<p>Well, folks, I think you can really over-think this all. We didn't do test prep, no "brag sheets", no summer programs, the "wrong" high school, basically the opposite of packaging. And my kids got into a top LAC and an Ivy. And no Byzantine art iconography at all.</p>
<p>So maybe all the handwringing is not really warranted.</p>
<p>All the doctors in the house did not help her when she was struggling with her weight before college. I do have to say, though, that the publishers thought the advice would come better from a peer, and not an adult.</p>
<p>Is there a book that tells you that eating breakfast is good for you? S probably shed 15 lbs instead of gaining 15.</p>
<p>hey, I ain't even mad at her. Maybe her parents are on to something; help your kid do their own thing so that they can earn enough money to pay their own way through college (works for me)</p>
<p>Would you be willing to post your kids' EC's?
So far my son has: band (good but no special accomplishments); tech crew for school musical; volunteer tech captain for a ms production (last year and this year); will be in honor society (I've read here that counts for nothing); he may try out for a sport, but, frankly may not make the team; and ... oh, that's it!
In other words, good student-type, top 10%, contributes to his school, but a regular kid.
Would his straight A's in the most rigorous courses the school offers and high standardized test scores get him into one of the top twenty schools?
Although some posters here keep saying that is a possibility, I don't believe it for second--not with the lists of EC's I read parents and kids post here!
Am I about to push him to do things he wouldn't think up himself just for a good resume? I wouldn't dream of it--not when after high school he still has 4 years of college and graduate school. Let him enjoy his teenage years a little. Jeepers.</p>
<p>Aren't we all just waiting to learn that the newest diet book author actually plagarized a book written by a nutritionist whose sole misfortune in life was to have only gone to a non-Ivy school.....and then, I know, the girl becomes a peer advisor in spite of it. Or better yet, she goes on to have her own cooking/lifestyle show and then takes her earnings post college and invests them based on some insider knowledge. Then what?</p>
<p>As for the OV in this rampaging dialogue, all good wishes for 4 excellent college years, well earned.</p>
<p>sybbie - Don't think I wasn't thinking the same thing. But darn it, I doubt anyone would buy a book by my teenage son that covered the ins and outs of yellow book audits of certain governmental entities and nonprofit organizations. Just doesn't have the 'buy me' ring to it.</p>
<p>HH:</p>
<p>S1 got admitted into several top 20 colleges with fewer ECs than your S and without taking the most rigorous classes the school had to offer. That was several years ago, however. But if you don't try, you don't get.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I say again, you do NOT have to get on this train to Hell to be accepted to top schools. You do NOT need patentable, publishable work from your own medical mission in Ghana. </p>
<p>Normal, or at least what I view as normal, kids are doing great things in their own neighborhoods without cost or contest. Grandiose? No. Recognized? Not neccessarily. But things that say more about them being doers , changers, thinkers, builders of coalitions, defenders of right than any junked up flash bling-bling resume could ever do. </p>
<p>I posted on another thread this morning this list of things to do to maximize your application to top schools. This was longer of the two versions posted.</p>
<p>1) Believe in yourself.
2) Believe that if they don't want you, you don't need them.</p>
<p>All good things in this process flow from believing #1. All bad things in this process flow from not believing #2.</p>
<p>I was just thinking after I posted the above: "wow, I bet everyone thinks my kid is a real bump-on-the-log," which is sad because of all the great qualities I personally know he possesses. He will be a smart, contributing adult. And we'll do our best to get him the best education we can when the time comes. But right now he's still just a kid (including first romance this summer :)).
Thanks, curmudgeon.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I know there are those who think this is okay....why shouldn't she follow her her parent's footsteps. But I have a problem with the 'nepotistic opportunity' and 'original concept' aspect of it.
[/quote]
Yeah. I understand this, but I also think the word “nepotism” here may be a bit too strong, yes? I mean, it’s not like book deals must be determined by pure democratic processes that lay outside the bounds of rank capitalism. Publishers figure out how much money they can make trading on a book’s quality, its relevance, and, yes, the reputations of people associated with them, and if everything says “sell”, they sell. If this kid was generally weak on any one of these components, there would have been no deal.</p>
<p>Also, maybe we should try to see the thing from the kid’s point-of-view. What is she to do, go into, say, coal mining to get as far away from her dad’s profession as possible, so that no one will claim she got help from him? Of course not. If her interests exist where they apparently exist, she should be free to express them despite the gifts her parents have given her. In truth, we have a kid who did nothing more than what our kids are doing. It is just that her gifts are quite a bit better than what many of us are able to give. I can see this quite clearly because my situation has caused me to struggle for some time toward people like many of you, in the same way you are struggling toward this kid.</p>
<p>I have resolved this quite nicely, and I see it is all quite relative. Some dads are rich and famous, and can provide their kids all sorts of opportunities, opportunities that are so amazing that people like me aren’t even aware of them. On the other hand, some of you, though not famous, are wealthy enough to give your children wonderful private school educations, wonderful pianos and private piano lessons, all of which increases your kids’ mental focus, mental suppleness, cultural and artistic awareness. Nevertheless, people like me can afford nothing like this. Yikes - our hundred year-old piano broke years ago - hahaha. But, you know, I gave the kids voice lessons. I am not a vocalist, never sang a day in my life (except in the shower – very softly)– but I know good stuff and how to make it happen. So I gave the kids this gift. But there are people who can’t give even this. Many parents are just scraping by with hardly anything at all. But they are still giving something, if only their love and care. We all work hard to give our kids increased opportunities. Just because a parent has gifts to give his kid ought not cause people to think something unsavory has taken place should that kid use the gifts – especially if they use them for good.</p>
<p>Thoughts?</p>
<p>According to this, a 1380 SAT score (M & V) would be well above the national average. It was in today's Boston Globe.</p>
<p>In case you can not open the link ^^.</p>
<p>"Nationally, the Class of 2006 scored an average of 503 on the reading section, down five points from the previous year. They earned an average of 518 on the math section, down two points. And they averaged 497 on the writing portion."</p>
<p>Presumably none of us have read the groundbreaking content of the book about nutrition and diet and exercise by the high school student. Suffice it to say, it is very likely a rehash of something- as are most books on the topic. </p>
<p>It is the glorification of this kid as someone special as a result of her good fortune of birth which I suppose nudges this whole thing into the 'ick' category for me. </p>
<p>Both my kids managed to lose 15 pounds freshman year on the same magic diet, they never made it to 7/21 meals I was paying for and they found the 14 they went to tedious. They played ultimate until they could frisbee no more....Can we sell that, after all, one of them is at an Ivy League school and I am a doctor!</p>
<p>If it werent for the fact that my son had always dreamed of going to a flagship public university, Id probably be wringing my hands. I could easily become bitter but I look at the silver lining. I learned an important lesson, and my kids did too, that there are lots of ways to discriminate against people that dont necessarily involve holding them down. My kids were never hurt by their school. No one held them back per se. However, no one helped them either. I knew early on that they would never be nominated to serve on a board, never be selected for a honor council or the like. But the thing is, when or if they apply to the Dukes of the world, theyre going to be compared to kids who have. </p>
<p>Its kind of like the science fair phenomena. My kids used to do their projects themselves. Theyd do good, no GREAT jobs, for 5th or 6th graders. But when the fair came, they werent competing against other 5th or 6th graders; they were competing against parents. No matter how great they did, it wasnt going to be enough.</p>
<p>Like I said, my experience differs from others. One of the reasons I enjoy CC is when I hear stories about people whose kids got the golden ring even though they werent hooked. It gives me a different perspective and lifts my spirits after the last 4 years.</p>
<p>
A couple of questions first about ULTIMATE FRISBEE:THE IVY ATHLETE'S DIET Copyrighted (about ten minutes ago by me).</p>
<p>1) Is either child a really "attractive" female?
2) Are they willing for the cover shot to be in the nude with artfully placed hands?
3) Are y'all ready to man a booth at all the Nascar races next year? </p>
<p>If yes, please contact me by e-mail.</p>
<p>Speaking as their agent...</p>
<ol>
<li>No, but they know several.</li>
<li>Perhaps, one has particularly large hands.</li>
<li>Would prefer gigs at leafy independent bookstores.</li>
</ol>
<p>No can do. But , if as I suspect they are both male, are either willing to bring attractive female dates to the cover photo shoot with signed releases and low inhibitions? We can drape them over the boys if the large hands are not sufficient. I've seen it on the cover of my D's Teen Vogue. Tres chic.</p>
<p>(Which she doesn't have. LOL.)</p>
<p>Stragegically placed frisbees would do the trick.</p>
<p>But first I have to clear this with my clients, oops, children.</p>
<h2>The groundbreaking stuff from an excerpt available to the public at the author's website:</h2>
<p>Five Principles of Healthy Eating</p>
<p>During our freshman year at college, my friends and I devised a list of five secrets or principles for controlling our weight. These little tricks, which become instinctual after you practice them for a while, made us much more aware of what and when we ate—and healthier because of it.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Always Have Breakfast. This ensures that your body won’t go into starvation-preservation mode and also provides your body and brain with energy so you can be on top of your game.</p></li>
<li><p>Drink half your body weight in ounces of water daily, including one glass before every meal. So, if you weigh 140 pounds, try to drink 70 ounces of water each day. It seems like a lot, but drinking a sufficient amount of water keeps your complexion clear and skin glowing, flushes toxins out of your body, aids in good digestion and healthy teeth, and suppresses appetite. Also, drinking a full glass of water right before bed helps prevent bags under your eyes, as this swelling is caused by an abundance of salt in the body; water flushes it out of your system.</p></li>
<li><p>Eat at least every three hours (three meals and two snacks of fruit or veggies). This makes sure that you are fueled throughout the day so your body doesn’t go into starvation-preservation mode. It also ensures that you won’t be ravenous at any point in the day, making it less likely that you’ll binge when you do eat or resort to eating something unhealthy just to put something in your stomach. XXXX, a sophomore in my dorm, eats a piece of fruit before going to any social gathering where she knows there will be carb-loaded, processed snacks . . . and now my friends and I do the same thing. You’ll be amazed how much a juicy, sweet piece of fruit cuts your craving for salty, stale chips splashed with beer.</p></li>
<li><p>Count to your age before you “cheat.” Anytime you find you are about to eat something that would not be classified as “healthy,” take the time to count to your age. Much of this sort of eating is impulsive and you don’t actually take the time to think about whether you want to eat the item or not. You just cram it in and think nothing of it—until it creeps up onto your butt. If you still want to have a bite after your countdown, feel free: you’ve made a conscious decision to indulge, not a thoughtless gobble.</p></li>
</ol>
<h2>5. Avoid eating within two hours of sleeping. Eating right before you go to bed is a problem for two reasons. The first is that you don’t have any opportunity to burn off the calories you’ve eaten before sleeping, so they are absorbed into your blood and transported around your body, where they are eventually stored as fat. The second problem is that, while you may be able to fall asleep right away, the digestive processes going on in your stomach will require your brain to be partly awake, making your sleep much less re****l and deep.</h2>
<p>Now, this is good advice and would probably be well received by most coming from a peer. But most of our kids could have done a little research and written this. But most of our kids would have gotten a rejection slip from publishing houses for such a book. So, no I don't think nepotism is a harsh word.</p>
<p>I do NOT care that the child or the father/grandfathers/grandmother created this book and got a friend to publish it. Nepotism is a story that is old as time; and though I agree, it's "icky" (good description btw), everyone has a different icky threshhold. But I would like to know THESE TYPE accomplishments are placed in proper context by admissions committees.</p>
<p>Well, I'll give it a try. Most of this stuff, my kids either know already or could easily find out (including the advice about eating breakfast, which my S does not follow).<br>
What distinguishes this student from hundreds and thousands of others is that she decided to write it up and get it published. It is very true that having MDs and nutritionists in the family helped immeasurably, though I don't know that they have connections in the publishing world. It's more a case that their professions lent an imprimatur on the unexceptional advice being doled out. The fact is that most sensible diet books as well as most exercise books contain very little that is actually original. I'd be very worried, in fact, if they contradicted one another in some fundamental fashion.
We don't know that she plagiarized or that her relatives actually wrote the book, so I'll reserve judgment. But if I were and adcom, I would give some credit to the young woman for having the idea of writing the book and getting it published.</p>
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