Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Extracurriculars/activities/sports don't matter one bit. Grades and test scores are the only thing most schools really look at.

You've gotta be kidding. The first cut is race and gender. Even very high grades and test scores won't get applicants belonging to certain groups into a selective school.

I think this is an overstatement. I agree there is bias, but I think this overstates it if you are referring to schools that have holistic admissions.

Anonymous wrote:College aren't behind the ridiculous AP expectations, parents are. Colleges admit the best of who applies. Parents are the ones pushing their DDs and DSs to have more APs than the last kid who got in.

Going to a school that limits how many APs you can take in a year is a great thing for stress and wellness.

I agree with what you said about the value of AP limits. (Though high schools get measured by AP participation so it won’t happen any time soon.) But when colleges give weight and actual credit for AP they are part of it. When you can load up on credits in HS and save a semester or two of insanely expensive tuition it’s hard not to try. My first made himself miserable with APs but it did probably get him into the school he really wanted. He didn’t make up the rules, nor did we. He heard ‘most rigor possible at your school’ and the importance of class rank and at his school that meant APs.

College aren't behind the ridiculous AP expectations, parents are. Colleges admit the best of who applies. Parents are the ones pushing their DDs and DSs to have more APs than the last kid who got in.

Going to a school that limits how many APs you can take in a year is a great thing for stress and wellness.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:4 kids and we saved zero for college for each kid. 3 kids received significant merit and need-based aid with loan debt less than 20K each for undergrad. 1 kid received full-tuition to grad school and 4th kid is a hs senior. We anticipate the same for hs senior.

You seem like a responsible parent.

It worked for them.

It's better for a student to go to a school where they fit in and also have less debt, no matter whether it's prestigious or not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The college admissions process is an unequitable, racist and unfair process and we are all complicit in this.

Um, what now? I have no control whatsoever over any part of the process. Therefore I am not complicit in it.

It's not about controlling it - it's about feeding it, coveting it, going along with it. We all feed it.

Most of us don't think SAT scores equate to "best admit". Most of us don't "covet" it. Most of us "don't go along".

Harvard doesn't just want kids with high SAT scores because the right brain is not necessarily more successful than the left brain. Most of us are not upset with the process.

You didn't read what I wrote - I said the ENTIRE college admissions process is unequitable, unfair and racist. We all go along with it and allow the system to exist as is - we are complicit whether you like it or not.

This is my opinion.

Anonymous wrote:Schools don’t have 25% URM, legacy, or athletes.... so who else is in the bottom quartile?

What schools do you think we are talking about?

I would rather our children go to a pretty good state school than an Ivy League school. I think they'll be happier, be around more normal people, and learn just as much.

Anonymous wrote:4 kids and we saved zero for college for each kid. 3 kids received significant merit and need-based aid with loan debt less than 20K each for undergrad. 1 kid received full-tuition to grad school and 4th kid is a hs senior. We anticipate the same for hs senior.

You seem like a responsible parent.

Anonymous wrote:Extracurriculars/activities/sports don't matter one bit. Grades and test scores are the only thing most schools really look at.

You've gotta be kidding. The first cut is race and gender. Even very high grades and test scores won't get applicants belonging to certain groups into a selective school.

4 kids and we saved zero for college for each kid. 3 kids received significant merit and need-based aid with loan debt less than 20K each for undergrad. 1 kid received full-tuition to grad school and 4th kid is a hs senior. We anticipate the same for hs senior.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The college admissions process is an unequitable, racist and unfair process and we are all complicit in this.

Um, what now? I have no control whatsoever over any part of the process. Therefore I am not complicit in it.

It's not about controlling it - it's about feeding it, coveting it, going along with it. We all feed it.

No. Any wrong acts are entirely the responsibility of the people who work in admissions and testing, and nobody else.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The college admissions process is an unequitable, racist and unfair process and we are all complicit in this.

Um, what now? I have no control whatsoever over any part of the process. Therefore I am not complicit in it.

It's not about controlling it - it's about feeding it, coveting it, going along with it. We all feed it.

No. Any wrong acts are entirely the responsibility of the people who work in admissions and testing, and nobody else.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The college admissions process is an unequitable, racist and unfair process and we are all complicit in this.

Um, what now? I have no control whatsoever over any part of the process. Therefore I am not complicit in it.

It's not about controlling it - it's about feeding it, coveting it, going along with it. We all feed it.

Most of us don't think SAT scores equate to "best admit". Most of us don't "covet" it. Most of us "don't go along".

Harvard doesn't just want kids with high SAT scores because the right brain is not necessarily more successful than the left brain. Most of us are not upset with the process.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The college admissions process is an unequitable, racist and unfair process and we are all complicit in this.

Um, what now? I have no control whatsoever over any part of the process. Therefore I am not complicit in it.

It's not about controlling it - it's about feeding it, coveting it, going along with it. We all feed it.

Anonymous wrote:the rest of us wonder why people who are fighting Harvard et al would want to attend a school they thought was racist? They should boycott or start their own school and “show them”.

By which logic, blacks should not have filed suit in Brown v. Board of Education. Rather than sue to attend racist white schools, they should have boycotted them and attended their own "separate but equal" schools. Just to show 'em!