I gather that the GCs main currency (particularly at a feeder school) is the trust and reputation of their recommendations. As with any relationship, violate that one time and pay for it forever. That would hurt all the other students and the school itself. Therefore reputation must be protected over the desires of any one student.
Yes that sucks when they don’t recommend you to a school, but when they do it is the single most valuable asset for competitive admissions.
Or you could be my nephew who probably got that lukewarm recommendation from his prep school counselor. Ended up at Rice (not on the radar of the school, the kid’s dentist suggested it!), did spectacularly well there. Goldwater fellowship, double majored in bioengineering and biology, he just got a PhD from MIT. He’s not complaining - he loved Rice - but I’m pretty sure he’d have been fine at MIT too. He’s a brilliant kid. Mom still resents the way they were treated.
I remember the way my boarding school kept trying to get me to go to Vassar or Smith. There was no way I was going to an all female college after four years of a girl’s high school and I wanted to be in a city. I got into Harvard/Radcliffe in the end, but that was a long time ago when it was easier - I think six of us ended up there in a class of 80.
BS GCs do send apps from kids who aren’t strong matches. After all, there can be substantial parent pressure. But it’s pretty clear which they’re pulling for the most.
My story is that very seasoned GC who dissuaded me from applying to that Ivy. I’ve said before, I regretted that for decades. Then about the time D1 was applying, I realized my “dream” was myth. Just an idea out of some college guide. I’d never explored the college, visited, or even requested info. I laughed when I realized.
Another amusing story, when I was in architecture grad school third year students could be on the admissions committee. Every folder was read by two profs and one student. I was amused by the fact that one prof from a school that generally sent two or three undergrads every year to us, mentioned in every single letter of recommendation which order he would rank the students among those who were applying. The effect ended up being pretty much the opposite of what he intended. I’m sure he was right most of the time, but we all so wanted him to be wrong, we started rooting for the underdogs.
@blossom #39 sounds much more like counseling to me than gatekeeping. Counseling implies giving the student an honest assessment of their chances of acceptance and fit for universities, and giving the universities and honest and accurate evaluation of the student. Gatekeeping to me means playing the part of AO and rejecting a student before they even apply by refusing to do the functions of their job.
I will chime in as a BS parent that all of @blossom’s posts are spot on. That’s the way the elite boarding schools work, and they are extremely transparent about it, or at least they were from the time our son entered. Anyone who didn’t understand that the purpose of the school was a stellar high school education that would prepare each of its students to hit the ground running at whichever (of hundreds) of excellent colleges their students matriculate was not paying attention; it’s about the HS education, not specific college results. These schools absolutely have excellent relationships with many, many colleges and steer their students, whom they know inside and out, to the best fits for them. They also know every student’s competition at each college and will be brutally honest if a particular college is a wasted app. These students are only competing against each other, and the GCs have perfect knowledge of the competition and chances. They cannot and won’t stop a student from applying, but they can tell a student with almost 100% accuracy what the result will be. That’s worth a lot IMO. The disconnect comes when some parents and students refuse to believe what the school is telling them and cling to the fantasy that having that school’s name on the app will somehow give it a magical boost which is a prefect recipe for disappointment.
I understand that this conversation is not about boarding schools, but I think this point should be made for anyone who might benefit from it.