Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot defend the price, but OP I doubt that you understand what elite top 12 universities are seeking. You certainly did get that from those websites.

Actually, I know what they are looking for. I interview for one (HYP) and have for 25 years. I’ve watched who gets in from the DC region since I started. The high stats kids without the below no longer get in. They want at least one of the following and maybe 2 or more

-world class research as a high school kid. I mean multiple publications, awards etc.
-URM / first in family to go
-kid from part of the world or US where very few apply to that college (dakotas yes, rural Maine yes, Bethesda no)
-legacy where parent donates at least $2m (a mere 250k or annual giving every year is a no)
-recruited athlete. The more niche the sport, the better. Fencing would be A+
-if not URM, and especially if private school kid 1530+ and 4.0++

The counselor charging $750k can’t control most on that list. Their mere existence, of course, co-locates with the $2m mega donor.

This nails it. URM with great stats from a top private school is a golden ticket.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot defend the price, but OP I doubt that you understand what elite top 12 universities are seeking. You certainly did get that from those websites.

Actually, I know what they are looking for. I interview for one (HYP) and have for 25 years. I’ve watched who gets in from the DC region since I started. The high stats kids without the below no longer get in. They want at least one of the following and maybe 2 or more

-world class research as a high school kid. I mean multiple publications, awards etc.
-URM / first in family to go
-kid from part of the world or US where very few apply to that college (dakotas yes, rural Maine yes, Bethesda no)
-legacy where parent donates at least $2m (a mere 250k or annual giving every year is a no)
-recruited athlete. The more niche the sport, the better. Fencing would be A+
-if not URM, and especially if private school kid 1530+ and 4.0++

The counselor charging $750k can’t control most on that list. Their mere existence, of course, co-locates with the $2m mega donor.

Thank you for your service. I would note that there are a lot of public school kids in this area, particularly in the magnets and the W schools, who have scores and grades above 1530 and 4.0. It's the rest of your note that's interesting. It's a reminder that it is so pointless for smart kids to even bother applying to HYP and I'd add Stanford. That's at least $320 in application fees saved right there. Shoot your shot at MIT. At least they play fair and strive to be a school for the best and brightest. But I would imagine that over the next 10-20 years the reputational cost of a HYPS degree will suffer considerably. The truly brilliant kids will go to Cal Tech, Michigan, and Rice. And the rich fencing students will go to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. I don't know about Stanford. Used to be a fun nerd school, but I think they all lay low now for four years and hope they get picked up by a firm on Sand Hill Road. Boring. Regardless, I think HYPS have really rolled the dice with their admissions preferences. But if there are some older people willing to pay 750k for this kind of college advice, something something fool money parted, And how do I get that job.

My consultant only charged $400k

Nuts!

Working the university system, with cash, is a slice of some people's way of life. You think it ends when kids gain admission? It continues. I've seen it. They figure out which classes to take for least effort, what they can buy. And then they likely continue this way into their professional lives. Like running their education as a business.

Anonymous wrote:Hope those are fake names in the article.

I was hoping that, too! Would suck for the kid for everyone to know he needed a $750K consultant to get in and suck for the parents to have their friends know they are suckers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot defend the price, but OP I doubt that you understand what elite top 12 universities are seeking. You certainly did get that from those websites.

Actually, I know what they are looking for. I interview for one (HYP) and have for 25 years. I’ve watched who gets in from the DC region since I started. The high stats kids without the below no longer get in. They want at least one of the following and maybe 2 or more

-world class research as a high school kid. I mean multiple publications, awards etc.
-URM / first in family to go
-kid from part of the world or US where very few apply to that college (dakotas yes, rural Maine yes, Bethesda no)
-legacy where parent donates at least $2m (a mere 250k or annual giving every year is a no)
-recruited athlete. The more niche the sport, the better. Fencing would be A+
-if not URM, and especially if private school kid 1530+ and 4.0++

The counselor charging $750k can’t control most on that list. Their mere existence, of course, co-locates with the $2m mega donor.

You are such full of s*. We don't know the kids' GPA and test scores and we're not allowed to ask. Also, both of mine got in without high donations.

Hang on. I didn’t say I know the test scores and GPAs based on my interviewing of over 75 kids since late 90s. I said that I know what the school is looking for. Check yourself.

And happy yours got in. Was it this year or last year? Game is entirely different even from 2020 or 2019.

Anonymous wrote:This article was odd. It went from talking about private college counseling to talking about financial aid at private colleges (?). It wasn’t clear. I don’t think the families from Ohio or Kentucky were paying $750k for college counseling.

I thought it was weird. Like clearly the Kentucky and Ohio families were concerned about college costs and weren’t paying for this level of college counseling.

This article was odd. It went from talking about private college counseling to talking about financial aid at private colleges (?). It wasn’t clear. I don’t think the families from Ohio or Kentucky were paying $750k for college counseling.

Anonymous wrote:What sickness in wealthy white America is driving this weird credentialism? Feat of losing control?

Pathological need for external validation.

Sounds like a diagnostic screen for psycho/stupid parents (with messed up kids)!!!