<p>not sure I fully understand how your post relates, but I took a similar attitude to your son. I went to Brown specifically so I could study and do what I wanted to. I didn’t concern myself much with what would or wouldn’t be best for my future.</p>
<p>Miami,</p>
<p>You are right. If you have people you meet and develop friendships with when you are 3 years old and you maintain those friendships as those people turn out to be highly successful that is the ideal. For us mere mortals (i.e. not your daughter), it helps to consider the fact that a very selective college enhances your chances of meeting someone who will be successful in a field other than your own.</p>
<p>Brown,
D. went to the most expansive k - 12 in our area, crowd of kids around her was a bit on ambitios side I would say with parents who had more than average resources to attend to all those ambitions (we are talking not only academics but every kind of ECs, expanisve sports, private music and art lessons and kids who are engaged in multitude of these activities).<br>
I am not having anything against Ivy’s.
It is a personal decision to have a goal of attending Ivy’s or not.
D. has never applied, she had no desire, we have asked. If she wanted, we would have supported her in this.<br>
Now, as GrandD. is in HS, she has started thinking about college. As of now, her goal is to get the best college experience avoiding going to Ivy’s (and she already has a very specific goal). This may change, but she (only 14 y o) acknowledged the fact that Ivy’s are way too expansive. She is also at the very selective HS and has no problem surrounding herself with friends, some are from early childhood. </p>
<p>I believe that everybody should decide for themselves and not listen to anybody else. This is the only RIGHT way. </p>
<p>So the question in this thread basically does not have any GENERAL meanning. Some people would have many reasons for choosing Ivy’s and some others will have no reasons at all for going there, very simple.</p>
<p>Right, we’re sharing our experience/opinion in this thread.
And we will decide for ourselves, considering others’ inputs.
It’s good to have this forum and big appreciation to participants.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth our S. is about to graduate from the University of Pittsburgh (He turned down Brown and Hopkins for a full ride, honors college etc). </p>
<p>He took the MCAT this summer and received a 36, including a perfect 15 in Biology. One thing I know for certain he has received at Pitt --which he might not have received elsewhere–were amazing research opportunities in the Neuroscience lab and access to volunteering in four neighboring hospitals.</p>
<p>I went to Bowdoin undergrad and Harvard Kennedy School for grad school. At the IVY grad school level you are exposed to a constant stream of high level professional contacts from the White House to corporate CEOS etc etc. making securing work in your fantasy field often easier. I cannot speak to the undergraduate IVY experience.</p>
Whenever MiamiDAP says “expansive”, read it as “expensive”. I am surprised, you haven’t gotten that down already.
Hope the other two sections are more balanced (10 & 11). While 36 is a good score, a sub score less than 10 could be problematic at some top schools.</p>
<p>He received a letter from Harvard last week, but to be honest, he fell in love with Georgetown this summer after shadowing a doctor there. The doctor is also on the GU Admissions Committee and said after spending July with him, she would love to write him a rec for any school. As you may know the GPA and MCAT for GU Medical is lower than a number of schools. No guarantees but I think he is in decent shape. Time will tell!</p>
<p>washdcmom, Congrats for your S’s great achievement.</p>
<p>With his 3.55/36 from a national research university, he will most likely be very successful in this application cycle. (Will likely receive IIs and acceptances from multiple top med schools in the end.) I think his case proves that the rigor of the school’s program matters for the preparation of MCAT. (Did he go to a public high school in DC when he was in high school? If yes, it is even a greater achievement! It is not easy to go from
198 in the sophomore year in high school to 36 MCAT in the senior year in college.)</p>
<p>BTW, I like your description about setting up a “MCAT central” in the kitchen in another of your thread. It indicates your family cares very much about children’s education as well as the work ethics of your S.</p>
<p>Thanks MCAT2. He has worked very hard and loves his life. Good spirit and energy.</p>
<p>His 198 was the PSAT Junior Year then he received a 2130 or was it 2120–either way on his SAT in 2010. He was diagnosed at 7 as a Type I Diabetic and has had a lot of personal and community medical up close experiences including autopsy conferences at NIH and a summer paid internship doing immunization compliance at Children’s Hospital here. </p>
<p>He did NOT attend a public school, but a private one where the average SAT is 1920 and which saw several National Merit Finalsts this year and 26 Commended from a class of only 130 kids. That school --along with our constant encouragement, push and lecturing–has taught both of our children to just get down and do the work. There is no substitute for putting in the hours no matter how naturally bright one may be. </p>
<p>As far as MCAT Central–lol—yes Kaplan, Kaplan, Kaplan plus AMAC assessments and prior tests meet Mom’s apple pie. A crazy but memorable six weeks…</p>
<p>So I take it ms admissions also ask the SAT/ACT too? interesting, but I suppose they want to see patterns of how well the students manage standardized testing. Makes sense, since ms students have to pass tests too.</p>
<p>“To be fair, when it comes to private schools outside of NYC, expensive usually means expansive as well”
-What do you mean? My D. (well outside of NYC) was in class with 32 others at private HS, total HS head count was about 150. Before that, her middle school class had 3 other kids, yes, 4 kids in whole class. I do not know about privates in NYC. However, it is not unusual for NYC public HS class to have 900 kids. There is no single HS in our city that has that many in a class. It is a zoo!!!</p>
<p>limabeans,
I do not know how many hours D. has spent on the preparation for the MCAT. It was many. However, I know exact count for her ACT and Step 1. She studied total of 5 hours for the ACT, i hour every day for 5 days preceeding the test. She studied 14 hours every day for 7.5 weeks preceeding Step 1. She had few schduled whole day breaks. This was her way. Others (most) took shorter period of 6 weeks, they had less (or no) breaks. D. did well on all 3. “Well” means that her scores were enough for her goals at each stage of her life. Her “well” might not be enough for others and might be more than needed for somebody else. You have to set your goal and plan accordingly.</p>
