We won't face this for years, so it's easy for me to say - may be harder for me to stick to as we get closer but:
I think it is critical to keep in mind that "getting in to an Ivy" is NOT a viable life goal. It is a dead end goal. If it is met solely for the purpose of "Getting In" it will leave the child who achieves it hollow and directionless. The child's childhood will have been wasted, padding a glittery resume targeted at "Getting In" rather than organically evolved from the development of interests that flowered into passions. The child will miss the chance to find, enjoy, discard, or dig further into all the wide world of possibilities that childhood presents. The child will have minimal to no opportunity to find true passions. The child will enter college with vague expectations and will often find nothing that fits.
A healthy life goal that involves an Ivy would be "getting in to Harvard so I can study X, because Harvard's X department offers what I need for my career." But a child applying to college can only make this analysis after being given the chance in childhood to find what she or he truly wants to study. (This is not saying that the area of study might not change once at school. Life brings surprises and unexpected angles.)
This is sort of an ongoing rant for me right now. So thanks for reading.
