Reply to Cardozo: not the greatest education, but might help my kid get into an Ivy?

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Reply to "Cardozo: not the greatest education, but might help my kid get into an Ivy?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm an Ivy interviewer. I think he'd get some extra consideration coming from Cardozo. Would he get the kind of teaching that would enable him to get 5s on AP tests? The kind of extracurricular opportunities that would enable him to stand out to a school that has 15 applicants for each spot?  I don't know.[/quote]

Therein lies the rub... the quality of teaching I'm not so worried about, because he's so goddamn self-motivated on that front. Extracurriculars, I'm much less sure about. Especially if he's not in an environment where there's a critical mass of other kids who share his goals or general outlook, I could see him being less interested in extracurriculars. So the question then is whether coming from an unusual/underrepresented school would help more than the lack of the more 'polished' extracurriculars he'd have at a school like Wilson.[/quote]

I am also an Ivy interviewer, and I would encourage him to explore extra curriculars outside of Cardozo.  In the best of all worlds, he would become an Eagle Scout, but it might be too late for that.  One of the really incredible interviewees I had this year (who came from a completely underprivileged background - I volunteer for that every year, but outside of DC) became a large fish in a small pond which in DC would be very hard to do, but think along the lines of what she did -  getting her local council to sponsor an organization that allowed wealthier kids to donate tuxes and prom dresses and restaurants to donate dinners for kids around the city who wanted to go to Prom as a rite of passage but could not afford it, or outreach within the DC system (working for a council member, I have no clue what would function here) to independently sponsor an organization that reaches out to the underprivileged kids at Cardozo and elsewhere -

he doesn't [b]have[/b] to have their needs, just [b]see[/b] them and [b]respond[/b] to them in the way that will make the biggest splash that he can..............  I guess what I am saying is what they all say to us now - they want kids who are authentic, and a bunch of meaningless extracurriculars don't count unless you rose through the ranks to be the leader (and then you can bring up that you had been doing it since junior high).

What they are really looking for is to build a class, and what stinks is your kid despite all his achievements may not fit into that class for that year because they have to take an extra kid from Oklahoma, but if you are positive that he will not suffer academically grade wise and most importantly on the standardized tests I would say go for it........

They prefer you lopsided but passionate, because it looks and feels more authentic (and I still have not gotten the guts up to call about this girl I pushed so hard for - in all my years of interviewing I have never gone so far out on a limb).
They do not count the number of APs against you for instance if those are all that are offered at your school, as long as you took all of them....

Is your kid passionate about anything?  If so, if he can explore that passion outside of school from what I understand that is perfectly ok.  The thing is, will he going to Cardozo have the grades, the AP scores and the PSAT and SAT scores that they are looking for?  I LOVE the idea that Khan academy is going to start offering a free SAT prep course.  I know nothing about Cardozo.  I do know that the competition at Wilson will be fierce to get in to HYP - and I don't see how Cardozo could possibly hurt, especially if he is the only applicant from the school that year, versus all the Wilson and private school kids.  AS LONG as you are positive it will not hurt him academically, I would say go for it.  And then figure out something he can spend his free time on inside or outside of Cardozo that will preferably have an impact on low income kids, which he will become familiar with at Cardozo........[/quote]

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