<p>Georgetown is a fantastic school, and so is WashU. Good luck!</p>
<p>“Agree with drdom and audiophile – that’s how I read the post too. He’s happy; his kids are happy; he thinks the process is out of control, and he’s certainly not alone here in that regard; he thinks the process favors some and not others, and he’s certainly not alone here in that regard either.”</p>
<p>Agree with you too geek_mom.
And "“I’d like to see veteran posters be a little kinder/gentler with new posters.”</p>
<p>It always annoys me, a new poster comes on cc, pours out their heart and frustrations, and people attack. The arrogance sometimes astounds me. Hopefully you don’t have any old posts, so people can’t pull them up and tell you,“But you said…” and try to figure out who you are. On the other hand, there are still many helpful and kind people here, just beware of stepping on any toes. Or carping…:D</p>
<p>Yea, Washington U has a division 3 football program so hopefully I can get some playing time when I walk on to the team there.</p>
<p>"Ha ha, your sense of smell is excellent. C1-6+, before they changed to the new curriculum.</p>
<p>All the best to you and your family" WARNING DENTAL DWEEB TALK HERE ;p</p>
<p>C1-C4 (2e,3e) ;p They just changed it again! I was just here milling things about in Rich Green’s crucible Audiophile ;p Plus my wife was out with friends for the evening 
All the best to yours as well :)</p>
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<p>My nephew is a year older than my twins.<br>
Nephew went to one of the two most elite private high schools in the city at probably $30K+/ year. H and I sent our kids to a good but not tippy-top public high school.
Nephew has URM status (I think) because my BIL is Cuban - even though BIL came from a well-to-do family himself and has never led an underprivileged lifestyle at all. My kids have no such stats.
Nephew has natural athletic ability, combined with thousands upon thousands of dollars worth of athletic coaching / training and a mother who was willing to give up significant parts of her life to facilitate traveling, etc. My kids have neither such athletic ability and I worked / work full-time.
Nephew had a fancy full price college consultant, hired when he was a soph. My kids just have me and CC 
Nephew had outstanding results, incl Princeton and MIT, and will be attending Princeton in the fall. That level isn’t in the cards for my kids.</p>
<p>Is that “fair”? Well, his parents made choices that H and I weren’t willing to make. We weren’t willing to spend that kind of money on private high school. We weren’t willing to have me quit my job and become full-time facilitator at high level intensities for various extracurricular activities. </p>
<p>But so what? I don’t blame them one bit for making those choices and using those things to their advantage. I would use URM status if I had it. I would have sent them to this kind of school if it had fit in our lifestyle. Life isn’t fair. I don’t begrudge. It’s shallow and unbecoming.</p>
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<p>I think the first post in this thread exemplified that and I know I feel that way also. Gratitude is always preferable to envy. I’ve seen the list of the schools your kids are considering, and they’re not exactly chopped liver. In fact, my children are ecstatically happy at two of them. What more can I ask?</p>
<p>PG:</p>
<p>The example you cite could be countered by another. At the risk of repeating myself (I’m too lazy to look up my own posts), let me cite the experience the grandsons of a colleague of mine. The older brother attended one of the pricier ($30k per year, non-boarding) and best-known prep schools in the Boston area; he did not get into Harvard (his dream school) and is currently attending a top 50 school. It is an excellent school, and I believe he is very happy there.
His younger brother decided to attend our local public school, which is highly diverse economically, ethnically, and academically. He insisted, though his parents would have been happier shelling out $120k over four years to send him to his brother’s prep school. He loved his time at the high school. He got into Harvard a week or so ago, along with 7 other classmates. There are many ways one could interpret this anecdote. Perhaps, the two brothers and quite different and each ended up where he was meant to lend. They both will receive a great education.</p>
<p>^ 8 H acceptances at a Public HS? Must be a Top 10 public in the nation lol</p>
<p>I have seen a lot of people get caught up in the prestige game and spend oodles of money for that rear window decal and the bragging rights that temporarily comes with same. Those people generally wise up sometime into their child’s sophomore year. But for most the damage has already been done. Some real sad stories of unnecessary heavy debt and unfunded future dreams are often the result.</p>
<p>^^Nope. The school’s median SAT score is below the national average. It does have some high achieving students whose parents are middle and upper-middle class.
CC poster Mini used to advise parents to send their kids to less expensive colleges and use the money thus saved to fund enriching activities for them, whether through study abroad, lessons in the performing arts, or something else. We applied this philosophy to our kids’ k-12 education.</p>
<p>I’ve learned a lots on CC and one of them is that if my kids got rejected by a top school I’d be fine. If they cannot be near perfect in grades and test scores plus good ECs, rejection is almost certain. Only a small portion of kids can be that good (top 0.01%?), and mine might not be among them.</p>
<p>I would like to point out on thing- several posts state a variation of "hope your bitterness/disappointment does not make your D bitter/keep her from reaching for the stars, or some such statements. These high achieving kids know exactly what is transpiring in admissions these days, and they do spend many months talking to each other before results are out (however, ED season almost always sends shock waves through the class when one of their best and brightest is outright denied. They know who is their best and brightest by senior year) They even turn to each other for validation after they are denied admission. Not just their parents.</p>
<p>So the point is, let us not act like these “children” are influenced or damaged by their parents feelings of bitterness or anger at the system, they internalize this themselves. They stay up until 2-3 am to finish AP classes, play year round sports to make the varsity team, and volunteer so much of their time (even though most of their parents don’t volunteer at all unless it is at the school, which is really to assure their child gets special treatment/placement) They have so much hope and feel they have given their all, so when the rejection letters come, yes they are dazed and confused and feel ripped off by the system. When a parent try’s to paint a bright future they will have none of it, they know differently. Most wish they had not worked so hard, sacrificing most of high school. This is until time has past, their friends share their outrage and they move on to the college that did accept them. Next thing you know all that hard work is paying off and they again start dreaming of their dream grad school…and so it goes.</p>
<p>The kids feel this process and it is going to have profound effects on them and society. let us not act like the parents can even control the feelings of their children, they can just stand by and wipe the tears.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl:
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<p>Hey!, I thought he is going to go to MIT. What happened?</p>
<p>unimpressed dad,</p>
<p>Your daughter will get an excellent education at UW, esp. in the Honors program, so what’s the problem, exactly? The fact that Ivy admissions are so stringent, and the schools are so expensive for those who fail to qualify for need-based aid, naturally means that tons of smart kids end up at the state flagships (and elswhere!) as well. My feeling is that the Ivy League and similar schools are fabulous for those who get in, but it’s not as if those who don’t get in are bereft of options.</p>
<p>My own son was rejected at a “lesser” Ivy where he is a double legacy (both my husband and I attended) despite a 2210 SAT score, subject tests in the high 700s, 5s on 7 AP exams, and a GPA around 4.5. So it’s not as if having a “hook” guarantees that you will get in. What went wrong? Who knows? He was accepted elsewhere and is looking forward to college life!</p>