alt Hacker News> My neighborhood and social circle have a number of high school age children, some aiming for high ranking universities.
> None of them have these grueling 15 hour day schedules you’re describing.
Hate to break it to you mate but none of them are getting in. Anyone who lives in a neighborhood with a high proportion of kids making it to the Ivy league and other top schools knows exactly what this guy is talking about. If you think it's a fib just because you're not aware of it that's not exactly robust social commentary.
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Like, ivies and whatever are great. But overscheduling and overstessing to get into one isn't.
Many states have a guaranteed acceptance path to a state school and/or a path where you do two years at community college and can transfer into a state school to do two more and get a bachelors.
A great school on your degree can open doors at the beginning of your career, but missing out on that isn't some terrible tragedy.
The Ivy League (and top-tier) situation is out of control, and genuinely raises questions about whether institutions like this should exist.
> Anyone who lives in a neighborhood with a high proportion of kids making it to the Ivy league and other top schools knows exactly what this guy is talking about.
The person whose view you endorse supports what many parents believe. I’ve seen how the sausage is made, and he has it (mostly) wrong.
Many people seem to think that being more above average is the key to elite school admissions. It helps, and it’s directionally correct (one needs to show academic competence), but the key is to be truly exceptional in something.
Five extracurriculars is almost the same as one or even none if there was no demonstration of exceptional performance or leadership.
Taking the max load of AP classes versus just a few is not as helpful as people seem to think. Using one’s time to do something unique and/or exceptional would be time much better spent.
I beat this drum as often as I can here and elsewhere, but the upper middle class folks in that particular rat race don’t seem interested in hearing what I’m saying.