Anonymous
09/16/2025 12:15
Subject: This is what unhooked umc kids are against
Meh. I didn't read the article, but too much is assumed about why certain kids get in.
We are plenty well-off, at potential-big-donor level. Kids didn't do any special ECs. Kids did not submit a resume. No research, no internship. Two attend T10s. Their essays were genuine and written by them (I am the only person who reviewed them), and they had great academic stats. Was wealth a factor? If it was, we didn't need to signal any of the above special stuff.
Admissions consultants are here to sell their services, which they do by convincing people that their services are necessary. Consider whether their services are truly necessary.
Personally, I suspect their services are most helpful for kids with unique needs, but that is a different topic.
We are plenty well-off, at potential-big-donor level. Kids didn't do any special ECs. Kids did not submit a resume. No research, no internship. Two attend T10s. Their essays were genuine and written by them (I am the only person who reviewed them), and they had great academic stats. Was wealth a factor? If it was, we didn't need to signal any of the above special stuff.
Admissions consultants are here to sell their services, which they do by convincing people that their services are necessary. Consider whether their services are truly necessary.
Personally, I suspect their services are most helpful for kids with unique needs, but that is a different topic.
Anonymous
09/16/2025 12:11
Subject: This is what unhooked umc kids are against
Anonymous wrote:The colleges and universities do see through this to an extent. Any programs that are pay-to-play are generally discounted. Competitive programs like the MIT summer research programs or Telluride are more highly valued.
Mountain school just has a semester away tuition. It’s for an entire semester and it’s a very rigorous admissions process. The others I’m not sure about.
Anonymous
09/16/2025 11:50
Subject: This is what unhooked umc kids are against
The colleges and universities do see through this to an extent. Any programs that are pay-to-play are generally discounted. Competitive programs like the MIT summer research programs or Telluride are more highly valued.
Anonymous
09/16/2025 11:35
Subject: Re:This is what unhooked umc kids are against
Anonymous wrote:I"m sure you're right that kids with tons of resources have tons of opportunities, but I think about my unhooked, public school kid who just graduated from HYP and may of her friends I met along the way, and many of the kids from our good (but not famous) public school and think - well there's still spots out there for some regular kids, they are hard to get but not impossible.
I agree with you - but what the counselors do curating these rich kid applications definitely filters down to regular smart unhooked kids. They too are no longer just doing the regular ECs, the stuff they enjoy like sports and theater etc. They too are entering competitions, doing "research" in HS, and starting "passion projects." They are watching the social media posts that outline all this stuff, doing online research, etc. They aren't having it spoon-fed to them but they've still gotten the memo.
Anonymous
09/16/2025 11:32
Subject: Re:This is what unhooked umc kids are against
Anonymous wrote:Without giving up too many details ...
I have a friend whose kid went to a fancy NJ private. The kid has learning struggles and emotional struggles.
Yes, his whole college admissions packet was very curated. I wasn't surprised about that.
What I WAS surprised about was how the school had engineered a lot of their extracurriculars to be well over-the-top and more impressive-sounding than what most public schools offer. Like, a service organization was probably the same amount of hours, but it was much higher-profile and kind of exotic. It would make an impression.
He aimed really high and got into a couple of T20s. The reason I mentioned that he had had some struggles is that I think my struggling public school kid wouldn't get in anywhere near where he did!
It's all about context. To whom much is given, much is expected. Kids who go to private schools are EXPECTED to have more impressive ECs/narrative than those who don't have the same resources.
Anonymous
09/16/2025 11:30
Subject: Re:This is what unhooked umc kids are against
I"m sure you're right that kids with tons of resources have tons of opportunities, but I think about my unhooked, public school kid who just graduated from HYP and may of her friends I met along the way, and many of the kids from our good (but not famous) public school and think - well there's still spots out there for some regular kids, they are hard to get but not impossible.
Anonymous
09/16/2025 11:30
Subject: This is what unhooked umc kids are against
How’s this for a suggestion: who gives a shit. So your kid doesn’t go to an Ivy. What the ef ever. It’s not the end of the world.
Anonymous
09/16/2025 11:29
Subject: Re:This is what unhooked umc kids are against
Anonymous wrote:Without giving up too many details ...
I have a friend whose kid went to a fancy NJ private. The kid has learning struggles and emotional struggles.
Yes, his whole college admissions packet was very curated. I wasn't surprised about that.
What I WAS surprised about was how the school had engineered a lot of their extracurriculars to be well over-the-top and more impressive-sounding than what most public schools offer. Like, a service organization was probably the same amount of hours, but it was much higher-profile and kind of exotic. It would make an impression.
He aimed really high and got into a couple of T20s. The reason I mentioned that he had had some struggles is that I think my struggling public school kid wouldn't get in anywhere near where he did!
this is most top-tier private schools in my experience.
Anonymous
09/16/2025 11:27
Subject: This is what unhooked umc kids are against
My sister went to semester away program in HS and then onto community college.
Anonymous
09/16/2025 11:26
Subject: Re:This is what unhooked umc kids are against
Without giving up too many details ...
I have a friend whose kid went to a fancy NJ private. The kid has learning struggles and emotional struggles.
Yes, his whole college admissions packet was very curated. I wasn't surprised about that.
What I WAS surprised about was how the school had engineered a lot of their extracurriculars to be well over-the-top and more impressive-sounding than what most public schools offer. Like, a service organization was probably the same amount of hours, but it was much higher-profile and kind of exotic. It would make an impression.
He aimed really high and got into a couple of T20s. The reason I mentioned that he had had some struggles is that I think my struggling public school kid wouldn't get in anywhere near where he did!
I have a friend whose kid went to a fancy NJ private. The kid has learning struggles and emotional struggles.
Yes, his whole college admissions packet was very curated. I wasn't surprised about that.
What I WAS surprised about was how the school had engineered a lot of their extracurriculars to be well over-the-top and more impressive-sounding than what most public schools offer. Like, a service organization was probably the same amount of hours, but it was much higher-profile and kind of exotic. It would make an impression.
He aimed really high and got into a couple of T20s. The reason I mentioned that he had had some struggles is that I think my struggling public school kid wouldn't get in anywhere near where he did!
Anonymous
09/16/2025 11:17
Subject: This is what unhooked umc kids are against
I know two kids who did semester away programs in HS. Two of the nicest, most down to earth kids I know.
Kid 1 had very accomplished parents - at least one had top tier degrees. Older sibling went to a good, not great school. This kid was incredibly nice and outgoing but not the sharpest. Ended up at a fine school but nothing special.
Kid 2 was very bright at a good but not TT private. Ended up at a TT university without any spikes, though the semester away fed well into the narrative.
I think a lot of these programs are similar to the various expensive summer programs kids do. AOs have gotten better at reading between the lines and knowing whether they are legit vs. just throwing money at college admissions.
Kid 1 had very accomplished parents - at least one had top tier degrees. Older sibling went to a good, not great school. This kid was incredibly nice and outgoing but not the sharpest. Ended up at a fine school but nothing special.
Kid 2 was very bright at a good but not TT private. Ended up at a TT university without any spikes, though the semester away fed well into the narrative.
I think a lot of these programs are similar to the various expensive summer programs kids do. AOs have gotten better at reading between the lines and knowing whether they are legit vs. just throwing money at college admissions.
Anonymous
09/16/2025 11:10
Subject: This is what unhooked umc kids are against
Anonymous wrote:Our private school participates in the "semester away" programs with places like the Mountain School (also another one in South Africa). The kids apply, pretty much always get in, and our HS pays the tuition out of what they have already collected from the family. But I don't think it gives the students an edge - and from our school, it is never the absolute wealthiest kids who do this, just the garden variety rich kids. As for the point of the post, the extremely price college consultants, many families from our school use them and, while the parents try to keep it on the DL, the kids all talk about it. The companies they use are $100k per year and most often start in 9th grade.
Similar experiences at our non-DMV private.
Not sure if it gives a true edge, Mountain School and Island School are common, but the first is more competitive to get into, so top-caliber kids generally go (usually non-STEM). Those kids generally always get into T10.
Agree that the top-tier college counseling parents hire is 4 years and around $500k - full service for all 4 years, including 3 years of summer planning, all essays for all interim writing or other competitions during the 4 years, the kid has a "mentor" on speed dial who checks in weekly with advice and takes notes on which classes the kid likes/why, etc. By junior year winter break, the narrative is done (mix of authentic with curated).
Anonymous
09/16/2025 11:10
Subject: This is what unhooked umc kids are against
Anonymous wrote:I've had two kids at a very top all-boys private school in nyc and I see some of this. But parents were fixated on getting the kid into the right k-12 or k-8/9 and then the right HS. There were counselors for that. Once that was locked it, it was mostly about fostering the right peer group, not building a resume. They would get the guys out for a weekend at our place out east". My kids aren't the rich ones (we get FA), But these parents encourage their kids mixing with the kids they approve of. And that's a mix of wealth and/or bright in some way (math winners or debate champs or student government heads). Drinking is fine, drugs are not. The billionaire son whose spending too many weekends doing club drugs is greeted with a hug and may be invited to the box at the Yankees game, but won't be asked on the trip to the Bermuda house.
For college - if their double legacy, sure. They may work hard for that. But these families are also doing REA to Notre Dame or okay if the kid wants USC or perfectly happy with Middlebury.
TLDR, I'm fascinated more with the social engineering and protecting the downside in HS than the college stuff, which doesnt seem off the charts.
You have lost perspective. To most of the world, it’s off the charts.
Anonymous
09/16/2025 11:06
Subject: This is what unhooked umc kids are against
I've had two kids at a very top all-boys private school in nyc and I see some of this. But parents were fixated on getting the kid into the right k-12 or k-8/9 and then the right HS. There were counselors for that. Once that was locked it, it was mostly about fostering the right peer group, not building a resume. They would get the guys out for a weekend at our place out east". My kids aren't the rich ones (we get FA), But these parents encourage their kids mixing with the kids they approve of. And that's a mix of wealth and/or bright in some way (math winners or debate champs or student government heads). Drinking is fine, drugs are not. The billionaire son whose spending too many weekends doing club drugs is greeted with a hug and may be invited to the box at the Yankees game, but won't be asked on the trip to the Bermuda house.
For college - if their double legacy, sure. They may work hard for that. But these families are also doing REA to Notre Dame or okay if the kid wants USC or perfectly happy with Middlebury.
TLDR, I'm fascinated more with the social engineering and protecting the downside in HS than the college stuff, which doesnt seem off the charts.
For college - if their double legacy, sure. They may work hard for that. But these families are also doing REA to Notre Dame or okay if the kid wants USC or perfectly happy with Middlebury.
TLDR, I'm fascinated more with the social engineering and protecting the downside in HS than the college stuff, which doesnt seem off the charts.
Anonymous
09/16/2025 11:06
Subject: This is what unhooked umc kids are against
Our private school participates in the "semester away" programs with places like the Mountain School (also another one in South Africa). The kids apply, pretty much always get in, and our HS pays the tuition out of what they have already collected from the family. But I don't think it gives the students an edge - and from our school, it is never the absolute wealthiest kids who do this, just the garden variety rich kids. As for the point of the post, the extremely price college consultants, many families from our school use them and, while the parents try to keep it on the DL, the kids all talk about it. The companies they use are $100k per year and most often start in 9th grade.