Counselor talks to Admission Officer

SlitheyTove
Wed, 06 Oct 2010 14:55:48 +0000

To add to glido’s point, I know families at a few of these private schools. Some of these families are full-pay for high school, but cannot afford to meet their EFC. Their kids either get merit aid, or attend their (very good) in-state option. Getting an admissions “tip” to a tippy-top school because of a great GC/adcom relationship means diddly to these families. They’re not eligible for need-based aid (yes, even at HYPS), and these schools don’t offer merit aid. To be contenders for merit aid, they shouldn’t need any extra GC pull–their record, and the high school’s reputation, should be sufficient.



And I still don’t get this: “Students are encouraged to apply ED to different colleges, for example, or not to have their lists overlap too much.” Our GC’s have had absolutely zero input on our lists – we (parents / students) researched and crafted them. Nor frankly would I think to involve them on where my kids should apply ED any more than I’d involve them in what I’m making for dinner tomorrow night. “Here’s my kid that you don’t know, he / she wants to apply ED to College X.” What on earth would they add to that decision-making, esp in the case of my D where she’s applying to a school that maybe 3 kids from the school have ever applied to?



In JHS’s example, it’s a question of having only a handful of kids apply ED to each school, rather than a few dozen. Your kids’ school doesn’t have that kind of mindset. There’s no need for the GC to “manage” the competition to give your kids the best shot at ED.