I think this article is pretty funny, especially the first sentence below. On the topic of getting into a selective school, I like the book
What High Schools Don't Tell You (And Other Parents Don't Want You toKnow): Create a Long-Term Plan for Your 7th to 10th Grader for Getting into the Top Colleges
by Elizabeth Wissner-Gross
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/30/business/global/30college.htmlCoaching and Much More for Chinese Students Looking to U.S.
By DAN LEVIN
New York Times
May 29, 2011
...
Students, whose parents often pay tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, are molded by ThinkTank into well-rounded, socially conscious overachievers through a regimen often beginning as early as the year before entering high school. The company designs extracurricular activities for the students; guides them in essay writing; tutors them for the SAT, the U.S. college admission exam; and helps them with meet-and-greet sessions with alumni.
�There�s a system built by colleges designed to pick out future stars and we are here to crack that system,� Mr. Ma said.
LuShuang Xu provides an example of that approach. Ms. Xu, who was born and raised in China before emigrating to suburban California at age 9, had high hopes that she would be the first in her family to go to college. But poor results on a practice SAT and a dearth of extracurricular activities convinced Ms. Xu, 17, that she needed a scholastic makeover if she were to make it into a school her parents could brag about to relatives.
ThinkTank sent her to a public speaking camp, helped her improve her college essay and gave her the e-mail addresses of all the members of the Stanford University history department. At the company�s prompting, she found two internships with department professors. She also enrolled in ThinkTank�s college prep courses, which helped improve her SAT score 410 points to 2160 out of 2400. Next autumn, she will start at Harvard University.
ThinkTank�s success with students in California�s Asian-American community, which accounts for 90 percent of the company�s American clients, has drawn interest from wealthy parents in China. Mr. Ma opened an office in Shenzhen in 2009 and another in Beijing last year.
<rest of article at link>
