<p>Kids from top public and private schools also (generally) have more resources in general - in terms of money and all the lovely things that money can buy. I don’t begrudge them, but it does mean that kids in other schools might have to work a little harder to get attention. </p>
<p>I was the first person in my family to graduate high school, let alone go to college, and I went to a poor rural school, but I did have a really wonderful first year GC when I was in school who helped me a lot, and I got admitted everywhere I applied. (I couldn’t afford to go to any of those fine institutions because my parents refused to fill out the FAFSA, but that’s a whole other story - one that reminds me that having parents who are interested and involved in your school is also an advantage!)</p>
<p>My D did not apply to any Ivy’s, but she was the first from her HS to apply to several highly selective LAC’s and had great results. I’m not sure what got her noticed. I am sure her 2 recommendations were exceptional. Her teachers love her and really appreciate her interest in learning all she can about a subject. Her essay was good, and while she only had a few EC’s, they were long-term ones. A couple were sports, while she was not highly recruited, the coaches at some schools she applied to did put in a good word for her, which may have pushed her up a bit. (I don’t believe most of her her admissions were sports-related; she was admitted to 3 NESCAC schools without ever talking to a coach or plan to play her sport there.)</p>
<p>My kids went to a very good prep school in the northeast. I know the GCs had conference calls with many top schools to discuss each applicant before the decision day. I don’t know if the GCs had pulls, but I got the sense D1’s GC knew D1’s outcomes before the decision day. D2 graduated from an international school and her GC didn’t have the same kind of connections - whenever we asked her to make a call, she gave us a blank look.</p>
<p>My good friend’s son went to a well known prep school in NYC. Their GC said he was wined and dined by many adcoms. When their son was trying to decide between school A and B, their GC convinced the son to go to school B. They later found out their GC was told by school B’s adcom that if GC could send more students their way, they would be more accommodating in the future when he needed to place students there. School B wasn’t some unknown school, it was a school we often discussed on this forum. </p>
<p>The way I look at it is this, as a hiring manager, I would never hire anyone who isn’t qualified, but if I have someone I know (like) refer some applicants, I would definitely pay more attention. If those applicants happen to be qualified then it would be kind of like, “why not,” especially if I could call on the favor some day.</p>
<p>That’s something our suburban public doesn’t have - those connections. They hired a college counselor (well, promoted the guidance secretary to that position) a few years ago but her connections are not well established or that reach-y. She is trying and has done a good job helping kids clarify their college lists, but most still choose local schools.</p>
<p>It may just have been a lucky year, but some private schools do have more connections than your average high school counselor. As a for instance, my cousin attended Harvard (both undergrad and grad and his wife worked in the admissions office while he was a grad student). They now are college counselors at a private school. Their school doesn’t appear to be a Harvard feeder school though as far as I can tell from their website. (It says where kids are going not how many were accepted.)</p>
<p>There are minuses to the private school system. My sil felt her nephew was not really being supported by her kid’s GC. Maybe even that the wealthier kids got more attention. (That may be her hangup.) In the end her kid went to a great school (Rice) recommended by her dentist not the GC and got into MIT as a grad student, not undergrad.</p>
<p>If you watch the video mentioned in this thread, Harvard’s Dean of Admissions discusses at length how they review applications and it sounded very labor intensive to me…
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1455145-what-colleges-really-want-video-panel-discussion-admissions-deans.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1455145-what-colleges-really-want-video-panel-discussion-admissions-deans.html</a>
The video is of a panel discussion featuring Deans of Admission from Harvard, MIT, Tufts, BU and UMass Amherst. It was very interesting!!!</p>