Reply to Discriminatory College Advising @ Big 3

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Oh come on. My kids went to STA and everyone knew whose parents were CEOs or White House aides. Let's not pretend that there isn't an element of privilege to college admissions and advising when schools like STA and Sidwell know that parents will hold them accountable for college admissions. [/quote]

What a cynical post.  You were not in meetings with other students, so you would not know what counselors say to anyone else but your child in a meeting in which you are present.  Yet you have no problem impugning the ethics of the professionals at your child's school.  Ugly behavior.[/quote]

So you think privilege doesn't exist?[/quote]

I don't think the college counselors write better letters or give better advice to rich kids, no.  Those I have met at various schools have for the most part been kind, diplomatic people doing an increasingly thankless job, and doing their best for all of the students.

If you ask whether privilege is a factor in college admissions in general?  Of course.  Legacy preference, preference for "development cases."

But the idea that college counselors don't try their hardest for kids without wealthy/famous parents?  No.  I don't agree at all and I think the accusation does a disservice to those educators.[/quote]

Wow, you must be new to this world.  [/quote]

No, I'm not new to this world.  I've met good people in college counseling whom I respect greatly.  I have also seen some counselors go to extraordinary lengths on behalf of "ordinary' kids, including finding scholarship opportunities (for example the POSSE scholarships) that take a lot of additional work on the counselor's part but have helped made college much more affordable.  I don't consider myself naive -- I am not blind to the idea that privilege may play a part in other parts of independent school life (squeaky wheel gets the grease principle) but, again, in the college counseling process I've seen many counselors go the extra mile precisely to help the families that are not as sophisticated in the process.  [/quote]

Right, the problem here is that this counselor does not seem to be doing his best for the unique profile of the OP's son. I'd think that as a minority, top 10% student, solid SAT scores, sports, research, that he'd be trying his best to identify the schools that are looking for students like him. Instead he's apparently pushing ED at a middling public university.  At the very least this counselor needs to be doing his due diligence to identify which of the top schools offer the best aid and are working the hardest to diversify their classes. As I posted earlier, there is a HUGE diversity in the Ivies with respect to economic and cultural diversity. Some schools are trying hard to diversify, some not so hard.  It doesn't sound like this counselor is on the ball.

That said, OP needs to be strategic here. Whatever the reason for this counselor's suggestions, it is probably not going to work in her favor to alientate him with accusations of discrimination. OP probably just needs to take the lead in doing all of the research the counselor is not doing and then inform the counselor in a non-confrontational way about schools she thinks are good options, and take it from there. Hopefully it won't be necessary to go over his head. [/quote]

You seem awfully certain that the college counselor is not doing his/her best for the student, based on the parent's view of what has transpired.  You don't (because you can't) know the full story.  For example:

1. [b] The parent implied that one wouldn't know the child was of Latino heritage (maybe an Anglicized last name, for example).[/b]  Have they told the counselor of this?
2.  The parent thinks the child has a highly competitive GPA -- the parent may not know the range or where their child's GPA fits.
3.  The parent thinks the child is in the top 5 - 10 students (or percentage) of the class, but the school doesn't rank.  Maybe the school has said "your child is in the top 10% of the class" or "you are in the top 5 students in your class," but if the school has not done this, the parent is assuming and could be wrong.  
4.  You don't know how the child's schedule compares with other good students.  If they are taking a less demanding track, then the good GPA might still not be enough to have them considered one of the top students if the other students in the same range have much more difficult coursework on their transcript.
5.  With a 2200 board, that could be in the top 30-40% of SAT scores, depending upon how strong a school this is.  SAT scores now, with prep and the ability to take the test multiple times, can be quite high.
6.  It does not sound like the child was a national merit semifinalist -- how many others were in the class?

Overall, it sounds like OP's son is a very strong candidate.  The counselor may be underestimating him (particularly if he is an underrepresented minority), but may also be accurately assessing his chances and trying to encourage the family not to fixate on only HYPS.   We have no way of knowing for sure.[/quote]

Also, colleges are increasingly going away from blind reliance on URM status and doing more of a socio-economic inquiry.  If the child has two Central American university-educated parents (even if educated outside of the USA), the colleges may not consider the child in the same category with the first generation Latino student whose parents did not have a strong academic background.

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