Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

e) family has extraordinary wealth. (Such that they are capable of 7- or 8-digit donations.) Plus good grades/test scores.

You say this on every thread. It is not the wealth itself that gets the kid accepted, it is the wealth that gives the kid access to things that get them accepted. We know one family who decided their 5th grade DD should set up a charity in Malawi building school huts. So they invested in that and that's what she does every summer. It wasn't her idea, or her cash, but she did it and it will probably impress at least one admissions person.

yes, it's the wealth itself in many cases, look at the ex-prez and some in his fam

no, nobody will be impressed that her parents set up something and she went there every summer, no more than a kid that worked at mcdonald's every summer in high school

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:a)recruited athlete plus good grades/scores
b) URM plus good grades/scoresc
c) legacy plus good grades/scores

OR
d) close to perfect grades/scores and something else remarkable.


If you're not a, b or c you need a stellar academic record plus something else that sets you apart from the crowd. Something that makes you remarkable.

e) family has extraordinary wealth. (Such that they are capable of 7- or 8-digit donations.) Plus good grades/test scores.

You say this on every thread. It is not the wealth itself that gets the kid accepted, it is the wealth that gives the kid access to things that get them accepted. We know one family who decided their 5th grade DD should set up a charity in Malawi building school huts. So they invested in that and that's what she does every summer. It wasn't her idea, or her cash, but she did it and it will probably impress at least one admissions person.

The Kushner family would beg to differ

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go to a really good private high school and excel there.

Even that isn't enough - you still need to fall into one of the four categories mentioned above, and yes, you still need the high stats.

Or go to a Magnet high school and excel there.

https://www.washingtonian.com/2019/10/14/local-washington-dc-high-schools-send-most-kids-top-colleges/

just magnet school will not get you there, you forgot to mention that most kids in these magnet schools that get into ivy are also legacy and/or umc and/or urm and/or prep like hell for scores

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:a)recruited athlete plus good grades/scores
b) URM plus good grades/scoresc
c) legacy plus good grades/scores

OR
d) close to perfect grades/scores and something else remarkable.


If you're not a, b or c you need a stellar academic record plus something else that sets you apart from the crowd. Something that makes you remarkable.

e) family has extraordinary wealth. (Such that they are capable of 7- or 8-digit donations.) Plus good grades/test scores.

You say this on every thread. It is not the wealth itself that gets the kid accepted, it is the wealth that gives the kid access to things that get them accepted. We know one family who decided their 5th grade DD should set up a charity in Malawi building school huts. So they invested in that and that's what she does every summer. It wasn't her idea, or her cash, but she did it and it will probably impress at least one admissions person.

The way people in this forum assume adcoms are naïve and easy to trick is preposterous.

You think you can spot "wealthy access" charities and adcoms can't? When they see tens of thousands of applicants a year? Well guess what - they can, and that is why virtually every advice book written by an ex adcom tells you not to do it.

No one is perfect but the professionals can spot genuine kids and genuine kids and interests. Plus, they also get to see the transcripts and the recommendations (which you do not). Those matter much, much more.

The wealthy have many, many other advantages in admissions: their kids get the best schools, academic assistance, better ACT tutoring, private admissions consulting, private sports coaching and expensive clubs, kids not having to work for spending cash... the list goes on and on. But "buying a charity" is NOT one of them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:a)recruited athlete plus good grades/scores
b) URM plus good grades/scoresc
c) legacy plus good grades/scores

OR
d) close to perfect grades/scores and something else remarkable.


If you're not a, b or c you need a stellar academic record plus something else that sets you apart from the crowd. Something that makes you remarkable.

e) family has extraordinary wealth. (Such that they are capable of 7- or 8-digit donations.) Plus good grades/test scores.

You say this on every thread. It is not the wealth itself that gets the kid accepted, it is the wealth that gives the kid access to things that get them accepted. We know one family who decided their 5th grade DD should set up a charity in Malawi building school huts. So they invested in that and that's what she does every summer. It wasn't her idea, or her cash, but she did it and it will probably impress at least one admissions person.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son got into three. I went to a state school, we’re white, American, he’s not an athlete, we didn’t donate any money.

I have a “white” coworker who claims 5% African American. He and his brother got into top schools including Princeton.

My son is fully white and didn't claim otherwise.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son got into three. I went to a state school, we’re white, American, he’s not an athlete, we didn’t donate any money.

Congrats! So what was it in his case?

Beats me - how the hell do you know WHY they got in? It's not like they say in the acceptance letter "Congratulations, we're pleased to welcome you as part of the class of 2025 due to your being one fourth alien and only having one leg. We have never had a one-legged alien as a student before."

Where are all these URM kids you talk about, because you sure don’t see that many of them when you visit Ivy campuses.

This was exactly our experience. Harvard is 8.7% Black/African American & 11.2% Hispanic. The numbers appear to be similiar at other Ivy schools

Identify as black or Hispanic.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son got into three. I went to a state school, we’re white, American, he’s not an athlete, we didn’t donate any money.

I have a “white” coworker who claims 5% African American. He and his brother got into top schools including Princeton.

Where are all these URM kids you talk about, because you sure don’t see that many of them when you visit Ivy campuses.

Anonymous wrote:My son got into three. I went to a state school, we’re white, American, he’s not an athlete, we didn’t donate any money.

I have a “white” coworker who claims 5% African American. He and his brother got into top schools including Princeton.

Anonymous wrote:My son got into three. I went to a state school, we’re white, American, he’s not an athlete, we didn’t donate any money.

Congrats! So what was it in his case?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m pretty sure merit is a given. The standards are just so high now. Otherwise, what pp’s have said, plus some exceedingly wealthy foreigners.

There's no merit aid at Ivy league colleges. There is only Financial Aid.

So true. My friend's kid got into one, he was valedictorian at a large high school, state ranked athlete, captain of two sports teams, started a charity in 7th grade, the best grades and test scores it's possible to get, fluent in a difficult foreign language. Tons of volunteer time with food banks. Not one dime of scholarship money. His parents will pay the full 300k.

Because they can.

Otherwise it would be a poor choice of college when merit scholarships would have been given most anywhere else with better undergraduate teaching.

Anonymous wrote:Hint: people who talk about "the Ivy's" are not the kind of people who get into the Ivies.

Actually, I don't think this is true. Poll the incoming freshmen class on this.

My kid is a strong student and was able to check the Hispanic box