The title of this thread is, “Ivies vs Top 20 schools.”

What’s does UVA have to do with it? It’s not even a top 25 school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was a kid I thought college choice was incredibly important but as an adult I realize it really wasn't. What you do when you get there matters more. At my job we have someone who went to Yale and someone who went to Florida State. Same job.

It's cool that your job doesn't require basic understanding of statistics.

They don't seem to require critical thinking either.

I haven’t read all the books about Ivy admissions but I recall going an Ivy years ago when the admissions directors were first starting to talk about wanting kids with a “passion,” as opposed to just well-rounded kids from St. Grottlesex or the likes of Whitman.

At the time it struck me as an effort on their part to just make the process more opaque, since they were trying to open up their schools to more students and fend off alumni angry that their perfectly acceptable kids weren’t guaranteed admission. The intentions may have been good, but of course it’s fed the mystique about “what it takes” to get into an Ivy and led to its own abuses, such as a cottage industry of college consultants in the like.

Personally I was happy to have gone to an Ivy during a period when the school was opening up to a more diverse set of students (more kids from public schools and more minorities), but still wasn’t expecting applicants to put on a complete dog-and-pony show. It was a nice four years, and I’m sure that having an Ivy degree (actually, two) has helped me professionally, but the schools don’t define me, nor was I especially interested in having my own kids attend them.

Anonymous wrote:When I was a kid I thought college choice was incredibly important but as an adult I realize it really wasn't. What you do when you get there matters more. At my job we have someone who went to Yale and someone who went to Florida State. Same job.

It's cool that your job doesn't require basic understanding of statistics.

Anonymous wrote:I know of one business that helps (for money) mentor kids formulate their passion project - like starting a nonprofit- to help with Ivy admissions. Once you have kids paying for this, it’s the beginning of the end, if it wasn’t already. It’s clearly almost always been the parents and largely only available to the privileged. I hope this stops being a thing. It’s ridiculous.

I know exactly what you’re referring to in your post. Somehow these “passion projects” end up featured in the local paper. It’s almost as if they have a marketing department, lol.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had no idea there were college admissions podcasts. I have a rising second year college student and a rising 12th grader. My kids don’t stand a chance with the level of parental involvement in the process that happens around here.

OP here - they absolutely will! There are so many colleges out there where kids can thrive And honestly, after listening to them, I wouldn't really recommend it. Inside the Admissions Office was interesting but some things they said really turned me off. For example, for one of the episodes they had a woman on who does interviews for Harvard. She was going on and on about how students interviewing should do their upmost to make the interviewer happy and comfortable because the point of the interviews is to keep alums involved at the school... okay. I get that interviewees should act appropriately but why is it my kid's job to make the interviewer feel good about the interview just so they keep giving money to a school that's probably going to reject my kid anyway? She also said how turned off she was by a kid who quoted his hockey coach a few times because "not everyone is into sports." Way to give a kid a chance.

I cringe whenever a poster writes "well, I interview for my Ivy and . . . "

They're doing it because they define themselves by the college they attended. It's the equivalent of peaking in high school and never getting over it. And even they understand completely that their interview will have little or no impact on the admissions decision. It's all about them and their egos, not the appliucant.

Pathetic.

Not an Ivy but I do interviews for my college and I do it because I love my school. I don’t have any illusions that I’m a meaningful part of the process, I just want to help kids learn about the place. Take a step back and try not to be so judgmental. Do you react to everything in your life so negatively? Yeesh.

As one annoying poster would respond, with the cliche of the century: you do you. I guess.

But I think it's kinda weird that adults define themselves by the college they attended, not recognizing the reality that colleges are largely interchangeable and "loving" the one that you ended up attending doesn't make the school unique. You probably would have "loved" another one too.

This could be the most DCUM response ever. Negative. Nonsensical. Poorly argued. I don’t define myself by my college. I just like it. I also have a picture of Kraków in my house, because I visited and loved it. And whenever someone wants to know about my experience there I share it, enthusiastically. I guess I shouldn’t do that because I didn’t go to Warsaw and maybe that’s better. Jeez, maybe I only “love” my wife because I didn’t meet someone else.

Sounds like you didn’t go to college or had a lousy experience, so you come here and try to crap on other people. Or maybe you have an annoying, braggy, competitive friend who throws junior’s achievements in your face. I know a few of those myself. So it’s easier to hit the anonymous board instead of dealing with the annoying friend.

Anonymous wrote:When I was a kid I thought college choice was incredibly important but as an adult I realize it really wasn't. What you do when you get there matters more. At my job we have someone who went to Yale and someone who went to Florida State. Same job.

This has been debated a million times. Most people are a portfolio, including school. In certain circles, an Ivy degree is an entrance card. Others? It helps but other schools have success

Anonymous wrote:sophisticated troll fail re UVA

Nope, just a mom

Anonymous wrote:The thread is a therapy session.

NP...what are you talking about? I think this is an interesting topic.

sophisticated troll fail re UVA

I listened to Dean J's instagram videos last fall because my kids were interested in UVA. She also led our admissions information session in person in January 2020. She is SUPER nice, but also you need to know that she makes it seem much easier to get into UVA than it is. They still want all those insane things, and the tippy top GPA and scores. I remember walking away from those sessions saying, wow sounds like anyone can get in. And then admissions came and people were of course denied right and left. My kids happened to get in, because they have GPAs and class ranks in the area that UVA wants them, along with average to above average ECs and acceptable test scores, but a whole bunch of awesome kids were declined of course. My point is take what she says with a grain of salt (much as I love her).

I know of one business that helps (for money) mentor kids formulate their passion project - like starting a nonprofit- to help with Ivy admissions. Once you have kids paying for this, it’s the beginning of the end, if it wasn’t already. It’s clearly almost always been the parents and largely only available to the privileged. I hope this stops being a thing. It’s ridiculous.

The thread is a therapy session.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thread only provides further evidence of how Ivy-obsessed many of you are, even when it manifests itself as resentment or envy. If you don’t think the Ivies are all that, pay less attention to them. State universities have a different mission.

Just wanted to share something interesting and start a conversation I would be thrilled if my kids got into an Ivy, obviously, but I also think it's okay to talk about expectations and pressure. You're free to think differently.

You're contradicting yourself. You started this thread by bashing how the Ivies select their applicants and casting aspersions on the schools. Now you're saying you'd be "thrilled" if your kids got into one. Which is it, OP?

Why are you picking on OP? She didn’t cast aspersions on Ivies. She just talked about how the podcasts made clear you have to be a HS superstar to get in, which puts a massive amount of pressure on HS kids aiming for them. I think most people are aware that it is much easier to succeed at a school like Harvard or Brown than it is to get in. There is less pressure once you are a student there than there would be at many lower-ranked schools due to the grade inflation, and of course Ivies are nice for resume purposes. It’s not a dream I would chase, but most kids at a Ivies I know have enjoyed their experience.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thread only provides further evidence of how Ivy-obsessed many of you are, even when it manifests itself as resentment or envy. If you don’t think the Ivies are all that, pay less attention to them. State universities have a different mission.

Just wanted to share something interesting and start a conversation I would be thrilled if my kids got into an Ivy, obviously, but I also think it's okay to talk about expectations and pressure. You're free to think differently.

You're contradicting yourself. You started this thread by bashing how the Ivies select their applicants and casting aspersions on the schools. Now you're saying you'd be "thrilled" if your kids got into one. Which is it, OP?

Are you... kidding? I'm just saying how they obviously are looking for insane superstar students and I thought it was interesting how other, also very selective schools, recognize more that kids are kids and aren't so rigid. If my kid got somehow got into Harvard, I wouldn't complain. No one is casting any aspersions.