Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion college admission consulting

In a free market with less government interference, standardized tests would likely be even MORE important. College has largely become a credentialing scam that employers use in lieu of IQ-like tests. They can't use IQ tests directly because of "disparate impact" -- blacks and Hispanics score below Asians and whites.

This theory is discussed in the paper "The Law of Unintended Consequences Revisited: The Case of Ricci v. DeStefano" http://www.centerforcollegeaffordability.org/uploads/Amicus.pdf .

There was a question about "they" in one of my posts about taking spots. "They" meant foreign applicants. These are US colleges we are talking about.

Not US born or residents applying, because they are in US schools for lower levels.

I think it is the attitude of the Chinese parents cited. These are the same people that will save to buy a piano. No TV or Wii in their homes. These are working, middle class people that want their children to have a leg up and better life. They save and pay for consultants for college so their kids can get into the top schools.

Like the girl from Exeter, I am hearing diminished exmissions to top schools from a lot of top high schools that were feeders to the IVs 10 years ago.

Ren

Again, I think a consultant helps you market yourself (your child) better. The problem with being a "star" at Exeter (I would guess; I went to my public school in KS, LOL) is that there are lots of stars in your class. Harvard, Yale, etc. will only take so many Exeter students, etc.
A consultant could help your child find the unique things that will push their application to the top of the heap. You could do that too, if you know how to market them, etc. I don't agree with this, BTW.
Alot of non-Chinese people pay for consultants too. We live in an area where there are ALOT of "Tiger moms" and Asian overachievers. (I'm generalizing; my doctor friend, who is from Taiwan, told me her kids "failed out" of Chinese school b/c she was such a lousy Tiger mom!). Some of them get dinged with their college applications for getting perfect SATs, perfect grades, playing piano, etc. Being a stereotype. I could imagine such parents hiring a consultant to make THEIR kid look different from the OTHER kids who have very similar credentials.
When I got into Harvard Medical School, my boyfriend at the time (who was at Harvard Law) said the only way to get into Harvard was to teach underwater basketweaving to Burmese peasants! You get the general idea.

I heard that some schools (like Stanford) are now trying to achieve a more heterogeneous student population. The straight A, perfect SAT score kids with the bogus formulaic/strategic extra curricular and token volunteer service are just...well...boring and not bringing much to the table that is new. Stanford even has a admissions counselor just for home-schooled students now.

FWIW, I took the SAT in the 1980s and bombed it horribly (my free range British boarding school education did not prepare me at all and I had no practice and no idea what it was all about). I still was conditionally accepted to Berkeley to a large degree I believe this was due to the very obscure major I put down (entomology). Not a very competitive major for getting in but once there after 2 years of core classes I probably could have switched majors pretty easily if I had wanted to.

So there is a free admissions tip!

Students at Exeter, and any top private school, are getting college consulting services far beyond what the average public school student is getting. Providing this consulting is part of how the schools sell themselves.

And, again, while some people may be hiring consultants with hopes of a special advantage, many are simply hiring them because the system is complex and no loner do school counselors have the time or resources to do this work.

Interesting article on merit aid in the Washington Post today. This is where our kids on this forum should shine (it is exactly what my oldest daughter did, knocked 1/3 off private college tuition through merit aid).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local...ding-wars/2011/05/17/AG7JwzEH_story.html

I am happy to let other students chase the Ivy and top 10 college admissions.