THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
How To Get Your Kids Into Elite Colleges
WITHOUT SCANDALS
I am sure you became aware of the college admissions scandal led by ringleader Rick Singer. Mr. Singer and a number of wealthy parents are now in jail. While parents do want the best for their kids, there is a fine line between preparing your kids well vs. being grossly unethical. Jason Ma, CEO and Chief Mentor, ThreeEQ
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This year, the Ivy League schools and other elite colleges and universities have reported their lowest admit rates in history. Meanwhile, in reality, many students lucky enough to attend these highly competitive schools are stressed-out or anxiety-ridden. This is exacerbated by the pandemic, which has wreaked havoc across the entire college prep, admissions, and attendance space. From an elite college’s perspective, booksmart high schoolers with lots of extracurricular activities are a dime a dozen. Unfortunately, the Ivies, Stanford, MIT, and other very elite schools can accept only a small fraction of their highly qualified applicants (e.g., Harvard’s latest freshmen admit rate: under 4%). I have uncomfortably seen some amazing kids—valedictorians with a perfect SAT or ACT score, a 4.0/4.0 unweighted GPA with strong curriculum rigor, lots of extracurricular activities, and many honors/awards—get flatly rejected by a top Ivy or Stanford. So, just what does it take to get admitted? How to truly prepare well for college and beyond? Throughout high school, young achievers must learn how to realize their authentic best self, while navigating the complex and often stressful college planning and application process. My perspective is that college should be an integral part of a much longer journey. I encourage my own private client
