I heard it helped get kids off of waitlists this year. For example, Georgetown calls Andover and says, “who will commit today and doesn’t need to see a financial aid package?” And Andover tells them.

There was a lot of waitlist movement this year. That doesn’t necessarily mean it will happen next year, though.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PEA, Andover, St Grottlesex, and others at that tier do place more students per year into Ivys and T20s, but it is very unclear to me how much it is due to the school and how much it is due to parents who are alums from the college the student is applying to.

But more often than not these days, these kids are going to schools where the parents did not go. Still very good schools but maybe not Ivy (or at least not Yale).

How do you explain that? Does anyone have links to all of these boarding school Instagram sites?

Donor and athletics. Boarding schools recruit in the same way colleges do. You also have athletes doing 13th grade in boarding school to become better recruits

My third child is about to apply to a few boarding schools. He really wants an involved peer community and rich social life. Less time on phones/video games He also wants less time commuting, as he thrives academically and athletically after good sleep. Our house has become too quiet now that the older ones are at college and beyond. There are a few other personal reasons as well.

We have explained in clear terms that the larger the school, the more difficult his college path will be. He will be competing against his school peers, many of whom will be donor class or recruited athletes. He might be recruit material. Too soon to know, and we are very aware of the slim odds. Lots of support and motivation from us, but no sugarcoating.

He has two small (sub 400) schools on his list. Two medium (400-800) and one large (800+). All have rich programming for his interests.

He understands that he would probably fare best, statistically, from his current day school. He has seen two siblings navigate the process. Yet, he has made plain that he is aware of the drawbacks of applying to college from a competitive bs, and wants to attend nonetheless for the reasons listed above. He has shown maturity in his assessment and decision making.

We want him to get the best education possible in high school and beyond. We don’t believe bs will be hook. But we do think it will be the start of a challenging and rewarding young adulthood. We have agreed he can apply and attend, if the financial aid piece (partial need) makes sense.

I will note that his first choice is a medium school. Close second is a small one. I might send a tiny prayer to the universe that he is accepted at both but offered better aid at the smaller school. That would be a fine reason to choose the school that also improves his odds for college. It’s a factor, just not the primary one.

Anonymous wrote:PEA, Andover, St Grottlesex, and others at that tier do place more students per year into Ivys and T20s, but it is very unclear to me how much it is due to the school and how much it is due to parents who are alums from the college the student is applying to.

But more often than not these days, these kids are going to schools where the parents did not go. Still very good schools but maybe not Ivy (or at least not Yale).

How do you explain that? Does anyone have links to all of these boarding school Instagram sites?

Anonymous wrote:lol so boarding school IS a hook?

Yes. This whole thread is weird.

Unrelatedly, has anyone heard that AOs look at the colleges where the parents went?

Is that ever relevant at all?

PEA, Andover, St Grottlesex, and others at that tier do place more students per year into Ivys and T20s, but it is very unclear to me how much it is due to the school and how much it is due to parents who are alums from the college the student is applying to.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes of course, it signals full pay.

Why would it need to "signal" anything?

Need aware schools get all the finance info and the small number of need blind/meet full need schools don't consider.

Yes but full pay is more complicated than that. They are looking for other signals.
Schools are looking for potential donors/ speakers/ networkers or ppl who will employ graduates. We are seeing how hard it is for grads to get jobs…

Our college counselor said it was important for both parents to have updated LinkedIn with clear senior leadership/executive titles conveyed in job titles in common app.

The signaling is very important for AO (many of who do look at LinkedIn after 1st pass). The $$$ privilege may not hurt at all at certain private colleges and can actually help.

Please name which schools look at these factors. Or is this the rumor mill?

It’s pretty easy to figure out if you parse through data….

Vanderbilt; Rice; Cornell; Dartmouth; WashU

Look at the % of admitted students in the top 1% of HHI (or better top 0.5% of HHI if they break it down that far). Vanderbilt; Dartmouth & WashU make sense.

But isn’t this thread about advantages for boarding school students? Some boarding schools are feeders. Not shocking news.

Again you are saying "look at these numbers" without any direct evidence or even a logic chain.

At best this is a "post hoc ergo propter hoc" fallacy.

There is no evidence need blind schools make admissions decisions based on economics.

Then why are they paying tens of millions to avoid discovery in the 568 case?

No idea. More conjecture. Worse, actually.

lol so boarding school IS a hook?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes of course, it signals full pay.

Why would it need to "signal" anything?

Need aware schools get all the finance info and the small number of need blind/meet full need schools don't consider.

Yes but full pay is more complicated than that. They are looking for other signals.
Schools are looking for potential donors/ speakers/ networkers or ppl who will employ graduates. We are seeing how hard it is for grads to get jobs…

Our college counselor said it was important for both parents to have updated LinkedIn with clear senior leadership/executive titles conveyed in job titles in common app.

The signaling is very important for AO (many of who do look at LinkedIn after 1st pass). The $$$ privilege may not hurt at all at certain private colleges and can actually help.

Please name which schools look at these factors. Or is this the rumor mill?

It’s pretty easy to figure out if you parse through data….

Vanderbilt; Rice; Cornell; Dartmouth; WashU

Look at the % of admitted students in the top 1% of HHI (or better top 0.5% of HHI if they break it down that far). Vanderbilt; Dartmouth & WashU make sense.

But isn’t this thread about advantages for boarding school students? Some boarding schools are feeders. Not shocking news.

Again you are saying "look at these numbers" without any direct evidence or even a logic chain.

At best this is a "post hoc ergo propter hoc" fallacy.

There is no evidence need blind schools make admissions decisions based on economics.

Then why are they paying tens of millions to avoid discovery in the 568 case?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes of course, it signals full pay.

Why would it need to "signal" anything?

Need aware schools get all the finance info and the small number of need blind/meet full need schools don't consider.

Yes but full pay is more complicated than that. They are looking for other signals.
Schools are looking for potential donors/ speakers/ networkers or ppl who will employ graduates. We are seeing how hard it is for grads to get jobs…

Our college counselor said it was important for both parents to have updated LinkedIn with clear senior leadership/executive titles conveyed in job titles in common app.

The signaling is very important for AO (many of who do look at LinkedIn after 1st pass). The $$$ privilege may not hurt at all at certain private colleges and can actually help.

Please name which schools look at these factors. Or is this the rumor mill?

It’s pretty easy to figure out if you parse through data….

Vanderbilt; Rice; Cornell; Dartmouth; WashU

Stop with he “figure it out”. Provide evidence. You can’t, it’s BS.

Why are you so agitated?

I am not agitated. You are posting misinformation and I am trying to point that out and counter it so that people don't make bad decisions.

No one is making a decision based on this thread. This is not misinformation - it’s my information. Maybe not relevant or applicable to you?

No, it is MISinformation, because it is just not true, and you should stop posting that claim until you have evidence. If no one makes decisions based on this thread anyway, why would you even bother to post the misinformation?

This has been my experience bc we have a high HHI, and wealth markers /signals that I wanted to make sure wouldn’t be disadvantageous in the process. I’ve talked with 4 former AOs at T20s and 3 other private counselors. I’m not in the DMV btw.

Do your own diligence always.
Just sharing what I’ve learned - as it applies to my kid’s app and our situation. Our strategy worked but again who really ever knows why.

But you haven't "learned" anything. You've been told something, and based on your representation of it here, it is false.

Going through this process again now and I’m realizing how clueless I was the first time around.

If you did not think that need blind schools were not need blind before, you were better informed your first time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes of course, it signals full pay.

Why would it need to "signal" anything?

Need aware schools get all the finance info and the small number of need blind/meet full need schools don't consider.

Yes but full pay is more complicated than that. They are looking for other signals.
Schools are looking for potential donors/ speakers/ networkers or ppl who will employ graduates. We are seeing how hard it is for grads to get jobs…

Our college counselor said it was important for both parents to have updated LinkedIn with clear senior leadership/executive titles conveyed in job titles in common app.

The signaling is very important for AO (many of who do look at LinkedIn after 1st pass). The $$$ privilege may not hurt at all at certain private colleges and can actually help.

Please name which schools look at these factors. Or is this the rumor mill?

It’s pretty easy to figure out if you parse through data….

Vanderbilt; Rice; Cornell; Dartmouth; WashU

Look at the % of admitted students in the top 1% of HHI (or better top 0.5% of HHI if they break it down that far). Vanderbilt; Dartmouth & WashU make sense.

But isn’t this thread about advantages for boarding school students? Some boarding schools are feeders. Not shocking news.

No surprise.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes of course, it signals full pay.

Why would it need to "signal" anything?

Need aware schools get all the finance info and the small number of need blind/meet full need schools don't consider.

Yes but full pay is more complicated than that. They are looking for other signals.
Schools are looking for potential donors/ speakers/ networkers or ppl who will employ graduates. We are seeing how hard it is for grads to get jobs…

Our college counselor said it was important for both parents to have updated LinkedIn with clear senior leadership/executive titles conveyed in job titles in common app.

The signaling is very important for AO (many of who do look at LinkedIn after 1st pass). The $$$ privilege may not hurt at all at certain private colleges and can actually help.

Please name which schools look at these factors. Or is this the rumor mill?

It’s pretty easy to figure out if you parse through data….

Vanderbilt; Rice; Cornell; Dartmouth; WashU

Look at the % of admitted students in the top 1% of HHI (or better top 0.5% of HHI if they break it down that far). Vanderbilt; Dartmouth & WashU make sense.

But isn’t this thread about advantages for boarding school students? Some boarding schools are feeders. Not shocking news.

Again you are saying "look at these numbers" without any direct evidence or even a logic chain.

At best this is a "post hoc ergo propter hoc" fallacy.

There is no evidence need blind schools make admissions decisions based on economics.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes of course, it signals full pay.

Why would it need to "signal" anything?

Need aware schools get all the finance info and the small number of need blind/meet full need schools don't consider.

Yes but full pay is more complicated than that. They are looking for other signals.
Schools are looking for potential donors/ speakers/ networkers or ppl who will employ graduates. We are seeing how hard it is for grads to get jobs…

Who is "they"?

This is all conspiracy theory with no evidence and you do a disservice by posting it.

Our college counselor said it was important for both parents to have updated LinkedIn with clear senior leadership/executive titles conveyed in job titles in common app.

Your private college counselor or the one at your HS?

The signaling is very important for AO (many of who do look at LinkedIn after 1st pass). The $$$ privilege may not hurt at all at certain private colleges and can actually help.

Again, please present some links to support this claim at a need blind college. I do not recall of one instance of a former adcom book or blog that supports that claim.

Get off this site and talk to former AO and private college consultants.

At some selective T20 private colleges, yes $$$ helps a lot and there are lots of ways to signal $$$.

Everything is not a conspiracy; but if you are in this process now, talk to professionals IRL and not just on here.

Ask these kinds of detailed questions (if it’s part of your kid’s candidacy).

We did and learned a lot - primarily bc coming from private HS, kid engaged in a privileged sport, lots of indicators of wealth that we were worried about. Positioning & signaling are real strategies.

Here’s one small example: in parent profession - let’s say you are the CEO and founder (or other senior officer) of a company thats not a household name that’s been bought by a top tier private equity firm (let’s say Blackstone or KKR to make it easy). When you list your company’s name in the common app after your title, you also say “a KKR portfolio company”….

There’s many more opps in an application to do this type of signaling.

Other examples: ECs and how you list them. At certain schools ECs that indicate wealth are not a turnoff and may be advantageous depending on your profile. At other schools they may be, so you’d have to consider tone, revise EC order, etc.

Each part of application can be reviewed for positioning.

I must repeat: Please present some evidence to support this claim at a need blind college.

I know plenty about this process and despite your demand I “get off this site” (wtf dude) I know you can not provide any hard evidence for it.

**SOME** Private college consultants will tell you anything to make you think they know secrets. They don’t, because there are no secrets.

Need blind colleges are need blind for admission. End period. Please do not misinform people who might make bad choices in applying on the hope it will help their DC’s admission.

Not PP, but the allegations and rush to settle the 568 class action has shown clear donor preferences at need blind schools

What type of preferences?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes of course, it signals full pay.

Why would it need to "signal" anything?

Need aware schools get all the finance info and the small number of need blind/meet full need schools don't consider.

Yes but full pay is more complicated than that. They are looking for other signals.
Schools are looking for potential donors/ speakers/ networkers or ppl who will employ graduates. We are seeing how hard it is for grads to get jobs…

Our college counselor said it was important for both parents to have updated LinkedIn with clear senior leadership/executive titles conveyed in job titles in common app.

The signaling is very important for AO (many of who do look at LinkedIn after 1st pass). The $$$ privilege may not hurt at all at certain private colleges and can actually help.

Please name which schools look at these factors. Or is this the rumor mill?

It’s pretty easy to figure out if you parse through data….

Vanderbilt; Rice; Cornell; Dartmouth; WashU

Stop with he “figure it out”. Provide evidence. You can’t, it’s BS.

Why are you so agitated?

I am not agitated. You are posting misinformation and I am trying to point that out and counter it so that people don't make bad decisions.

No one is making a decision based on this thread. This is not misinformation - it’s my information. Maybe not relevant or applicable to you?

This has been my experience bc we have a high HHI, and wealth markers /signals that I wanted to make sure wouldn’t be disadvantageous in the process. I’ve talked with 4 former AOs at T20s and 3 other private counselors. I’m not in the DMV btw.

Do your own diligence always.
Just sharing what I’ve learned - as it applies to my kid’s app and our situation. Our strategy worked but again who really ever knows why.

Going through this process again now and I’m realizing how clueless I was the first time around.