Ivy League Parents Question

Parents Forum
101

<p>There’s no better way to demonstrate the station’s commitment to non-commercial programming than that.</p>

102

<p>Texaspg- His recommendations were from his APUSH and English honors teachers. My son and I personally felt that it would have been better to have his music teacher, who really liked my son, knew him the best and with whom he had three classes (one of which was AP Music Theory), write one of his recommendations, but his counselor STRONGLY recommended two academic teachers. So, my son went with that.</p>

103

<p>Admission to these schools is not a meritocracy. The OP should understand that admission to the handful of schools that have an acceptance rate less than 12% or so is not merit-based. While accepted students may have top notch academics, etc., most also fill some sort of institutional need…this could be geographic, demographic, ethnic, a particular talent or skill…the student may be a legacy or connected to a large donor in some way. In some cases the institutional need is not obvious and the student is not even aware of it, which is why it seems so unpredictable to the average parent.</p>

104

<p>

You wrote all of the Ivies and similar schools do not offer ED, and Columbia has Early Decision. I don’t follow. Is Columbia not considered an Ivy or similar school?</p>

105

<p>Some of the Ivies offer ED.</p>

<p>Columbia is an Ivy and does offer ED.</p>

106

<p>“but his counselor STRONGLY recommended two academic teachers. So, my son went with that”</p>

<p>I would have said the same thing because the recommendation write ups seem to discourage letters from music/band/PE/art etc teachers. So 3 music classes out of 6 or 7 classes limits the choice of teachers.</p>

107

<p>Data10, I think the poster meant NOT all Ivies offer ED, not none of the Ivies offers ED.</p>

108

<p>

The poster might have also meant the ivies and similar schools are HYPSM, and none of these 5 schools offer ED. Obviously the first statement is not accurate.</p>

109

<p>Data…read again…not ALL offer ED. Five do, but three do NOT.</p>

<p>I was telling the poster that ED isn’t an option at ALL eight Ivy League schools…and some of the other elites as well.</p>

110

<p>I did read it again. The statement was “Emomama…all of the Ivies…and similar schools DO NOT OFFER ED.” Saying all do not offer is quite different from saying not all offer.</p>

111

<p>Data…I clarified my post. Could we move on, please?</p>

112

<p>Two of my sons went to an Ivy - my tips:

  1. Narrow your list based on fit and then visit the school - if your child feels like the environment and major are a fit they’ll write a better app - both of my kids LOVED the school but for very different reasons - one was drawn to the entire experience the other to a very specific major.
  2. Have “independent verification of excellence” as mentioned by the second poster - one of my kids was a recruited athlete who competed successfully at national level as well as being great student - the other had international success/recognition in his #1 extracurricular activity.
  3. Work hard on the app - my one son spent HOURS on his supplemental essays - we all think that is what made him stand out - he proved the case that he was a perfect fit for the major.
  4. Plan for disappointment - the odds of getting in are ridiculous. Make sure your child has a safety that they love. Follow all of the great advice given by the experienced posters here on CC. They’ve helped me over the years with each of my very different 4 kids!</p>