It’s a stupid discussion anyways, those are private schools so they can pick whoever they want. It’s just sad to see so many kids chasing a mirage.
Or that the colleges realize that top end achievements starting from a disadvantaged position are that much more impressive merit-wise than top end achievements starting from an advantaged position.
@katliamom
Your example of that Indian kid is the only one where it seems that it’s based on pure merit. Still a rare thing, not an annual occurrence.
Oh please. That’s an absurd statement.
You are right. It is and honestly an absurd discussion. I’m not getting my point across. Disadvantaged top performers should get awarded, just let average kids know that rules are diffrent for everyone. Hardship is a hook like legacy, middle class has to work hard, pay higher taxes and pay higher tuition, get higher scores etc etc. At least we figured it out that it’s not about race.
" It’s just sad to see so many kids chasing a mirage. "
I agree!
It is an unfortunate mirage these days for 95% of those applicants, regardless of the color of their skin.
And It is what it is.
Dont you all [ not directed at you Worry] think its time to stop drawing attention to the ONE or TWO kids each year that are accepted at ALL these schools?
Its like the media attention feeding Trump.
If no one notices, it does not take away from what these kids did.
BUT These kind of threads do nothing but help feed “elite envy” in too many naive students and parents.
There have ALWAYS been and ALWAYS will be the WOW kids that , despite incredible obstacles, manage to get recognized and admitted to multiple tippy top colleges. So what? The number of these kids can be counted on one hand. And in the end they can only enroll to one college next Sept.
Life does not end with where you go to college . I’ve never seen the name of the college attended carved on a persons tombstone, have you?
Lets try to help others see the big , long term perspective, shall we?
You are much needed voice of reason.
me?
why, thank you! ;
If shutting up made for better people, then this board would vanish, right?
Not all 8, but here is another student who got into several.
HYPS, Penn, Columbia, and Dartmouth.
Moderators Note link has been removed
Other than ego and prestige-hunting, why would anyone apply to all 8 Ivies? They are very different. How can the same person be a fit for both Dartmouth and Columbia, or Harvard and Cornell, or Brown and Princeton?
Maybe his/her definition of “fit” is prestige-based?
People like to claim they are “SO” different, but truth be told, they are only marginally different, and in ways that matter a great deal to some kids and don’t matter at all to others.
One of my kids had no opinion when it came to rural/urban/suburban. Literally none. There were schools he loved in the middle of big, noisy cities, and schools he loved in the middle of a quiet pasture out in nowheresville. You could take the kid on a tour of an architecturally gorgeous university and he’d be focused on some random lab we passed, or take him on a tour of an ugly, concrete canyon somewhere and he’d find something to love. He wanted academic intensity in a college but didn’t care what it looked like, or how convenient it was to get to and fro.
A kid who has to be in an urban environment is not going to like Dartmouth or Cornell. But my kid is not unusual; there are tens of thousands of kids who don’t care about the setting, all things being equal.
There are bigger differences between U Alabama and let’s say Johns Hopkins or U Chicago… and yet dozens of posters here like to insist that a kid who has the stats for JHU or Chicago where they will be full-pay ought to be heading off to Alabama. There are bigger differences between Rice and UT Dallas- but again, dozens of posters here think that anyone going to Rice is a prestige^&* when they could get significant merit aid at UT Dallas.
The differences between Brown and Columbia or Cornell and Princeton are greatly exaggerated on CC. Not so much in the real world where real kids and real parents actually VISIT these colleges.
Way to move the goalposts. You should have said “wealthy/middle class white or Asian non-immigrant kid” if that’s what you meant.
It seems overcoming great obstacles and excelling despite them is valued by selective colleges. Who knew?
The student isn’t paying higher taxes, tuition. The student is the beneficiary of the parents paying those things for them.
I am sure that one reason kids apply to all the IVYs is that many are known for good FA. So if money is the major factor in determining fit then it could make sense to apply to all of them. For many, cost determines fit.
Ok…
You hadn’t heard of a Caucasian into all 8. I presented evidence that, indeed, a Caucasian had gotten into all 8 and you discount it because it disproves your point.
Ok .
Problem with all these absurd numbers of applications and acceptances is that now there are kids on waitlists who would like to hear from their schools, If schools know who is going to show up, they can clear their waitlists. My kid also applied to too many schools and was rejected from most and was waitlisted to the one she really wants. Another of her friends is on 2 waitlists. So maybe I’m bitter and just want this to be over.
@Hollysmom83 This particular girl applied to 12 schools, including all 8 Ivies, was accepted to all 12, and has visited NONE. She won’t be making a decision anytime soon as she has declared (on a local news show) that she will visit all before making a final decision. So at least 11 spots are being held up until May 1 decision day. This is her prerogative, she’s earned it. Congratulations to her, but it is painful for those waiting.
@OHMomof2 I was an “unhooked” white kid in need of financial aid who applied to 5 Ivies as well as a few other “full need” colleges. I got into 3 Ivies and went to Brown. I’ll be forever grateful to Brown as they met my full need without any loans and were very generous in calculating my financial aid. I went to Brown for far less than it would have cost me to go to my local state university. I know many students in similar situations. The Ivies now make it possible for many low and middle income students to attend. Indeed, they do a better job than most state universities.
Man I really wish I was extremely disadvantaged growing up, so I can edge out those middle class kids for ivy admissions!!! Why is life so unfair!!!111!!!