If I could start the process over .. this is what I'd do differently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From private counselor and CCO, I’ve heard (generally) you can tell how a T20 application is being received by a few things:

- merit from more competitive schools (Case)
- early acceptances (acceptances from competitive/selective OOS flagships or USC indicate a very competitive or well-received app)
- the early trickle of RD decisions in March (if your kid applied to mid-tier LACs or even more competitive ones and they come back with a yes in RD, then DC should absolutely have Private T20 (and likely T10) admits in RD.
- once the applications start to turn to regular rejections, deferrals and WL - it’s a sign of a tougher RD decision looming.

Again all for T20.

Interesting. DS is in EA at both Case and Purdue - with merit at both and Honors at Purdue. Still feel like any T20 is a lottery but we’ll see how RD turns out!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From private counselor and CCO, I’ve heard (generally) you can tell how a T20 application is being received by a few things:

- merit from more competitive schools (Case)
- early acceptances (acceptances from competitive/selective OOS flagships or USC indicate a very competitive or well-received app)
- the early trickle of RD decisions in March (if your kid applied to mid-tier LACs or even more competitive ones and they come back with a yes in RD, then DC should absolutely have Private T20 (and likely T10) admits in RD.
- once the applications start to turn to regular rejections, deferrals and WL - it’s a sign of a tougher RD decision looming.

Again all for T20.

Wonder if this will hold true here.
Yes for 1 and 2.
Applied to a lot of private t20 reaches in RD after deferred.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:got into Princeton SCEA so it all worked out, but a couple things

- Started a draft of the activities section earlier. We knew essay took a long time, but activities took a lot longer than expected. (what to include, how to frame etc)

- Stopped worrying about test scores. I dont think they matter much once you cross a threshold.

- Been clued into school-nominated scholarship opportunities. Our school didn't advertise and it felt very IYKYK. we didn't K.

We did keep a tight list. Just 7 schools. Those supps and short responses need to keep targeted to schools IMO. Not sure how you do that with a long list.

Long lists tend to include a lot of schools without extra essays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly? Hired a consultant at the start of junior year or even sophomore year. Shaping a clear "narrative" probably would have given DC a real shot at an Ivy.

You can create that narrative on your own - I did for my kids. You need to look at their activities - find the common threads. Frankly feed the activities list into DeepSeek, Claude, Gemini or Chatgpt (only the paid versions) and ask it to analyze it for:

1. Evidence of major and which one (then choose the one that's the least popular for purposes of admissions)*
2. Give it an example of a narrative (you can get from the book soundbite, or from various national firms who do admissions webinars) and ask it to put a narrative together for you
3. ask for areas of weakness and what types of things kid can do over next summer or year to strengthen position
4. ask for suggested research topics for a capstone project that ties into narrative or standalone research
5. ask for ideal ECs at college that appear to correspond to these interests.

done and done.

DP here. No disrespect but that is a bog standard narrative. What a CC helps you create is an extraordinary narrative that stands out and is aimed directly at entry to the Ivy League. They do know what they're doing. And most parent's are functioning just outside that kind of sphere.

It is telling that DCUM thinks ChatGPT can write brilliant essays and come up with striking T10 worthy narratives. Nope and nope.

I agree that the big CC firms don't do anything you couldn't do yourself, but if you can spend the money on a really qualified one - that is, a former AO - they can package an unhooked strong-stats student into an Ivy candidate IF you have to hire them by the start of junior year at the latest. Needless to say, that is expensive. Still, knowing what I know now, it probably would have been worth the extra 20 or 30 grand.

Agreed on the value of a really good independent counselor. As much as I’d like to think of my DC as the most special of snowflakes, the fact is they’re just one of too many qualified applicants. I’m convinced DC’s in-the-know counselor was a key lever in their T5 early admit this cycle. We paid a total of $22,500 for her services, but spent $0 on summer programs since her guidance helped DC win three fully funded scholarships/research opportunities in high school (which I’m sure ultimately boosted the strength of their college application, as well).

Talk about your uneven playing fields.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From private counselor and CCO, I’ve heard (generally) you can tell how a T20 application is being received by a few things:

- merit from more competitive schools (Case)
- early acceptances (acceptances from competitive/selective OOS flagships or USC indicate a very competitive or well-received app)
- the early trickle of RD decisions in March (if your kid applied to mid-tier LACs or even more competitive ones and they come back with a yes in RD, then DC should absolutely have Private T20 (and likely T10) admits in RD.
- once the applications start to turn to regular rejections, deferrals and WL - it’s a sign of a tougher RD decision looming.

Again all for T20.

If talking about tough out of state flagships, like Michigan, Virginia, Texas, I agree. The kids that tend to get into those schools early, tend to do very well in the regular decision game.

[Anonymous]

It is telling that DCUM thinks ChatGPT can write brilliant essays and come up with striking T10 worthy narratives. Nope and nope.

I agree that the big CC firms don't do anything you couldn't do yourself, but if you can spend the money on a really qualified one - that is, a former AO - they can package an unhooked strong-stats student into an Ivy candidate IF you have to hire them by the start of junior year at the latest. Needless to say, that is expensive. Still, knowing what I know now, it probably would have been worth the extra 20 or 30 grand.

Agreed on the value of a really good independent counselor. As much as I’d like to think of my DC as the most special of snowflakes, the fact is they’re just one of too many qualified applicants. I’m convinced DC’s in-the-know counselor was a key lever in their T5 early admit this cycle. We paid a total of $22,500 for her services, but spent $0 on summer programs since her guidance helped DC win three fully funded scholarships/research opportunities in high school (which I’m sure ultimately boosted the strength of their college application, as well).

We can’t afford a counselor. Would you mind sharing the summer programs and any tips to get in? Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never thought about researching where the previous class matriculated and starting from there. That's a good idea. I'm not sure we would have had access to that data, but I guess we could have found at least some of it on social.

I know one college appeared surprised to have an application from my oldest. The school would come to the DC area but never visit DD's school, so they were wondering how she heard of it. Even the small schools appear to have a good handle on the high schools with the students they want and with students most likely to attend. The colleges probably want to keep going back to the good well so to speak.

I don't understand this conversation. Is the point that colleges are more likely to admit students from specific high schools if they have admitted others? Or do you assume if they have admitted a bunch from your high school, more are applying and it will be tougher to get in?

For selective schools, they are more likely to admit if they have admitted in the past. If no one has ever gotten into a certain T20 school from your high school and you are applying, don’t expect to get in.

This is also true for top LACs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly? Hired a consultant at the start of junior year or even sophomore year. Shaping a clear "narrative" probably would have given DC a real shot at an Ivy.

You can create that narrative on your own - I did for my kids. You need to look at their activities - find the common threads. Frankly feed the activities list into DeepSeek, Claude, Gemini or Chatgpt (only the paid versions) and ask it to analyze it for:

1. Evidence of major and which one (then choose the one that's the least popular for purposes of admissions)*
2. Give it an example of a narrative (you can get from the book soundbite, or from various national firms who do admissions webinars) and ask it to put a narrative together for you
3. ask for areas of weakness and what types of things kid can do over next summer or year to strengthen position
4. ask for suggested research topics for a capstone project that ties into narrative or standalone research
5. ask for ideal ECs at college that appear to correspond to these interests.

done and done.

DP here. No disrespect but that is a bog standard narrative. What a CC helps you create is an extraordinary narrative that stands out and is aimed directly at entry to the Ivy League. They do know what they're doing. And most parent's are functioning just outside that kind of sphere.

It is telling that DCUM thinks ChatGPT can write brilliant essays and come up with striking T10 worthy narratives. Nope and nope.

I agree that the big CC firms don't do anything you couldn't do yourself, but if you can spend the money on a really qualified one - that is, a former AO - they can package an unhooked strong-stats student into an Ivy candidate IF you have to hire them by the start of junior year at the latest. Needless to say, that is expensive. Still, knowing what I know now, it probably would have been worth the extra 20 or 30 grand.

Agreed on the value of a really good independent counselor. As much as I’d like to think of my DC as the most special of snowflakes, the fact is they’re just one of too many qualified applicants. I’m convinced DC’s in-the-know counselor was a key lever in their T5 early admit this cycle. We paid a total of $22,500 for her services, but spent $0 on summer programs since her guidance helped DC win three fully funded scholarships/research opportunities in high school (which I’m sure ultimately boosted the strength of their college application, as well).

Talk about your uneven playing fields.

+1

The poster spent $22k to play.

For the rest of us, that's a half-yr of college tuition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
It is telling that DCUM thinks ChatGPT can write brilliant essays and come up with striking T10 worthy narratives. Nope and nope.

I agree that the big CC firms don't do anything you couldn't do yourself, but if you can spend the money on a really qualified one - that is, a former AO - they can package an unhooked strong-stats student into an Ivy candidate IF you have to hire them by the start of junior year at the latest. Needless to say, that is expensive. Still, knowing what I know now, it probably would have been worth the extra 20 or 30 grand.

Agreed on the value of a really good independent counselor. As much as I’d like to think of my DC as the most special of snowflakes, the fact is they’re just one of too many qualified applicants. I’m convinced DC’s in-the-know counselor was a key lever in their T5 early admit this cycle. We paid a total of $22,500 for her services, but spent $0 on summer programs since her guidance helped DC win three fully funded scholarships/research opportunities in high school (which I’m sure ultimately boosted the strength of their college application, as well).

We can’t afford a counselor. Would you mind sharing the summer programs and any tips to get in? Thanks in advance.

Any valid summer program will depend on your kids interests. There’s no one summer program that is perfect/ideal for any kid. What are they interested in.
Start a new post and people will crowdsource and give you ideas.

We did not hire a counselor and I used this advice for my older kid from this Website and found a way to create the same type of narrative that a counselor would. Along with activities that were highly curated. That kid is at an Ivy now.

Younger kid is a senior now.
Did the same for that kid using advice here and other places. Never paid for a counselor. So far into Michigan out of state.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It is telling that DCUM thinks ChatGPT can write brilliant essays and come up with striking T10 worthy narratives. Nope and nope.

I agree that the big CC firms don't do anything you couldn't do yourself, but if you can spend the money on a really qualified one - that is, a former AO - they can package an unhooked strong-stats student into an Ivy candidate IF you have to hire them by the start of junior year at the latest. Needless to say, that is expensive. Still, knowing what I know now, it probably would have been worth the extra 20 or 30 grand.

Agreed on the value of a really good independent counselor. As much as I’d like to think of my DC as the most special of snowflakes, the fact is they’re just one of too many qualified applicants. I’m convinced DC’s in-the-know counselor was a key lever in their T5 early admit this cycle. We paid a total of $22,500 for her services, but spent $0 on summer programs since her guidance helped DC win three fully funded scholarships/research opportunities in high school (which I’m sure ultimately boosted the strength of their college application, as well).

We can’t afford a counselor. Would you mind sharing the summer programs and any tips to get in? Thanks in advance.

Can you share examples of both your DC's ECs and summer programs that you think helped built their successful narratives?

Any valid summer program will depend on your kids interests. There’s no one summer program that is perfect/ideal for any kid. What are they interested in.
Start a new post and people will crowdsource and give you ideas.

We did not hire a counselor and I used this advice for my older kid from this Website and found a way to create the same type of narrative that a counselor would. Along with activities that were highly curated. That kid is at an Ivy now.

Younger kid is a senior now.
Did the same for that kid using advice here and other places. Never paid for a counselor. So far into Michigan out of state.

[Anonymous]

DD got into HYP. Private CCs hate her for this one simple trick...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly? Hired a consultant at the start of junior year or even sophomore year. Shaping a clear "narrative" probably would have given DC a real shot at an Ivy.

You can create that narrative on your own - I did for my kids. You need to look at their activities - find the common threads. Frankly feed the activities list into DeepSeek, Claude, Gemini or Chatgpt (only the paid versions) and ask it to analyze it for:

1. Evidence of major and which one (then choose the one that's the least popular for purposes of admissions)*
2. Give it an example of a narrative (you can get from the book soundbite, or from various national firms who do admissions webinars) and ask it to put a narrative together for you
3. ask for areas of weakness and what types of things kid can do over next summer or year to strengthen position
4. ask for suggested research topics for a capstone project that ties into narrative or standalone research
5. ask for ideal ECs at college that appear to correspond to these interests.

done and done.

DP here. No disrespect but that is a bog standard narrative. What a CC helps you create is an extraordinary narrative that stands out and is aimed directly at entry to the Ivy League. They do know what they're doing. And most parent's are functioning just outside that kind of sphere.

It is telling that DCUM thinks ChatGPT can write brilliant essays and come up with striking T10 worthy narratives. Nope and nope.

I agree that the big CC firms don't do anything you couldn't do yourself, but if you can spend the money on a really qualified one - that is, a former AO - they can package an unhooked strong-stats student into an Ivy candidate IF you have to hire them by the start of junior year at the latest. Needless to say, that is expensive. Still, knowing what I know now, it probably would have been worth the extra 20 or 30 grand.

Agreed on the value of a really good independent counselor. As much as I’d like to think of my DC as the most special of snowflakes, the fact is they’re just one of too many qualified applicants. I’m convinced DC’s in-the-know counselor was a key lever in their T5 early admit this cycle. We paid a total of $22,500 for her services, but spent $0 on summer programs since her guidance helped DC win three fully funded scholarships/research opportunities in high school (which I’m sure ultimately boosted the strength of their college application, as well).

Talk about your uneven playing fields.

+1

The poster spent $22k to play.

For the rest of us, that's a half-yr of college tuition.

I have a friend with much deeper pockets than mine. She spent over $20k for each of her 2 kids counselors. Both kids got into top schools including an ivy. Both kids transferred out after the first year because the school was a bad fit. This is two different top counselors in the DC area. Counselors don't know your kid like you do. Still she proceeded to double down on counselors for the best transfer applications. She spent as much on test prep and counselors that I will spend on college itself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly? Hired a consultant at the start of junior year or even sophomore year. Shaping a clear "narrative" probably would have given DC a real shot at an Ivy.

You can create that narrative on your own - I did for my kids. You need to look at their activities - find the common threads. Frankly feed the activities list into DeepSeek, Claude, Gemini or Chatgpt (only the paid versions) and ask it to analyze it for:

1. Evidence of major and which one (then choose the one that's the least popular for purposes of admissions)*
2. Give it an example of a narrative (you can get from the book soundbite, or from various national firms who do admissions webinars) and ask it to put a narrative together for you
3. ask for areas of weakness and what types of things kid can do over next summer or year to strengthen position
4. ask for suggested research topics for a capstone project that ties into narrative or standalone research
5. ask for ideal ECs at college that appear to correspond to these interests.

done and done.

DP here. No disrespect but that is a bog standard narrative. What a CC helps you create is an extraordinary narrative that stands out and is aimed directly at entry to the Ivy League. They do know what they're doing. And most parent's are functioning just outside that kind of sphere.

It is telling that DCUM thinks ChatGPT can write brilliant essays and come up with striking T10 worthy narratives. Nope and nope.

I agree that the big CC firms don't do anything you couldn't do yourself, but if you can spend the money on a really qualified one - that is, a former AO - they can package an unhooked strong-stats student into an Ivy candidate IF you have to hire them by the start of junior year at the latest. Needless to say, that is expensive. Still, knowing what I know now, it probably would have been worth the extra 20 or 30 grand.

Agreed on the value of a really good independent counselor. As much as I’d like to think of my DC as the most special of snowflakes, the fact is they’re just one of too many qualified applicants. I’m convinced DC’s in-the-know counselor was a key lever in their T5 early admit this cycle. We paid a total of $22,500 for her services, but spent $0 on summer programs since her guidance helped DC win three fully funded scholarships/research opportunities in high school (which I’m sure ultimately boosted the strength of their college application, as well).

Talk about your uneven playing fields.

+1

The poster spent $22k to play.

For the rest of us, that's a half-yr of college tuition.

I have a friend with much deeper pockets than mine. She spent over $20k for each of her 2 kids counselors. Both kids got into top schools including an ivy. Both kids transferred out after the first year because the school was a bad fit. This is two different top counselors in the DC area. Counselors don't know your kid like you do. Still she proceeded to double down on counselors for the best transfer applications. She spent as much on test prep and counselors that I will spend on college itself.

Transferring from where to where?

[Anonymous]

Interesting thread.

[Anonymous]

I am pretty pleased with how we approached it all this year. My top two pieces of advice:

1.) Visit college campuses. Get a feel for what your child really likes....big or small, sports or not, urban or country??? Visit schools...work them in on vacations, trips, etc. Plan ahead. College fit is most important.

2.) Apply to at least one early rolling admissions that is a likely guarantee. It is wonderful to have an early yes in your back pocket right out of the gate while you endure the long wait for the others.