Anonymous
Post 01/16/2024 09:40     Subject: Did you opt in or out of the UMC admission game? Do you regret it?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What is wrong with test prep? Will that be your policy for MCAT, LSAT, GMAT? Just show up and wing it? So weird.


You seriously think that’s weird? Thats what I did back in the day. Smart kids don’t need prep. Truly.



Noooo. We prepped back in the day. We didn’t do Khan, but we took practice tests and bought those fat Princeton Review books. Some kids went to prep classes.


Midwesterner here. Grew up in 80s. Did not prep for tests. The PSAT was my test prep. Didn’t know anyone who prepped.


Same here. Did not know anyone who prepped. My parents gave me zero help in applications or preparation. That said, the 80s were a very different time. A high 1300s / low 1400s SAT with unexceptional ECs could get you into an Ivy.
Anonymous
Post 01/16/2024 09:34     Subject: Did you opt in or out of the UMC admission game? Do you regret it?
Anonymous wrote:You don’t need to do all of “the things” but to do nothing, seems neglectful.


+1
Anonymous
Post 01/16/2024 09:26     Subject: Did you opt in or out of the UMC admission game? Do you regret it?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What is wrong with test prep? Will that be your policy for MCAT, LSAT, GMAT? Just show up and wing it? So weird.


You seriously think that’s weird? Thats what I did back in the day. Smart kids don’t need prep. Truly.



Noooo. We prepped back in the day. We didn’t do Khan, but we took practice tests and bought those fat Princeton Review books. Some kids went to prep classes.


Midwesterner here. Grew up in 80s. Did not prep for tests. The PSAT was my test prep. Didn’t know anyone who prepped.


I grew up outside of Philadelphia. Class of 1992. Did not prep (not a minute). Don't know anyone who prepped. This was a highly ranked private school.


I graduated in 1992 and everyone I knew did long (multi week) prep classes. This was at a highly regarded private HS in the south.
Anonymous
Post 01/16/2024 09:25     Subject: Did you opt in or out of the UMC admission game? Do you regret it?
I have 2 seniors this year. We let them take the lead 95% of the time. We helped by planning tours when we were on vacation/spring breaks/etc starting their sophomore year, chunking up tasks (because the process was overwhelming to kids with ADHD), proof reading essays, and proof reading the Common App with them before submitting.

They did 1 8 hr SAT prep class that was part of a school fund raiser
No college admissions counselor
No forcing them to do activities they weren't interested in just for the sake of padding their resume.


Both have gotten into all 6 schools they applies to (still waiting on UMD) - not top 25 ones, but that isn't who they are.

Kids should go to colleges based on who they are. Not who their parents want them to be.
Anonymous
Post 01/16/2024 09:13     Subject: Re:Did you opt in or out of the UMC admission game? Do you regret it?
Grew up in Haddonfield, NJ. Very top public school. Class of 1990. Nobody prepped.

I think the difference in replies may be in part between people who took the test closer to 1990 or after 2000. I'm sure by 2000 or soon after that prepping was normal in most UMC areas. Also, I think the DMV was prepping long before others. (shocking )
Anonymous
Post 01/16/2024 09:10     Subject: Did you opt in or out of the UMC admission game? Do you regret it?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What is wrong with test prep? Will that be your policy for MCAT, LSAT, GMAT? Just show up and wing it? So weird.


You seriously think that’s weird? Thats what I did back in the day. Smart kids don’t need prep. Truly.



Noooo. We prepped back in the day. We didn’t do Khan, but we took practice tests and bought those fat Princeton Review books. Some kids went to prep classes.


Midwesterner here. Grew up in 80s. Did not prep for tests. The PSAT was my test prep. Didn’t know anyone who prepped.


I grew up outside of Philadelphia. Class of 1992. Did not prep (not a minute). Don't know anyone who prepped. This was a highly ranked private school.
Anonymous
Post 01/16/2024 06:57     Subject: Did you opt in or out of the UMC admission game? Do you regret it?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What is wrong with test prep? Will that be your policy for MCAT, LSAT, GMAT? Just show up and wing it? So weird.


You seriously think that’s weird? Thats what I did back in the day. Smart kids don’t need prep. Truly.



Noooo. We prepped back in the day. We didn’t do Khan, but we took practice tests and bought those fat Princeton Review books. Some kids went to prep classes.


Midwesterner here. Grew up in 80s. Did not prep for tests. The PSAT was my test prep. Didn’t know anyone who prepped.


Grew up in Jersey. Same here. Don’t know one single person who prepped. Catholic school (if that matters).
Anonymous
Post 01/16/2024 02:05     Subject: Re:Did you opt in or out of the UMC admission game? Do you regret it?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:All of life is a game isn’t it? You either get in the ring and play, give it a go, or you are fine sitting on the periphery mostly watching. And if you are fine being fine, you do you OP.


No. Life is not a game. At least, not one with "winners" and "losers." I'm really sorry for you that you don't know this.


The one who dies with the most toys wins. That’s the game we’re playing PP, but feel free to keep chirping from the cheap seats in the peanut gallery.
Anonymous
Post 01/16/2024 02:03     Subject: Did you opt in or out of the UMC admission game? Do you regret it?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What is wrong with test prep? Will that be your policy for MCAT, LSAT, GMAT? Just show up and wing it? So weird.


You seriously think that’s weird? Thats what I did back in the day. Smart kids don’t need prep. Truly.



Noooo. We prepped back in the day. We didn’t do Khan, but we took practice tests and bought those fat Princeton Review books. Some kids went to prep classes.


This. Went to publish HS is a very middle class town in NJ. All the kids in AP and advanced classes did Princeton review. They held the program at our high school.
Anonymous
Post 01/16/2024 00:05     Subject: Did you opt in or out of the UMC admission game? Do you regret it?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What is wrong with test prep? Will that be your policy for MCAT, LSAT, GMAT? Just show up and wing it? So weird.


You seriously think that’s weird? Thats what I did back in the day. Smart kids don’t need prep. Truly.



Noooo. We prepped back in the day. We didn’t do Khan, but we took practice tests and bought those fat Princeton Review books. Some kids went to prep classes.


Midwesterner here. Grew up in 80s. Did not prep for tests. The PSAT was my test prep. Didn’t know anyone who prepped.
Anonymous
Post 01/16/2024 00:00     Subject: Did you opt in or out of the UMC admission game? Do you regret it?
We'd need a stack of CEO bios to get this done but bet it's researchable.

Anonymous
Post 01/15/2024 23:57     Subject: Did you opt in or out of the UMC admission game? Do you regret it?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We opted in. We technically won. Then we quickly realized it is all so pointless and superficial. I say this with all due respect: Get a life and stop living through your kids’ credentials. Literally nobody cares where your kids go to college. It’s a brief topic of conversation once maybe twice (decision time and dorm move-in) and that is literally it. After that it’s another round of status hoops like internships, fellowships, grad schools and full time offers. And who they’re dating and what prestige expensive city they’re living in. It never ends. Looking back the top high school students do well WHEREVER they go. Period. It is VERY predictable. Kids either have “it” when they’re 16 or 17 or they don’t. No amount of your lunatic tiger parenting is fundamentally changing your kids or fooling their professors, the people who can hire them, nor the peers you wish would date them.

This x a million
People here who claim it’s their duty to help their kids and you’re negligent if you don’t and their kids deserve the best opportunities…it’s all bs. It’s really them wanting to brag about their kids. Full stop.


They think it’ll change their families life and status. Spoiler: It doesn’t. These elite degrees are finishing school for nepo babies. Prole kids who get in are just sort of there. Then they go back home and have a supposedly fancy nobody really gives a damn about.


I would love for someone to point out a very famous or ultra successful person who started out middle class and was catapulted into the upper class just by using the Ivy+ degree.

If it’s the magic ticket surely there is no shortage of household names who have done this.


Ron DeSantis? Parents met at Youngstown State...he went to Yale.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_DeSantis#:~:text=His%20mother%27s%20family%20name%2C%20Rogers,Western%20Pennsylvania%20and%20Northeast%20Ohio.


Also Sonia Sotomayor and Clarence Thomas and Barack and Michelle Obama
Anonymous
Post 01/15/2024 23:53     Subject: Did you opt in or out of the UMC admission game? Do you regret it?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We opted in. We technically won. Then we quickly realized it is all so pointless and superficial. I say this with all due respect: Get a life and stop living through your kids’ credentials. Literally nobody cares where your kids go to college. It’s a brief topic of conversation once maybe twice (decision time and dorm move-in) and that is literally it. After that it’s another round of status hoops like internships, fellowships, grad schools and full time offers. And who they’re dating and what prestige expensive city they’re living in. It never ends. Looking back the top high school students do well WHEREVER they go. Period. It is VERY predictable. Kids either have “it” when they’re 16 or 17 or they don’t. No amount of your lunatic tiger parenting is fundamentally changing your kids or fooling their professors, the people who can hire them, nor the peers you wish would date them.

This x a million
People here who claim it’s their duty to help their kids and you’re negligent if you don’t and their kids deserve the best opportunities…it’s all bs. It’s really them wanting to brag about their kids. Full stop.


They think it’ll change their families life and status. Spoiler: It doesn’t. These elite degrees are finishing school for nepo babies. Prole kids who get in are just sort of there. Then they go back home and have a supposedly fancy nobody really gives a damn about.


I would love for someone to point out a very famous or ultra successful person who started out middle class and was catapulted into the upper class just by using the Ivy+ degree.

If it’s the magic ticket surely there is no shortage of household names who have done this.


Ron DeSantis? Parents met at Youngstown State...he went to Yale.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_DeSantis#:~:text=His%20mother%27s%20family%20name%2C%20Rogers,Western%20Pennsylvania%20and%20Northeast%20Ohio.
Anonymous
Post 01/15/2024 23:50     Subject: Did you opt in or out of the UMC admission game? Do you regret it?
I don’t think this is all or nothing.

We paid for a test prep course for our kid to gain confidence. We did not hire a counselor as it was not in our budget to do both. No decisions were made on activities for college. We probably could have gotten advice that would have helped along the way (course selection) but learned too late that our large public high school just didn’t do any of that kind of advising.
I think like most things - this can be a balance based on your kid, your budget and your supports.
Anonymous
Post 01/15/2024 23:44     Subject: Did you opt in or out of the UMC admission game? Do you regret it?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What is wrong with test prep? Will that be your policy for MCAT, LSAT, GMAT? Just show up and wing it? So weird.


You seriously think that’s weird? Thats what I did back in the day. Smart kids don’t need prep. Truly.



Noooo. We prepped back in the day. We didn’t do Khan, but we took practice tests and bought those fat Princeton Review books. Some kids went to prep classes.