. She chatted with us for 30 min and that completely changed our thinking. (Kid didn’t apply to that Ivy).

It sounds like having an unusual interest and teachers and a counselor willing and able to write to the theme was key.

Every school my 3 kids have been to (magnet, regular public, private) have forms where we basically tell the counselors what to write.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I asked what a parent brag sheet is. Sorry people are being mean to you, but could you tell me? Because I really don't know.

Many high schools ask parents and students to answer 5-10 questions and send that document back in. Things like “what is your kid’s greatest strength?” and “what is the first thing a college should know about your kid?”

I think you should give those questions some thought. Think about how the answers you give them, which they’ll probably just cut and paste into their recommendations, will fit with other things that you kid’s application would benefit from. If your kid is selling her application as “Smart kid who loves to tutor others in math,” then it isn’t helpful for the counselor to bang on about how your kid loves English classes and is part of the Model UN team.

It’s the old adage of tell them what you’re gonna tell them, tell them, and then tell the what you’ve told them. Admissions officers have 10 min tops to read an application, so lay it out for them. You want the to remember “oh that’s that interesting applicant who tutored some struggling students in math and turned around that one kid’s grade during the pandemic!” Or something like that.

PP you responded to. Thank you very much for this response, I think it makes a lot of sense. I am very happy for your child. Congratulations, this is an exciting time!

I think your approach makes a lot of sense, but I am curious. Did your child do well generally with top schools? I don't mean any disrespect, it's just that getting into one top school-- it could really be any random thing that got them in. Whereas, if they got into several top schools, it may indeed have a lot to do with the approach that was taken.

Yep, admitted to two Top 10 schools and then 2 other Top 20 schools. Part of the strategy was selecting schools that tend to value. Kid had high GPA and SAT, but we didn’t think that was enough alone. So we decided to present her as a kid who does 2 things well (one is pretty unusual, so it’d identify her if I said it—but these 2 things are def NOT national awards!). And then her essays and teacher recs and Common App activities all today variations on that theme. The schools are ones tha value quirky kids.

It’s really about getting in the mind of the incredibly slammed Admissions Officers and giving them a clear and concise story about your kid as an individual. You have to give them something to finish the sentence “Oh that’s that kid who …..”

I didn’t invent this of course, but a neighbor’s sister is an Adm Officer for an Ivy and was in town last summer. She chatted with us for 30 min and that completely changed our thinking. (Kid didn’t apply to that Ivy).

Don’t most people do this?

I think the differentiator here is coordinating with teachers on key points for their recs.

Are we allowed to discuss recs with the teachers? I didn’t think we could.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the things?

There are many facets of it but if I had to put a label on it, I’d call it “strategy.” Knowing your kid’s strengths and weaknesses and matching them to a school that values the strengths and that your kid likes. Approaching this as a game is a mind shift that pays dividends.

Interesting... what were your kids strengths, and which schools did they apply to?
How were you able to identify which ones value those strengths?

Just found out that my nephew is heading to one of the Ivies next week (not Brown, Cornell or Dartmouth or Columbia). According to him, he had neither a good grade (3.5 GPA with two AP classes) or SAT score (1400). He is, however, making a lot of money as a youtuber and tiktok influencer. He has about 500K subscribers on youtube and 200K of followers on tiktok. He didn't have any hooks or ECs in high school. I guess Ivies prefer him over someone with perfect SAT and GPAs.

So he’s going to UPenn?

Exactly - they love entrepreneurs

The story is getting old. I hope not all high school students will start a youtube or tiktok channel.

Anyone can start a youtube or tiktok channel but can you get people to view your channel? Starting a channel is the easy part. The hard part is content creation to get enough eyeballs to see your channel. If a HS kid can get >500K subscribers, he/she has more talents than another kid with a high SAT/GPA.

I agree it's getting old. Every kid and their cat has started a business, kept it going for two minutes, and used it to get into college. Either that, or they wrote a book that they then try to sell to classmates. Ugh.

Again, how many of them can get 500K+ subscribers and millions of viewers to watch their videos in order to make money from it? Very few of them do. Those that do are accepted to Ivies as should be. Those kids know how to make money and one day they will likely be donors for their universities. Those kids that have perfect GPA and SAT scores will likely be working in government sectors and unlikely to make big donations to the universities. It comes down to a business decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Troll thread, but DCUM catnip.

Either that or a really dumb AMA from the OP who isn't able to articulate anything beyond the "find a coherent message" trick which is obvious.