Anonymous wrote:Best NE boarding schools get tons of kids into the Ivies, most of whom are not legacies. A lot are recruited athletes, though most are neither.

My older kid knew a lot of boarding school kids because they had the savvy to compete for the same competitions and summer programs as she did.

Best NE boarding schools get tons of kids into the Ivies, most of whom are not legacies. A lot are recruited athletes, though most are neither.

Anonymous wrote:

Please note:

Expensive privates are where you'll meet the greatest concentration of parents who have been to Ivies.

Since universities have quotas for each school, it stands to reason that legacy kids will have better chances than non-legacy kids, everything else being equal. There are always more excellent students than there are spots.

Conclusion:

***If your kid is unhooked, attending a private is the worst thing you can do for selective college admissions!!! ***

But of course, your kid can attend to receive a stellar education. (Or attend a great public, and save money for college, retirement, etc.)

Total agree. Every year parents look at those college matriculation lists and conclude attending that high school gives their kid a huge boost, when in reality those slots are taken up by hooked or highly unusual kids. They send kid to the school, which is confronted with enormous number of kids all fighting to be the top dog and dramatically jacks up the rigor to differentiate the pack so as to give at least a few kids some stronger (but usually not the most prestigious) college options. And the pressure cooker is born.

The result is exhausted kids and, more often than not, disappointed parents.

My older kid attended one of these schools, where she killed herself to be at the top of her class and also spent an enormous amount of time at the EC that got her into a highly selective school. No question in my mind it was the EC, not the high school, that made the difference. Kid #2 chose a different high school with our backing. Better experience, same result.

Please note:

Expensive privates are where you'll meet the greatest concentration of parents who have been to Ivies.

Since universities have quotas for each school, it stands to reason that legacy kids will have better chances than non-legacy kids, everything else being equal. There are always more excellent students than there are spots.

Conclusion:

***If your kid is unhooked, attending a private is the worst thing you can do for selective college admissions!!! ***

But of course, your kid can attend to receive a stellar education. (Or attend a great public, and save money for college, retirement, etc.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only early admit we know this year was a legacy (grandfather, father, brother attended) and nephew of a world famous author. He was not an especially compelling candidate so it was a helpful learning experience for my junior daughter.

\\

HS most definitely a learning experience for our family. Some seemingly down to earth families we've known since ES going to great lengths to get kids into top schools. The most mind-boggling has been the Princeton multi-legacy family. Kid's grades are good, not stellar, and are talking about moving kid to a boarding school in NE somewhere so they can be reclassed in their sport for better recruitment chances.

GL to all regular kids with stellar academics but not loaded and with no hooks!

I know a family who has done this for both of their kids, for college admissions. They're not seniors yet. I guess they'll know in a few years whether this strategy pays off. I prefer to spend more time with my kids, even if they get into a lower-ranked school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a white kid -- not legacy, athlete or donor -- who got in test optional, but with a good GPA. I can only image the kid's essay was a masterpiece.

This is a problem as essay could be written by paid consultants. We should rely on measures that are done by the students only.

I’m the parent of the kid who got in with a lot of creative writing awards/programs/experience. Virtually nobody at my child’s school is aware of their extensive background in writing, and as such have no idea why they got admitted. Speculating this way is unfair to this kid.

Agree 100%

Anonymous wrote:If you look at the language on their website it is clear they are far more interested in disadvantaged smart kids and international students, and those of color in areas likely not near the dmv, so those on this site would likely know who are accepted are the few that are getting in due to large donations and long lines of legacy.

In my reading of the cases from the last few years at our Big 3: It is nearly all donations/legacy or some very special hooks. URM + Legacy will get you a very solid boost (more than in other top places, it seems). The lowest GPA Princeton accepted from our school last year was less than 3.6. This is after rejecting outstanding kids with even 3.98 and close to perfect SATs (all this from SCOIR). The whole thing is a joke. I just wish our kids did not have to put themselves through this heartless insanity.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only early admit we know this year was a legacy (grandfather, father, brother attended) and nephew of a world famous author. He was not an especially compelling candidate so it was a helpful learning experience for my junior daughter.

This was our BIG 3 last year. Everyone who got into Princeton was hooked to the gills. Makes Princeton look a bit ridiculous actually. The rejected the top couple of EA kids in favor of a known legacy and then rejected everyone on RD in favor of crazily hooked Dcs

Rejected or deferred? Is Princeton still largely deferring, or did they switch gears like Yale to mostly reject early?

Well, deferred and then rejected. Princeton defers nearly every reasonable candidate, if not literally everyone.

If you look at the language on their website it is clear they are far more interested in disadvantaged smart kids and international students, and those of color in areas likely not near the dmv, so those on this site would likely know who are accepted are the few that are getting in due to large donations and long lines of legacy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only early admit we know this year was a legacy (grandfather, father, brother attended) and nephew of a world famous author. He was not an especially compelling candidate so it was a helpful learning experience for my junior daughter.

This was our BIG 3 last year. Everyone who got into Princeton was hooked to the gills. Makes Princeton look a bit ridiculous actually. The rejected the top couple of EA kids in favor of a known legacy and then rejected everyone on RD in favor of crazily hooked Dcs

Rejected or deferred? Is Princeton still largely deferring, or did they switch gears like Yale to mostly reject early?

Anonymous wrote:Some of the posts on this thread exemplify what’s wrong and uninteresting about the Ivies. Many of the UMC kids that get in are not compelling students or people, but their parents will do ANYTHING to get them admitted. Then, you have the truly rich and well-connected, who associate with each, but no one else. Throw in the test-optional URMs, Pell grant kids, who are great people, but not the brightest or best connected of the application pool. Finally, you have the middle to UMC kids who are genuinely bright and thought they’d meet their academic peers, only to find out that three-quarters of the class is nothing like them. Whatever.

The Ivies sure seem to be occupying a lot of space in your head to be so uninteresting. Princeton in particular is a fantastic undergraduate experience for those lucky enough to attend, in part because they don’t just admit a bunch of UMC white and Asian kids with high SATs, which of course they could fill their entering classes with many times over.

Actually the Pell Grant and first gen kids are some of the most impressive - getting all that done without the paved roads some of others have.

Anonymous wrote:Some of the posts on this thread exemplify what’s wrong and uninteresting about the Ivies. Many of the UMC kids that get in are not compelling students or people, but their parents will do ANYTHING to get them admitted. Then, you have the truly rich and well-connected, who associate with each, but no one else. Throw in the test-optional URMs, Pell grant kids, who are great people, but not the brightest or best connected of the application pool. Finally, you have the middle to UMC kids who are genuinely bright and thought they’d meet their academic peers, only to find out that three-quarters of the class is nothing like them. Whatever.

Hold up, Sis. You lost me with this veiled racism. Basically you’re saying that any poor brown kid at an Ivy must me intellectually inferior. Go pound sand.

Anonymous wrote:English/creative writing, published poet, national poetry awards, selective summer writing programs and editor of some youth lit mags. Also nationally ranked in a sport.

What are the selective summer writing programs?