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[quote=Anonymous]As a mother who has had, currently has, and will have children going through the college application process, I will offer my limited observations.

First, your 9th grade achievements, grades, and accomplishments do matter.  Perhaps not as much as those in 10th, 11th, and 12th grades, but they do matter.  I do not think that most of us can hope -- as was the case with a previous poster's accomplished niece -- that our daughter or son can get two Cs in their freshman year and still get into Harvard, Yale, Princeton, or Stanford.  There are the exceptional students who do of course overcome the less-than-preferred transcript, but most applicants will not.

The Latina mother who posted above obviously perceives a close-to-perfect transcript as the path for her child, and that is generally a safe assumption when paired with strong extracurricular achievements as well.

However, a student with a less-than-perfect transcript can attain Ivy-league admission if they have other strengths to recommend them, for example, exceptional athletic ability in a sport the school values, or -- as with the previous poster's niece -- exceptional ability and accomplishment in some area they have a true passion for, like music or languages.

Finally, there is some gamesmanship where college admissions is concerned.  I remember reading once that Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg (Harvard) was not a high school athlete.  Instead, she became a certified step-aerobics instructor during high school.  That involves savvy, turning a potential negative into a positive.

The PP who posted about her niece emphasized that she did not have "melanin", "money", or "legacy" to recommend her.  However -- and I am not saying this is the case with her niece -- a student with none of those things may still come from a family that is savvy enough to recognize and pursue college-making opportunities.

For example, a parent who works for the government or at the university may have friends who open doors for the right nonprofit internship, or who "guide" you to the important foreign opportunity.  This is not a criticism, people should use any and all means at their disposal, but there are certainly many tools available to build up someone's "hook". [/quote]

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