<p>I’ll get bricks thrown at me - but believe it or not there are also a lot of wealthy kids raising themselves, or raised by others (nannies, maids, etc.) When I was making the rounds with my own child, one Adcom quietly said “some of those kids are ignored by parents who are high profile and have full social calendars. They’re lucky that their parents are letting us raise them.”</p>
<p>Hard to believe but the schools may be trying to instill character in the very students we traditionally think as “having every advantage” coming in. I saw it myself at Exeter - and it was an eye-opener how many of “those” kids came equipped with trust funds and no one had ever told them the word “no” or “do it yourself.” The schools screen much better these days, but still - our kids have us. Who do those other kids have? Boarding school staff.</p>
<p>Still - I looked for schools were character traits were just part of the culture and they tried to admit students already meeting the criteria for the most part. Which is why service/volunteer EC’s are beginning to carry so much weight in admissions.</p>