<p>My friend’s son was a legacy with very high grades and stats and still got turned down by Princeton. (Took a gap year and got in the second time.)</p>
<p>A friend of my sister’s is a third-generation Stanford alum whose family (including him) has endowed several academic chairs (current price range ~$5 million). So definitely a developmental situation. The friend’s son was a B- student at a good California private school. When the kid was a junior, the friend and his wife had a quiet meeting with their development officer and a high-ranking admissions person at Stanford. They were told, “Don’t put yourself in a position of embarrassing yourselves, embarrassing your son, and embarrassing us by having him apply. He’s not qualified and he won’t be admitted. We care deeply about our relationship with your family, but long-term that’s not how the relationship should be maintained.”</p>
<p>ouch. painful but honest - as it should be.</p>
<p>Marian:
</p>
<p>Developmental admit are not admit for their academics but their parent donations and colleges don’t care whether these kids graduate or drop out after matriculating.</p>
<p>
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<p>And in fact, as it actually is. The world is filled with the sons and daughters of celebrities and moguls who did not attend their first choice in schools.</p>
<p>JHS knows more about this than Daniel Golden.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>True…wasn’t the Governator’s D waitlisted at BC? You’d think BC would have been thinking…hmmmm multimillionaire and a Kennedy to boot! But, it is what it is…</p>
<p>*Some kids get what are known as likely letters. *</p>
<p>So, who get these? How do the ivies decide which high stats kids get these “likely letters”? </p>
<p>*They were told, “Don’t put yourself in a position of embarrassing yourselves, embarrassing your son, and embarrassing us by having him apply. He’s not qualified and he won’t be admitted. We care deeply about our relationship with your family, but long-term that’s not how the relationship should be maintained.” *</p>
<p>I wonder if these twins’ parents have any idea that their Ds are saying this. Or, worse, they might be the ones who’ve misled their children. They will be the ones who will be embarrassed, etc. </p>
<p>However, if they’ve been bragging about this for awhile, don’t be surprised if they lie and claim to be admitted or claim that they (the twins) decided to go elsewhere.</p>
<p>My boss is an alum at a tippy-top LAC. His kid has very high test scores, is very bright and is an all-around nice boy. He’s looking at other tippy-top LACS, including his dad’s, and I will be interested to see how it plays out since this lovely boy just doesn’t do homework and so his grades are fairly poor. Dad is confident in Amherst, Williams or his own alma mater.</p>
<p>I suppose if your last name is, say, Rothschild or Gates or Kennedy or Obama you could be optymistic about a Princeton admission. Otherwise…</p>
<p>
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<p>There’s no exact metric for determining who gets academic likely letters. So, for instance, depending on the institution’s goals and needs, at one school math/science stars may have an edge, and at another, humanities kids may be at an advantage. You do have to be truly distinctive, and many, but not all, likely letter recipients are truly distinctive members of underrepresented groups, e.g., talented URMs or talented women applying to engineering programs. </p>
<p>The most important thing about likely letters is this: The vast majority of students who are ultimately accepted do not get them. Really.</p>
<p><i>So, who get these? How do the ivies decide which high stats kids get these “likely letters”? </i></p>
<p>One of my kids-- an athlete but not recruited for athletics-- did not apply to any ivies but got two likely letters and an early acceptance from top LACs. She was a URM from a good public school, with a strong course load, decent stats (not great test scores but in the range for all students) and very solid extracurriculars. What seemed to impress most schools were her extracurriculars. She had at least two top LACs (one that sent her the early letter and another one that I think is top 10) call her guidance counselor to verify her extracurriculars. I think the point of the letters was to get her thinking about their school early. It worked.</p>
<p>katliamom,</p>
<p>One of my kids went through school with a Kennedy. He did go to a top ivy but, honestly, he was qualified: hardest courseload, smart kid, good grades. He graduated near the top of the high school class. Oh, and he applied ED.</p>
<p>Are they famous actors? Or famous musicians? Are their uncles, GP’s and parents? Have they built Princeton a new building of have endowments named after them? I know this sounds cynical but…
I doubt these kids will get in. But PLEASE do update us if they do.</p>
<p>katliamom: “Bush” is another name that will get you admitted to the Ivies with no apparent qualifications. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>There sometimes is some incredible lack of knowledge out there amongst proud parents and grandparents. They may think darling boys are a shoo-in because great-great-great grandpa was first butler to a Princeton president. I winced when a good friend declared her daughter was attending an “Ivy league” college – the kid is at a well regarded East Coast LAC but it is not an Ivy. . . </p>
<p>The kind thing to do is supply information while sounding impressed. “Wow, how wonderful for the boys! I understand that Princeton turns away XXXXX valedictorians every year and accepts only X% of applicants. It is such a tough school!” A few rounds of that and maybe they will start smelling the coffee. I would do such a thing simply to save the young teens from embarrassment.</p>
<p>These girls’ parents may have no idea how hard it is to get into ivies these days. Back in the 70s, it just wasn’t this difficult to get in. </p>
<p>But, do keep us posted. </p>
<p>I wonder if these girls bothered to apply to any other schools?</p>
<p>Maybe I missed this, but are they seniors? or will we have to wait until next year to find out if they got in! (the suspense is killing me!)</p>
<p>I think they’re seniors; I think they’re classmates of the OP’s child.</p>
<p>It is indeed possible if the dad/grandfather/uncle have been extremely loyal and generous donors and significant dollars are at stake</p>
<p>One of my son’s friends got into Princeton with subpar stats (but not C’s - a good student but not typical Princeton stats); he was legacy and a development admit. He did not find out he was in until the decisions were released at the end of March.</p>
<p>It would be interesting to know how the academically less qualified students who are admitted to Ivies or top LAC’s manage the academic demands once they are admitted to top schools.</p>