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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This is a hard message to deliver and I apologize in advance.  A 3.7 just isn’t all that compelling and neither is a 34 ACT relatively speaking for top 15 universities even coming from a great school like Sidwell.   If your kid isn’t a NMF and/or Presidential Scholar candidate and done some [b]substantive internships or academic research outside of school, [/b]and hit &gt; 3.9 overall GPA having taken the Math I — Math IV sequence plus all the accelerated 1A sciences plus four years of language, plus a &gt;1560 SAT or 35/36 ACT, you really don’t get on the radar screen of the top 15 schools.  Exception is the hooked kids — namely athletes, legacies and URM, but a couple of those hooked kids have the former qualifications, too, making them spectacularly attractive applicants.  These schools really know Sidwell and for example understand that a solid A from Math III is a pretty powerful academic signal.  I just cannot sit by and continue to watch the Sidwell CCO get trashed the way it is by some folks on this forum. In the aggregate, they are doing a good job in a very challenging and competitive environment.  The reality is, putting aside the “branding” element, the top 30 - 50 schools offer a great education.  Sidwell parent of senior.[/quote]

This is a bizarre expectation of any high school student, regardless of what high school they attend. My college student hasn’t had either of those yet, and not for lack of trying. [/quote]

It is very hard for a regular kid to get those opportunities. But you have a contingent of kids whose parents are academics, doctors, researchers or C suite in Universities, who are able to access these ECs and stand out in college applications.[/quote]

Ok, so I am a researcher at NIH and my boss calls and says there is a high school kid who wants an internship. What responsiblities am I seriously giving this kid, other than to clean test tubes and MAYBE prep some slides? It is ridiculous to think that I am putting my grant research or academic standing on the line for this.[/quote]

Still loads better than the zero opportunities my kid has as an unconnected kid. [b]My kid who is great on paper and in person, couldn’t even get a job at the mall.[/b] [/quote]

Then he didn't try very hard. Sorry, but I don't believe this.[/quote]

There are kids in science research programs that have reached out to a hundred scientists to find a mentor.  They just need one yes to create some kind of project.   The ones don't actually get to do so something on a lab have done statistical surveys, retrospective projects using existing data, etc.  Where there is a will, there is a way.[/quote]

Instead of doing this, I wish these kids would work entry level service jobs.  If they did, we’d probably have a better society. My kid is at another independent and we let our kid find their own job. They weren’t trying to “build their resume” or Linked in page. They were working to earn money. They worked with people from different backgrounds and experienced what it was like to work a service job. They worked on the weekends during the school year and had other extracurriculars. They got deferred and waitlisted from some top schools, but got into others.  We know other kids who worked also and did well with admissions without having a list of publications or internships on their application. I can’t help but wonder if colleges appreciated seeing kids from affluent DMV zipcodes working at regular jobs when they didn’t have to do so. [/quote]

Huh?  The kids that want to do research should do research if they are able and the kids that want to work entry level service jobs should do that if they are able.  Either is fine.[/quote]

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