ISO a college that really cares about leadership

[Anonymous]

USC is no longer a party school

[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.

Not true at all, have two kids at T25 privates, USC is a tough admit from east coast and in fact, easier to get into a lower Ivy from their high schools.

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[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Not true at all, have two kids at T25 privates, USC is a tough admit from east coast and in fact, easier to get into a lower Ivy from their high schools.

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T25 feeder privates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Bumping because remain curious. Where is this?

[Anonymous]

Op, if you met twice with college counselor, they must have given you some potential reach’s. If you share those, might help with suggestions.

[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.

DP. Can PPs with Vandy experience further clarify its "leadership" values? My kid has leadership in more of an innovative, self-driven, entrepreneurial sense than in a social school president direction. Is Vandy mainly looking for traditional leadership kids for activities that are created or sanctioned by the schools (e.g., president, editor, captain, MUN)?

Trying to figure out potential ED schools that will value my DC's skill set and will be a good fit. Also strongly considering Duke, Brown, Cornell. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op, if you met twice with college counselor, they must have given you some potential reach’s. If you share those, might help with suggestions.

The private school counselors are moving away from advising kids applying or avoiding specific reaches schools now, at least at some private schools. They will not say you don’t have the chops for a specific reach. They would be happy to help with targets or high targets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

DP. Can PPs with Vandy experience further clarify its "leadership" values? My kid has leadership in more of an innovative, self-driven, entrepreneurial sense than in a social school president direction. Is Vandy mainly looking for traditional leadership kids for activities that are created or sanctioned by the schools (e.g., president, editor, captain, MUN)?

Trying to figure out potential ED schools that will value my DC's skill set and will be a good fit. Also strongly considering Duke, Brown, Cornell. Thanks!

I don’t think Vandy is that homogeneous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, if you met twice with college counselor, they must have given you some potential reach’s. If you share those, might help with suggestions.

The private school counselors are moving away from advising kids applying or avoiding specific reaches schools now, at least at some private schools. They will not say you don’t have the chops for a specific reach. They would be happy to help with targets or high targets.

Not the case at our feeder private. They try to manage expectations and also will say when kids should be aiming for T10.

[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.

I generally agree with this. Except to note that ED2 at Vanderbilt is a bit of a sham. They take very few students in ED2 - just a few students that may have been rejected at HYPS in the SCEA round. If you're going to apply to Vandy, do ED1 or save it for the RD lottery if it's not the first choice.

But otherwise, this is a good profile. Class president presumably at a top private feeder. 1550. The GPA is good enough. I'd think Stanford, Northwestern, Vandy, Rice, Penn, Chicago, Brown, Cornell, Duke, WashU and Notre Dame are all in the target range.

HYP are pretty useless schools these days unless incredibly hooked. Real talent goes elsewhere anyway so wouldn't stress about that. I think the real issue is where to apply early.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:USC is no longer a party school

USC is not a party school. Lots of studious students.
They will, however, reach to a certain level at a feeder school like OP’s.

[Anonymous]

People think of leadership when they think of Vandy? Really? We’re talking about the same frat-infested, party school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:private school kid. feeder school and yes, we will talk to guidance counselor again, probably twice. not dc, not ny.
3.75 GPA in a school that deflates - if this had been 3.8 or so a lot more doors would be open, but it is what it is.
1550 SAT
best in-school leadership possible, including elected school leadership and faculty awards.
best LOR
some regional/state awards in things like debate/debate adjacent.

I'm not at all worried about him in life - he's mature, he's kind, he's good at what he's good at, he just doesnt put the time to get the A in things he doesnt care about, like Spanish. Which is frustrating to me, sure, but it's fine.

Full pay, humanities, not hooked.

Every kid in the last 20 years who has his same school position at the his school has gone to HYP. That's not happening. And we have plenty of safeties he'd be happy with. Just trying to find reaches and targets - the higher up the rankings, the more the colleges with know his school and his position in school. But that GPA. Lower down the rankings and I think random admissions readers might not know school, certainly won't know position.

GC says ND will is an "almost safety". I've put it on the reach side because I just think his GPA makes nothing except true safeties feel secure. And I'm not sure ND is a fit - but maybe.

Any other reaches? IOW, which T30 schools will sometimes take a kid with lower GPA. (not counting athletes, questbridge, donor etc)

Do you mean "cares about" in terms of it will help with admissions? Or "cares about" in terms of they say the do once they are there? Because the latter is just marketing.

[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.

I generally agree with this. Except to note that ED2 at Vanderbilt is a bit of a sham. They take very few students in ED2 - just a few students that may have been rejected at HYPS in the SCEA round. If you're going to apply to Vandy, do ED1 or save it for the RD lottery if it's not the first choice.

But otherwise, this is a good profile. Class president presumably at a top private feeder. 1550. The GPA is good enough. I'd think Stanford, Northwestern, Vandy, Rice, Penn, Chicago, Brown, Cornell, Duke, WashU and Notre Dame are all in the target range.

HYP are pretty useless schools these days unless incredibly hooked. Real talent goes elsewhere anyway so wouldn't stress about that. I think the real issue is where to apply early.

I agree with you about ED2 at Vandy.
I dont agree that real talent goes elsewhere (re HYP)
I'm surprised you and a couple other have Stanford in the mix and HYP as out. At our feeder, HYP is in the mix and Stanford is out. But that's anecdata from one school so, like I said, surprised. Interesting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People think of leadership when they think of Vandy? Really? We’re talking about the same frat-infested, party school?

Leadership is subject to interpretation. Don't think Vandy is frat-infested party school.
but also to me leadership means leadership in terms of qualities for future entrepreuner future SCOTUS future nobel laureates, etc.