<p>Sybbie are you in NYC, too?</p>
<p>yep (10 characters)</p>
<p>With the stats your D has, I am surprised that the GC recommended the "Colleges That Change Lives" schools. Though I think the book is extremely valuable in bringing attention to some excellent schools that are below the college search radar for many student except for those who live in the region of those colleges, they do not seem to be schools that someone like you D needs to examine. Though the very top schools are lottery tickets, your D certainly has a shot at them, and it would have been nice to have your GC more supportive about the process. I have seen a number of GCs that are not that competent, nor are they interested in going the extra mile for their student, and yours might fall in that category. I would ask her very politely why she does not think your D should apply to Harvard, and let her know that you know that the chances are not high. Sometimes a college has had a problem with a highschool that makes the apps from there suspect. It could be that the school hid info, was not helpful when called, or did not abide by the protocol that selective colleges use. I don't believe that it is fair to the students to have this sort of boycott but it does happen, which is why those schools that want to keep their students chances for acceptance optimum will abide by certain rules that are legally questionable and will not support students who break them.<br>
You may want to ask if any tiff occurred between your D's highschool and Harvard.
I would think that many of your D's other apps are for highly selected schools as well. What does the GC think about her applying there? The numbers for Princeton and Yale are not that different from Harvard's.<br>
I think that what the CCers are telling you about your D is valuable info. If the GC is just making "don't get obsessed with this school" noises, that is entirely appropriate. I believe I read somewhere that these top school only accept about 30% of their kids for pure academic reasons. And many of those kids have won national awards for science/math olympiads, Intel type competitions and are doing academic work beyond highschool. The top colleges do not get excited with most school/regional achievements. You win the county figure skating contest and make nationals---yawn. You get a medal at the Olympics, they are interested. You play for the All state Orchestra, so what? You are the new Yoyo Ma, that may help you get in. HPY have a number of students who are the best in the world/country at an activiity AND have excellent academic stats. Some kids get in as athletic picks, when they are not at that level, but that is because the college has a particular need for that activity, and the candidate is the best in the app lot.The few athletes that I have seen who were accepted were no academic slouches, either.
I do believe that there may be a number of apps that get in through "luck". I have seen kids get in who were indistinguishable from those who did not. There just might be a few spots left after the college wish list has been addressed, and the superstars are selected. I am sure there a a number of students that are then considered, and picking any one over the other is not going to make that much of a difference. What strikes the adcom's fancey the most might then come to play. It could be that an essay topic interests those making the decision. Or it may turn them off. There is a point where it is truly splitting hairs.<br>
Good luck to your D in her application process. Though I feel that her selections can be top heavy in selectivity, she should also find a safety or two that would suit her. Even with her "perfection", it is possible to not make the cut when it comes to the most selective schools.</p>
<p>anitaw, no the question is not why GC does not like my child. GC truly likes her, and proof is that she nominates her for everything. My suspicion is that GC thinks mom is a traditional Asian parent who will disown her unless she gets into Harvard. Well, guess what...this Asian mom only prays for health and safety.</p>
<p>Yes, marite, we are aware that ivies do not give merit aid, and she would qualify for financial aid. The financial package is a big factor, and that is why Harvard SCEA is being considered instead of ED in another Ivy. The college list also includes LACS, both highly selective and selective. Having been around CC, I fully realize that exceptional applicants get rejected, and that is why I also brought up the issue of safeties.</p>
<p>From what you have said about the GC, she does not have it out for your D. You may never know why this GC was so down on Harvard, but I don't think she will deliberately hurt her chances. I do not think the GC was right, but she can have her own opinions without compromising her position as long as she processes the applications well. Does your school just have the GC and teachers write a rec that is copied and sent to every college, or do they actually fill out the questionairres?<br>
It is unfortunate that some kids get a squirrly, lazy, or incompetent GC filling out the school portion of the app. It does put kids from such schools at a disadvantage. It's also unfortunate that some of the top schools scour the recs to find some subtle fault with the applicant. I can't think of a fairer procedure, however. One of the reasons I pulled my kids from public schools is for better services in many areas, including the guidance for college and other things. Our public school did not meet my standard, and was willing to pay to get better.</p>
<p>Okay, a bit of advice</p>
<p>NO child is perfect...there is always something...</p>
<p>One kid at Ds school was the star of this or that, but grades, eh</p>
<p>Another had great stats, but zippo personality, and was a copier</p>
<p>Another had the stats and the sports, but couldn't carry on a conversation</p>
<p>For anyone to say their kid is near perfect is not seeing the kid as a whole person and maybe the GC is seeing somethng mom does not see, and is talking about the school instead of bringing up things that are lacking in the student</p>
<p>If i was a GC and a parent approached me with her "perfect child"..egad</p>
<p>I am not surprised that the GC does not like Harvard. There may be many different reasons for doing so. Or it could be that the GC does not think the chances of admission are high. What is surprising is that the GC should try to steer a student whom she likes very much and is recommending for all sorts of awards toward CTCL. A truly stellar applicant has a good shot at colleges whose selectivity may be slighty better than Harvard but are on a par with H in other ways. Or she may just be a devotee of LACs more generally. More discussion with the GC seems warranted to me.</p>
<p>I'll take the OP's assessment that her D is near -perfect. My S's GC did not know that I only wanted to strangle S every other day. ;) On alternate days, however, he was perfect.</p>
<p>another thought....big fish, small pond...maybe the POND is not as stellar as it seems and the GC knows it</p>
<p>how large is the school, where do MOST kids go, because being a perfect kid in a mediocre school really is not "all that"</p>
<p>it is wonderful of course, but in some schools it is a lot easier to shine than in others</p>
<p>I think mom needs to take some pressure off her kid, cause even if she thinks its not there it is, for to call a kd near perfect puts alot of pressure on someone to have to attain that</p>
<p>I just do not believe all the poster is saying, sorry</p>
<p>and if a near perfect child, which I am sure everybody in the vicinity knows she is, does NOT get into the perfect school....lots of fallout can happen</p>
<p>It still bothers me for anyone to call anyone else near perfect....even Mother Theresa had her flaws, as did Kennedy and Ghandi</p>
<p>To me, that is a HUGE flag..perfection...how can that be obtained....and to expect it is sad</p>
<p>thnk about it</p>
<p>EC- amazing
Stats- ALL the best ever seen
eSSAY- perfect</p>
<p>come on people, mom is not being realistic or honest</p>
<p>most kids have flaws and to claim perfection, sorry, if that is the attitude, and that attitude is shared with one and all,,,ewwwww</p>
<p>cptofthehouse, thanks for the advice and encouragement. Being the eternal pessimist that I am, I would be very surprised if she got admitted. I brought her up to think that there are lots and lots of bigger fish out there, and there is no need to compete with all the other big fish.
You may find it interesting that a private GC, the kind that you pay so that they can package and present your child to the Ivies, actually called us to offer her services for free. She claims to be a former Ivy admissions officer, and has just started this business. She has had a few successes...a Stanford, Yale and UC...but apparently wants to work with a stellar student...her words not mine...
I think that I am going to prove to the GC that not all Asian parents will do anything to get their kids to the Ivies. I will tell him that we turned the offer down. On the other hand, maybe I should live up to the expectation. :)
BTW, the private GC is Caucasian.</p>
<p>Nomadmom, in your messages you've said:</p>
<p>"I think that I am going to prove to the GC that not all Asian parents will do anything to get their kids to the Ivies."</p>
<p>"My suspicion is that GC thinks mom is a traditional Asian parent who will disown her unless she gets into Harvard."</p>
<p>"It is rather infuriating that the GC assumes that since we are Asians, C is being pressured to apply to Harvard." </p>
<p>I'm curious as to why you think the GC holds these assumptions. Has she said something that expresses that view? Is there some past interaction that makes you believe this?</p>
<p>The "near perfect" remark seems to have offended quite a number of people. Sorry about that, but I should have said "their words, not mine"
Anyway, GC is always asking how I managed to raise the perfect kid...should bottle and sell the recipe...there was also a teacher who asked if I could produce more of these "perfect" kids...</p>
<p>marite, I am a normal mom...I see the faults...and do point them out...stuff like the room has too much stuff on the floor...but being mom, she is perfect even if she once closed the door on my toes! BIG OUCH! :)</p>
<p>Sounds like my kids, except no one has told me they're perfect or close to perfect. But one is at H, so everything is possible! :)</p>
<p>Hm.. yeah the GCs (and a lot of other people) at my school really don't like Harvard. We had 7 people (out of 44) go to Ivies last year, but none to Harvard. I think we've had one girl accepted there in the past 5 years. Everyone thinks it's because we're an all-girls Catholic school... but I don't know what they're basing that on. My friend is applying there and her GC is discouraging her too but she doesn't care.</p>
<p>It's funny how certain high schools have such different track records among equally selective schools. Ours, a mid-size school, does decently at Harvard (one student accepted in each of three of the last four years), and none to Yale for as long as anyone can remember (altho a couple of SCEA acceptees to Harvard including my son ended up not applying to Yale). Few if any from our school seem to apply to Princeton, so it's hard to say. I guess maybe some high schools just don't get on the radar screen of their local admissions rep. to certain colleges.</p>
<p>Sounds like my kids, except no one has told me they're perfect or close to perfect.</p>
<p>Marite, your kids are probably in a really huge pond...and my kid is in a puddle...:)</p>
<p>I interpreted the "near perfect" to mean "near perfect as a candidate for the most selective universities in the US." </p>
<p>Most of us know that those kids can drive you completely bananas if they want to. He he. Probably even if they don't want to:). It's just perfection for the constrained problem, not for life in its entirety....</p>
<p>Alu:</p>
<p>I agree, and I was just kidding! Still, my kids are near perfect in my eyes, but only every other day :) As for college admission, I don't have to worry about their level of perfection any more!</p>
<p>I would not get too hung up with the stereotyping. Nor would I try to prove anything. I think it would be helpful to get a private counselor to look at your D's apps, if she has had experience and success in getting kids in top schools or if she worked as an adcom once. Packaging can make a difference, and if a school is not familiar with what works with a top school and isn't taking a lot of trouble to investigate, it isn't a bad idea to make sure that the student's end of the application is as good as can be.</p>
<p>I often wonder how good a college counselor is at evaluating an essay. We did not use a private counselor, but made sure that a very highly respected English teacher took a good look at our kids' essays. Because it is my belief that in the end, among all these many, many very qualified students, a stand-out essay (the part of the ap that remains unknown to all the sleuths on CC or anywhere else) is what very often puts the student over the top.</p>
<p>Edit: oops, I just reread the original post, and it seems that the student's essays already got rave reviews from her teachers. So I guess she's got that covered.</p>