How can I start preparing son to join 'top dog' schools?

[winner 0]

Hi,

I hear here in the US one has to be pretty well rounded to get the scholarships or entry into the big schools. Does one know what things I can start doing NOW to prepare my kid who is now in elementary school to jin one of those big league schools...I dont know any big shots,being an immigrant for starters!

[Niels Bohr 72]

The quality of education doesn't begin with school. I attended Harvard's pre-college summer program when I was in high school. The program provides college level courses to select bright 1,000 students from across the nation. It was no different from the University that I am attending.

If your son or daughter goes to an accredited University, either public or private, he or she will be a professional upon graduation, and would be able to obtain a very good career. Many CEOs, and Entrepreneurs across the country did not goto IVY League schools.

The positive side of going to these schools is ego. The negative side of going to these schools is being overly costly. My colleague graduated from Amherst College (Ivy League) with a Liberal Arts degree. He is no special than I am. We both receive the same treatment from our employer. Intelligence is not weighted upon higher education experience. After all, everyone knows geniuses are rare.

However, if you want to prepare you child to be the best, then the idea is to motivate your child by providing him/her with NO TV, VIDEO GAMES, NO LIFE. Let the child stay inside, and read all day long. If you find that it's non-sense, and that it can never happen where the child will not tolerate such an environment, then your hopes of obtaining a good chance of entering one of these IVY LEAGUE colleges will be compromised. This is my suggestion.

[Otto 83]

Hi,

I hear here in the US one has to be pretty well rounded to get the scholarships or entry into the big schools. Does one know what things I can start doing NOW to prepare my kid who is now in elementary school to jin one of those big league schools...I dont know any big shots,being an immigrant for starters!

Winner,

There are countless success stories of immigrants who went to both big-league and 'regular'-schools. Depends on the definition of Big Dogs - but since the country is founded on immigrants, I bet there are plenty.

First thing you can do is start a college savings fund NOW. Speak with some financial planners about how to do this - the earlier the better. Don't count on scholarships - if they come, that's great.

Of course Grades are important - not so much in grammar school, as far as the transcripts themselves, but at that stage it's what is being learned. Providing a comfortable learning situation is important - allowing the child to want to learn.

At high-school - grades are more important, the higher the better - the more advanced coursework, the better. But that's not the total package. Many people applying for top-level schools have high GPAs - after that they look at how rounded the student is. Extra curricular activities - hobbies, talents, abilities, etc. Plays piano, speaks 4 languages, plays sports, excels in science or math, etc.

There are a lot of resources on the internet to help..

[Niels Bohr 72]

Winner,

One more thing I would like to add that may be of an assistance. I grew up in an Asian family because I am Asian. My parents were always very strict on my schooling. They made sure that I will not embarrass them, and that I will bring honor to the family name. We have very strict standard. We want to make sure we were the best, better than everybody. That would be a very good mentality to promote your child competitiveness into these schools. You do not want to bring drama to your children by having them distracted by boyfriends, or girlfriends.

A warning. When I applied to MIT, and got rejected was not because of my grades. As a matter of fact, one hundred valedictorians got rejected, not just me. Otto is right. You need to be well rounded in extra-curricular. Not just that. Your child must lead the group, must show true leadership. He/She must be the President of Varsity or sports group, or did something that affected your city's population. I did exactly just that, and still I did not get accepted. The disappointment of all the hard studying, all nighters didn't pay off for acceptance. That's true reality.

If you want to know how I obtain the information on the admission, it is because I spoke casually with one of the admission committee members when he came into my store.

[Caladan 19]

I think if you follow Are you l33t's advice you'll end up with a burned-out, boring child who didn't manage to get into the top universities and is suffering from depression at age 20. Kids at the top schools have Nintendos! They have friends! Trust me on this. (And those "bright kid" summer programs are run by independent agencies and have nothing to do with the university other than being hosted there and using its name. Money-maker by suckered parents.)

The very first thing you have to understand is that there isn't a guarantee. At the most selective schools, the acceptance rate is about 10%, and about 50% of applicants would have done just fine there. The flip side of that is that most top kids get in to one of their top choices. It is possible to get rejected from Princeton but accepted at Yale, &c. You can get a good classroom education at many schools; the Ivies and the elite privates, however, *do* have some of the best social networking and a lot more opportunities & funding. And as a result, the top schools are looking like they want less of a perfect student as more... well, a perfect potential entrant to the American ruling class. The Renaissance man.

I'm going to focus here mostly on what you can do to prepare your child, rather than the sorts of things you can do to game the system -- those can always change, and your kid won't be applying for another 15-20 years. Your child being the child of an immigrant will help, because the top schools want to have diverse and interesting classes, but it's not like that's practical advice. ("Yo, kid, get new parents.")

So, you want a child who is a top student. Colleges only look at your high school transcripts, but the preparation in the earlier grades helps. A private school for high school is a good choice, but a good public high school can prepare you, too. You want your child to *exhaust* the curriculum, and you want the curriculum to have advanced mathematics (third or fourth level calculus) and science (should have good facilities.) Grades are very important; your child should be shooting for straight As in difficult subjects.

Your child should love to read, and this should be encouraged as it's the best way to improve one's vocabulary and writing. Reading shouldn't be made into a punishment, but it should come ahead of TV and video games. The habit I would seek to instill is that schoolwork comes before play. And that's really the point of elementary school; learn some things, but mostly good habits. Your kid has to learn to love doing well and to love learning. So expect to take lots of trips to museums and science centers.

Your child should learn a foreign language. This should also be started very young. What language it is won't matter for college purposes. If your child can spend time in that country, that would help, too.

Your child should play a musical instrument and play a sport, if they have any kind of aptitude for either. If your child turns out to be phenomenally gifted in one or the other, that should be seriously pursued, but for the "average" highly talented Ivy Leaguer, chances are their resume looks something like this: straight As from strong high school, speaks French, has something *interesting* about them, plays a musical instrument with impressive skill if not virtuosity, plays a sport or is accomplished in dance. Most of them scored in the high 1400s on their SATs and are pretty normal kids otherwise. There are the superstars: the Olympic medalist, the professional violinist, the published writer, but you do *not* need to do that to get into Yale.

It's that "something interesting" that often makes or breaks a deal. So being a talented flamenco dancer would count more than being a talented ballet dancer, because the former is more rare and makes your child stand out. Everyone plays the violin and piano; but the harp is rare. Lots of kids run track; not as many are competitive snowboarders. That sort of thing.

So I would say, the basics are: your child should be a top student, and well-rounded, but with one "special" attribute that makes the admissions committee notice.

[Niels Bohr 72]

Caladan,

How do you know they'll be depressing? You probably don't know MIT have a pass/fail grading system for their freshman year. There is a very good reason for this. Most first year student do not get grades above a C.

And, second thing I want to address. Some people love learning. You, on the hand don't which I am truly sorry for you.

Edited April 9, 2007 by Are you l33t?

[Niels Bohr 72]

Winner,

Caladan never have any experience in IVY LEAGUE schools. Those who got there enjoy learning. They don't quite care about social life other than what they're doing in school. They like to talk about their major and what's new in the field. Those that play console games are the ones that usually drop out their freshman year in college. This is true for any University. You'll be able to tell that those in the Honors program in high school don't party often. And that they study a lot.

[Caladan 19]

I am at an Ivy League school, dumbass. You do not want to get into education comparisons with me. It will not go in your favor.

And yes, partying, depression, and burnout are very common in the Ivy League.

[Niels Bohr 72]

I am at an Ivy League school, dumbass. You do not want to get into education comparisons with me. It will not go in your favor.

And yes, partying, depression, and burnout are very common in the Ivy League.

"Dumbass."? Truly a graduate of lame vocabulary high school.

Edited April 9, 2007 by Are you l33t?

[mybackpages 0]

I am at an Ivy League school, dumbass. You do not want to get into education comparisons with me. It will not go in your favor.

And yes, partying, depression, and burnout are very common in the Ivy League.

"Dumbass."? Truly a graduate of lame vocabulary high school.

New name, same attitude I see. Pity.

[Caladan 19]

Just an observation that is perfectly apt for someone whose way of arguing seems to be "This person, who I don't know, doesn't have any experience so IGNORE AND LISTEN TO ME THE ONE WHO DIDN'T GET IN." How the hell would you know?

An Ivy League candidate will be focused mostly on academic achievement, but that's hardly the only criterion. And I can promise you that Ivy League kids go to movies and have friends and go out partying. They don't let it become a distraction, but it's just flat out false to say that they don't have anything going on besides studying. They're the busiest kids I know; it's more of a work hard, play hard sort of thing.

On the other hand, are you l33t? is making my case for me. Worked his butt off, didn't have any outside distractions, didn't get into M.I.T., bashes Amherst grads, insists he IS TOO IS TOO just as good and is so well balanced that he's obsessing over it on a Internet forum years after failing to get in.

[Niels Bohr 72]

mybackpackages,

In regards to your message, I did not inttend to change my name. I wanted to change the member statement, however, I did not know I cannot change that. Couldn't you think? I think not. Why would I hide myself under a new name?

Who is attacking who? I am not attacking you, mybackpackages. It shows who you are.

Caladan,

You ignored other people experiences. Hence, you put out your argument against mines and attacking me. I wonder who pushed first. I tried to be reasonable as not to offend you. But, you give me no choice. My experience at an IVY LEAGUE is different from yours, if you ever had one.

Edited April 9, 2007 by Are you l33t?

[Caladan 19]

I didn't ignore your experience. I gave my own. It disagreed with your account. That's only an attack if you're a crazy person. (Granted, I am unwilling to rule out that possibility.)

I'm not going to say false things just to make you feel better about yourself.

As for attacking you, had I wanted to, I wouldn't need to; you do such an excellent job of making a fool out of yourself just by continuing to type.

[Niels Bohr 72]

I didn't ignore your experience. I gave my own. It disagreed with your account. That's only an attack if you're a crazy person. (Granted, I am unwilling to rule out that possibility.)

I'm not going to say false things just to make you feel better about yourself.

As for attacking you, had I wanted to, I wouldn't need to; you do such an excellent job of making a fool out of yourself just by continuing to type.

Same can be said about your type.

Edited April 9, 2007 by Are you l33t?

[Caladan 19]

Hardly.