Reply to S/O, Where did your "top private school" DC get into through ED (that's not Ivy, or a Top 10 school)

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Reply to "S/O, Where did your "top private school" DC get into through ED (that's not Ivy, or a Top 10 school)"

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[quote=Anonymous]A few things.

First, it is STILL TRUE that the hardest thing about the Ivies is getting in.  To excel you have to be very bright and very hard working.  But to do fine -- B pluses and the occasional A minus -- a very bright kid who is good at cramming, or a more modestly talented kid who works their a-- off, will suffice.

Second, of course there are wonderful 3.2 kids who don't get into the Ivies.  Many of them then probably crush at their excellent college/university and get into Harvard Law School or Stanford Medical School.  It is not a tragedy when a kid doesn't get into an Ivy or a particular Ivy -- it can motivate them to excel to show the school that rejected them was wrong, for example.  And this country has an abundance of very fine colleges and universities.  But the admissions people need to pick somehow, and grades and scores are a reasonable way to do it.

Third, yes admissions people know who the resume-builders are.  "The thicker the file, the thicker the student" is cliched admission saying for a reason.  The reason why it may appear to work is probably that (a) many of the compulsive extra-curricular participators are also terrific students; or (b) students with the parents who hired the consultants either have legacy status or the parents have such wealth that the colleges are letting them in for development purposes (Duke is famous for the latter -- read the book "The Price of Admission").  The "look at all my clubs" thing is why colleges (and college counselors) advise trying to specialize and develop and display a sincere passion.[/quote]

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