Sadly most of these are "charities" are scams.

But having experienced what it took for my unhooked kid to get into Ivy(+), I can see why others would look for an easier way out

Anonymous wrote:There was a girl here who got into Yale. She did not set up her own charity but she did raise $1million for the local children’s hospital. No idea how much of that was her parents’ money but it was legit and verifiable.

We live in bethesda and I see this a lot. Wealthy parents hitting up other wealthy parents and friends and colleagues for donations to the charity that the kid is supporting. Who is going to say no? It’s better than buying wrapping paper or whatever and the wealthy folks or even small businesses take it as a tax write off. It’s mostly just a testament to how many rich people their parents know. I think this is worse than the questionable non profits as it’s just writing a note that your parents pass on to raise money. If she threw an event like a childrens carnival to raise a million dollars, I’d be impressed. But you can’t raise that kind of money that way unless you have Beyoncé headlIning it.

Anonymous wrote:There was a girl here who got into Yale. She did not set up her own charity but she did raise $1million for the local children’s hospital. No idea how much of that was her parents’ money but it was legit and verifiable.

I’ve seen that before, too. Unimpressive for a kid with wealthy, connected parents to break fundraising efforts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This makes me tired. Just be a real person and do ECs that resonate with you. Help others. Or don't. But don't be duplicitous.

Most kids do this but selective colleges don’t reward them for their honesty. Colleges want to think they’re getting the most special snowflakes who really do have the maturity to pull of these impressive resumes. Truth: parents are driving most of it AND making most of it happen. So selective schools are filled with students of bad character and no integrity. Then they graduate with say….a Penn business degree and run major scams while appearing to be the vision of success. ‘Merica.

LOL. Do you really think Stanford is "filled with students of bad character and no integrity?"

Yes. Not all but yes, lots. The cut-throat win -at-all costs mentality is what gets a lot of these kids into competitive schools unless they are hooked in some authentic way. It’s disgusting.

+ 1. The pp thinks Stanford is some sort of refuge for the ethical and honest students.

There was a girl here who got into Yale. She did not set up her own charity but she did raise $1million for the local children’s hospital. No idea how much of that was her parents’ money but it was legit and verifiable.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This makes me tired. Just be a real person and do ECs that resonate with you. Help others. Or don't. But don't be duplicitous.

Most kids do this but selective colleges don’t reward them for their honesty. Colleges want to think they’re getting the most special snowflakes who really do have the maturity to pull of these impressive resumes. Truth: parents are driving most of it AND making most of it happen. So selective schools are filled with students of bad character and no integrity. Then they graduate with say….a Penn business degree and run major scams while appearing to be the vision of success. ‘Merica.

LOL. Do you really think Stanford is "filled with students of bad character and no integrity?"

Yes. Not all but yes, lots. The cut-throat win -at-all costs mentality is what gets a lot of these kids into competitive schools unless they are hooked in some authentic way. It’s disgusting.

Okay but the real question is, "Why do AOs fall for this?" Is there an AO reading this? I would really love to know AOs' perspective on this?

This has been happening for years. Many students are collecting coats or backpacks or school supplies or bikes or athletic equipment to give to the less fortunate. Their parents act as their PR agent, posting on social media and requesting donations from their network, with their child as the contact for questions. They take photos and submit them to the local press and tag them all over social media. The parents acting as their child’s PR agent seems to be the most important factor for the success of the initiative.

In short: It is a very common practice, the parents support this as a hook, and a lot of these “service club” kids do apply ED. And it has been happening for years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This makes me tired. Just be a real person and do ECs that resonate with you. Help others. Or don't. But don't be duplicitous.

Most kids do this but selective colleges don’t reward them for their honesty. Colleges want to think they’re getting the most special snowflakes who really do have the maturity to pull of these impressive resumes. Truth: parents are driving most of it AND making most of it happen. So selective schools are filled with students of bad character and no integrity. Then they graduate with say….a Penn business degree and run major scams while appearing to be the vision of success. ‘Merica.

LOL. Do you really think Stanford is "filled with students of bad character and no integrity?"

Anonymous wrote:This makes me tired. Just be a real person and do ECs that resonate with you. Help others. Or don't. But don't be duplicitous.

Most kids do this but selective colleges don’t reward them for their honesty. Colleges want to think they’re getting the most special snowflakes who really do have the maturity to pull of these impressive resumes. Truth: parents are driving most of it AND making most of it happen. So selective schools are filled with students of bad character and no integrity. Then they graduate with say….a Penn business degree and run major scams while appearing to be the vision of success. ‘Merica.

What's even more gross is when they try to enlist classmates and teachers at their school or other schools to do all the work while they take the credit. "Make donations to my hunger relief effort and you could win a sandwich from Chick-fil-A!" "Sign up to tutor girls in coding for an hour!" "Promote xyz among your students, as I am changing the world!"

Does setting it up as a nonprofit matter?

My kids do a lot of service. They see adults in the family do it, and so they do it too. They do things that I guess I could turn into a nonprofit. Is there value in that?

Maybe I am imagining something different.

Anonymous wrote:“I hate this lying transparent scam why don’t colleges see through this?”

Translation: I am mad that I didn’t get off my ass and set this up for my kid.

Translation: “I’m a sociopath, and when I read in the paper about someone killing a rich person and selling their kidneys for a profit, I’m mad that I didn’t think of it first. Therefor I’m confused that non-sociopaths could look negatively at this transparent and harmful fraud. You can’t really blame me though, because my brain is incapable of empathy or a sense of social responsibility.”

Anonymous wrote:There's a college counselor to the rich who wrote a book (for parents) about two decades ago in which very clearly advocated doing this. Made it very clear that the child should focus their effort on disadvantaged groups (URM, females, refugees, etc.)

Key piece of information, "two decades ago." Times have changed. If many kids do it, it's no longer unique, and AOs can easily see through it.

There's a college counselor to the rich who wrote a book (for parents) about two decades ago in which very clearly advocated doing this. Made it very clear that the child should focus their effort on disadvantaged groups (URM, females, refugees, etc.)