@Pizzagirl
I believe that everyone has a compelling life story. However, not everyone is accepted into the top schools. I don’t understand this gap.
ye gods! what is it that dont you understand??
there are hundreds of thousands of applicants each year with “compelling life stories” as you put it, but only approx 25,000 openings year into "top"schools.
therefore- they can’t ALL go to “top schools”! 
do the math… 8-|
Because there isn’t enough room, californiaa. Isn’t that obvious? But the cool thing is that there are plenty of great schools, not just a handful. It’s only unsophisticated people who think that success is somewhat greater at HYPSM than a whole handful of other places. Do you pride yourself on being sophisticated?
@californiaaa - having a compelling life story is great and is realizable, as you mention. So, a person can continue having a compelling life story for the remainder the person’s life and that would be pretty good.
Here is my conversation with my son, the hopeful music major. You can’t really rely on a school to sprinkle magic powder on you and become a new level of person. You need to have a vision of yourself that is beyond the scope of college, where you are using the college to help yourself out. I suggest to him a life timeline where the main epochs are about what he wants to be doing, whereas various classes, jobs, or college stays are sprinkled around on top of that; rather than thinking of a sequence of epochs that map exactly to the awarding of degrees, ribbons, or medals.
That may not sound exactly responsive to your thoughts about finding the competetive edges to move forward to your next step, but I think it is. Otherwise I would erase all those words and type something else in an effort to discuss in a more helpful manner.
As mentioned above, and as you know, in a competitive environment, there will be cuts. If a strategy could be conveyed to you that would assure making the cut, how long would it be before that strategy were copied enough that it could no longer succeed? What do you think about that logic? If it is true, that may suggest 1) that a person either must reach deep within themselves and create a fresh winning case for the college to accept, 2) follow the standard path and hope for good luck at the target college, 3) figure out how you would really like to spend your time, then do that, then show various colleges how you like to spend your time and see who is attracted to your story, or 4) something else.
Would it be possible to re-state your objective? I may not have accumulated all of your story. Could you lay out the goals and rationale? Thanks.
OP is the parent.
You can’t create or manufacture a “compelling story”. Seems like that is what the OP is trying to do.
That helicopter needs to land.
Drexel has a summer business class for jrs. Like a summer camp.
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Of course you can. Admissions counselors are doing it all the time. I don’t have $60,000 for admission counselor, I don’t have $30,000 / per year for an advanced private school with excellent counseling, I don’t have political connections to land my children a VIP spot … I do what i can. Ask questions.
Don’t be jealous. 
I know, that not every parent loves her children as much as I do.
Once more…you cannot manufacture a compelling story.
That is VERY different than choosing summer programs for your child to attend.
One can “love” her kids and still do damage. 
One can nurture without micromanaging.
One cannot manufacture a compelling story when one doesn’t know what a compelling story truly is.
If this is “love” then by golly I was an unloved child (and grateful for it!)
Oh spare me, californiaa. Love isn’t about force fitting your kid into Stanford under some delusion that Stanford is the meaning of life.
You realize that by doing this, you are telling your child that they’re not good enough being who they are, right?
Good god I couldn’t imagine any parent inventing a “compelling story” for their child. What a slap in the face.
- Every human being has a compelling story. Every single one.
- What is the job of college counselors that "package" a candidate?
<you realize="" that="" by="" doing="" this,="" you="" are="" telling="" your="" child="" they’re="" not="" good="" enough="" being="" who="" they="" are,="" right?="">
My baby is perfect. But in the Alice-in-Wonderland of college admission, all mirrors are crooked. Except may be UC, MIT, Cal Tech. Ivys require some magic potion of a “spark” and “vitality” that nobody could define.
californiaaa-
"college counselors " who PREY on DESPERATE, NAIVE parents and charge them tens of thousands of $$ are in it FOR THE $$.
Parents who think their child will have a better chance of acceptance at any particular college, or even group of colleges, by paying big $$$ to a “counselor” to package their kid are indulging in “magical thinking.”
No reputable counselor can or will PROMISE that they can get a child into a top school. Admissions officers can “smell” a “packaged” student a mile away.
These days there are a lot of wealthy parents who will do ANYTHING to try and get their kid into a top school.
But just because something costs a lot does NOT mean its worth the $$.
You seem to have fallen into that trap.
“My baby is perfect”
right…
and is therefore entailed to the same luck you experienced 3 decades ago?
unbelievable. …
why DO you come to CC californiaa? to learn? to listen? or like those who buy lottery tickets, to boast that “your baby is perfect!” therefore nothing can go wrong if you find the right formula, the right program, the right…
You have the winning ticket! therefore you will win the lottery!
parents who have been on CC for a long time know better because we also may have drunk the koolaid when our “perfect” kids were applying to college, and as such have been down the rabbit hole.
Then we woke up and realized that no matter how special our "perfect"children were, the world is a different place than when we applied to college.
you need to do the same…
your baby is a person, not a puppet, and she deserves the freedom to discover what she is interested in, what she is good at, wants to do, without the heavy hand of a puppet master…
Californiaa- the parents I know who have hired the “packaging” college consultants do so because their kid got arrested sophomore year for possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance, or was expelled from prep school for a violation of the honor code and is now on the third HS, etc. These are people who are spending big bucks to get their kid into Hofstra or Adelphi or Pace (if you haven’t heard of any of these colleges living in California there’s a reason for it), NOT people who are dropping big bucks so that their kid can get int Stanford. The consultants can help reframe a problem on the transcript or the “life story”, not revive someone in a coma.
Why not take the time and energy you devote to worrying about college and do something fun with your D- which may then uncover an actual interest she has vs. a manufactured one? Or sit down with a copy of Vanity Fair or the New Yorker and each pick one article for the other one to read and then talk about it? A well written article on popular culture (her pick) may enlighten you; a well researched article on immigration reform or the unintended consequences of inner-city gentrification may spark an interest in her.