Actually the opposite as I had suggested several schools beyond the Ivies and have repeatedly said across numerous threads that fit should always trump perceived prestige.
This students original list was as follows:
“ im not sure if i should apply ed to brown to shoot my shot, and do rd for all the other schools, OR apply ea to georgetown (i loved it there) bc there’s a higher chance i get in
ivies specifically are columbia, upenn, harvard++ jhu
safety are gonna be chapel hill, northeastern, boston university”
I wasn’t convincing her to pursue Ivies for the sake of self esteem, but instead validating her approach which appeared well balanced.
I still don’t agree with telling a kid not to apply to multiple reaches because if you don’t get into one of your reaches you likely won’t get into any. It simply is not supported by facts and is not good advice. Disagreeing with that approach isn’t “equating self esteem to Ivies” it’s common sense. Once again I specifically provided a whole bunch of schools outside the Ivy so not sure where your inference came from.
As a non Asian I won’t specifically respond to your comment, “ this is what leads to generations of bad feelings on the part of so-called “tiger parents” who are convinced the system is stacked against Asian and Asian American applicants”. I don’t however think broad generalizations based on racial or ethnic backgrounds are ever particularly appropriate nor are they productive when advising an individual.