<p>NPR’s Day to Day ran this story earlier on an “admissions consultant”; (negative!) comments/response by Ted O’Neill.</p>
<p>[For</a> $40K, Consultant Gets Kids Ivy-League Ready : NPR](<a href=“http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95034319]For”>For $40K, Consultant Gets Kids Ivy-League Ready : NPR)</p>
<p>Ted’s a good soul.</p>
<p>Amen, amen, amen.
Give me a kid who knows how to work for what he/she wants, any day.</p>
<p>A kid who wants or seeks that kind of help to get into an elite school doesn’t want to come to Chicago anyway. It’s too much work and not enough recognition ;-)</p>
<p>FWIW, my parents always maintained that I was too “focused” and “serious” in high school. And it’s not as if they didn’t want me attending the “best” school they could afford.</p>
<p>I guess people figure if actors don’t write their own scripts and presidents don’t write their own speeches, why would they have to write their own college essays when a paltry $40k would do it.</p>
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<p>I would think so, too. However, a friend (who is attending) said that she knew someone from high school who used an essay service to get in. Fortunately, this particular person decided not to come. It wouldn’t have done him much good, seeing as how he would have had to hire an essay service for 4 years to survive here.</p>
<p>Anyway, back to the subject of the article. Fixing the problem is simple: make it more difficult to graduate. When you have people like George W. Bush coming from Yale, it becomes apparent to prestige-obsessed parents that it doesn’t take a genius to graduate from an Ivy; acceptance is all that matters.</p>
<p>No “gentleman’s c’s” at Chicago.</p>
<p>At many schools those “C’s” are now “B’s.”</p>
<p>I don’t really mind the element of getting involved with planning a student’s time as a freshmen. 14 year olds are just not that responsible, even most of those that end up at top tier schools, and many parents are clueless about what their kid should be doing. It may be somewhat unjust in terms of socioeconomic access, but plenty of schools that are lauded for having top tier preparatory environments basically do just this. My public magnet required us to have at least one major and one minor EC our freshmen year, and record all our activities under a point scheme. Likewise, we had to rack up a certain number of approved volunteer hours every couple of months. Overall, it is just good parenting / guidance to force kids to be in orchestra, take some elective courses that play to their intellectual strong-suits, not fall behind in math, and generally avoid being a Dungeons and Dragons master. None of this costs much at all, and is straight out of the “get you child into college” classics that adorn Barnes and Noble. </p>
<p>Yet, I do find the senior year “packaging” part to be horribly unethical. Frankly, I have never understood why colleges are not unequivocally clear that if they credibly learn a student utilized such services, then they wlll be thrown out, even if they have already been admitted or are taking classes. To me, it is worse than merely cheating on one math test, or plagiarizing a term paper, both of which at a minimum would get students an F and likely a semester or two off campus. </p>
<p>At the same time, college admissions offices (UChicago aside) are not that innocent. They like polished applicants. A lot. And this is at the root of the problem. It is a fetish with finding the most unique and culturally over the top applicants, who are not necessarily any better prepared to contribute academically to an institution (another declining admission notion).</p>
<p>In this vein, what makes these services so powerful is that they often help students roll out the big guns, which again, admission counselors should not be valuing to begin with. The classic NYT’s shock article fluff. The volunteering trips to Africa, the, “I lived in 12 countries because my father was a senior diplomat,” the ridiculously short lived non-profits run by students (fueled solely by relatives money, and abandoned as soon as the application cycle is over), campaigning for a town council spot at 18 in the middle of no where, meaningless internships with major politicians or celebrities, being the president of of every club under the sun, etc. It is only when schools draw a line and say that they only value what many middle class students have a common chance of achieving: high grades, EC participation, science fair prizes, and so on, will the wind be taken out of these hucksters sails. No matter how much money you spend, you cannot force Johnny to get a 98 on his honors history test, win a science prize, or cultivate his own interests. And this is really what colleges need to be looking at. </p>
<p>It comes at no surprise to me that the three students at UChicago I know who used such services, all became entry level corporate tools bound for middling MBA programs. What achievement…</p>
<p>This sort of “strategy” reminds me of winning the battle, but losing the war.</p>
<p>Sure, you might get into the college of your (your parents’?) choice, but…</p>
<p>… you think that anything can be bought for a price, perhaps even happiness.
… you don’t value your own skills. (As in, you aren’t “good enough” to fill out your applications on your own without “professional” interjection).
… you might question the legitimacy of your admission offer, particularly when it comes at the expense of others’ rejections.
… you’re built to believe that the name on the college diploma is the be-all and end-all rather than what you do with your time during and after college.</p>
<p>…you might find yourself at your “dream school,” but without the organizational/time management/writing skills needed to survive.</p>
<p>Countingdown:</p>
<p>This rarely happens. It may be hard to graduate with honors from elite colleges, but to scrape by as a ‘C’ student is ridiculously easy. </p>
<p>There are only a few schools and a few majors where you really can flunk out despite trying.</p>
<p>Can you just tell Yale you’re gay, instead of paying 40 grand? They seem to accept a lot of gay students (1 in 4 was it).</p>
<p>^^^^^^
Would that Really help admissions?</p>
<p>::thinks about it::</p>
<p>Anyone who pays 40k for that deserves to be shot, christ I would almost avoid going to an ivy just so I don’t have to associate with people that competitive.</p>
<p>Those who find a moral in that story also deserve to be shot ;-)</p>