In light of today's SC ruling, I am curious as to how posters think the landscape will change for this upcoming class, and for classes in the future, especially at more "elite" universities. Does anyone believe anything substantive will change, other than maybe a de-emphasis of standardized testing (no hard data of reverse discrimination = no threat of running afoul of the ruling)?

I agree, I was wondering about it on a larger scale and in particular with respect to private and super selective universities, such as the universities that were the subject of the lawsuit brought before the Supreme Court.

94chem said:

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For years the elite colleges have been using early decision to get wealthy, mostly white, families to subsidize lower income, mostly black, families. The university offers admission if the student commits first, with no promise of financial aid. Of course, only the wealthy can afford to do this. If they back out, the university black-lists them by colluding with any other elite schools. The university holds all the cards, but the wealthy applicants don't care.

Then the university plays the diversity card by offering extreme financial incentives to the low income applicants. By using race, they can build their diversity. Meanwhile, there's a group of middle class students who may get a little aid, but the university generally tells them that if they want it bad enough, they'll just borrow $250K and suck it up. If the middle class applicant doesn't want to do this, they'll find some other gullible family who will. The private universities are full of kids paying $50-$60K/year, when they could have attended state flagships for half that amount.

Now, what will happen: the the elite universities will have to expand the bottom and top tier acceptances if they want to retain their racial make-up. The ultimate result will be even less financial aid available for the middle class.

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This is my first go-around in the college application arena since I was young. It was a LOT simpler back then.
I hope things aren't / don't get as bad as what you say above. I would think that the example of elite universities getting full pay from some kids would mean either that the kids are as academically qualified as all of the other accepted students, OR the parents are super wealthy donors to the school already. I would imagine those would be small numbers.

As far as recruitment of minorities, personally I do not think that much is going to change going forward. "Our diversity is our strength" will always be the mantra. These universities will just get more clever about their acceptances and rejections, and I can't imagine that they will mandate standardized testing for long (if they haven't already dropped that requirement). It will all be about the personal statement, even though AI will make those even more of a joke than they probably are already.

Another Doug said:

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Probably doesn't make much difference at A&M , top 10% rule opens doors to a lot of minorities.

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But wasn't the goal of the Top 10% Rule to ensure the creation of ethnically diverse student populations at public institutions of higher learning in the state? Clarence Thomas shot down the "benefits" of an ethnically diverse population in his concurring opinion. It seems to me that if challenged, the 10% rule could no longer withstand constitutional scrutiny such that the premise of Fisher v. UT could no longer be substantiated. Thoughts?

The theory behind it is not race based, but economic inquality makes it "beneficial" to minorites in Texas. IMO, if state schools are going to take state money then kids from every school district should have a chance to go to the flagships.

94chem said:

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For years the elite colleges have been using early decision to get wealthy, mostly white, families to subsidize lower income, mostly black, families. The university offers admission if the student commits first, with no promise of financial aid. Of course, only the wealthy can afford to do this. If they back out, the university black-lists them by colluding with any other elite schools. The university holds all the cards, but the wealthy applicants don't care.

Then the university plays the diversity card by offering extreme financial incentives to the low income applicants. By using race, they can build their diversity. Meanwhile, there's a group of middle class students who may get a little aid, but the university generally tells them that if they want it bad enough, they'll just borrow $250K and suck it up. If the middle class applicant doesn't want to do this, they'll find some other gullible family who will. The private universities are full of kids paying $50-$60K/year, when they could have attended state flagships for half that amount.

Now, what will happen: the the elite universities will have to expand the bottom and top tier acceptances if they want to retain their racial make-up. The ultimate result will be even less financial aid available for the middle class.

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You could have written the opinion piece below (you nearly did) from the WSJ. Hopefully if it is still behind a paywall, it will be only a few days.

Harvard Discriminates Against Middle-Class Kids

From the article, written in response to complaints about Harvard's preferences for wealthy children of alums and large donors:

A trio of economists found that for high-school graduates between 2010-15, a legacy or a child of a donor or faculty who ranked in the top 20% of his high-school class was four to six times as likely to be admitted as other students with similar qualifications.

Harvard's system of racial and family preferences punishes middle-class white and Asian-American kids who don't enjoy an inside track. A white student who doesn't belong to one of the privileged groups would see his odds increase fivefold if one of his parents had graduated from Harvard. Other elite colleges offer similarly large legs up to legacies.

Harvard's system of racial and family preferences punishes middle-class white and Asian-American kids who don't enjoy an inside track. A white student who doesn't belong to one of the privileged groups would see his odds increase fivefold if one of his parents had graduated from Harvard. Other elite colleges offer similarly large legs up to legacies.

Most of these articles miss the point. They think the discrimination against the middle class is mostly about admissions. Admissions is not the issue at all. My child is a NMS, top 10 in class, you name it. She got in to UNC, Rice, Swarthmore, Emory, WashU, Indiana, Ohio State...in every case, she failed to check off the right diversity boxes, so it would have been a minimum of $220,000 to go to the lowest cost place. Sorry, I didn't save for 25 years, only to have to borrow $150+K for college. We didn't fall for it. They had to go find another sucker.

Most of those privates schools have pretty high threshold need based aid, if you have to pay full price you probably aren't as middle class as you think. With the OOS publics, the flagships getting pretty full between the instate and reciprocity states that it's just not worth it to throw money at OOS students.

At the end of the day, all schools need some students paying sticker price. I Agree though, let some other sucker do it.

We didn't have to pay full price. They were knocking $20K/year off, bringing the total down to $50 - $55K. 3 people in college, and 3 more to go. You're talking ~$1.5M in college tuition, knocked down to a bargain price of $1.2M. It's only due to many years of frugality that we would only have to borrow half that amount. In the end, there's just no value proposition that justifies it. When you set emotion aside, there are just too many good options available for < ~$30K/yr.

Perhaps a dumb question, but whats the checks/balances if a white applicant wants to be hispanic that day? Seriously why not just select that box?

Also how granular do these schools get checking out a families finances? I assume they may ask for tax returns, but those will not show what the family has in the bank, correct?

BoDog said:

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Perhaps a dumb question, but whats the checks/balances if a white applicant wants to be hispanic that day? Seriously why not just select that box?

Also how granular do these schools get checking out a families finances? I assume they may ask for tax returns, but those will not show what the family has in the bank, correct?

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Question 1, morals, risk of being called pocahontas later in life

Question 2, if you are looking for need based aid, I think you have to do a FAFSA, and it is a federal crime to lie on it.

I thought FAFSA only applies to federal loans? What about XYZ private school who asks these questions on their application?

You still have to fill out a FAFSA if you are looking to get need based aid. I guess you could lie on other parts of the application but not sure how that helps.

I'm also curious if Avant Garde or Double B, or any others involved in college admissions, feel that this year seems to be or will be "different" in terms of admissions for high academic achieving non-minority students. Anybody "on the inside" know what changes schools are making, if any at all? My son is in that category. He isn't exactly excited about attending our state school, and I have also heard absolute nightmare stories about kids who are extremely academically qualified not getting offers from what I would call more "elite" schools.

The odds are slanted against white kids at highly selective universities and getting worse every year. The left is going hard after athletes and legacies in an effort to virtually shut the last of the non Jewish white kids out. Right now many Ivy League schools are reporting demographic breakdowns that are well under 40% white, and a high percentage of those spots are taken by Jewish kids. If you are not a hard left applicant willing to answer essay questions in a manner that will identify you as such, your work is cut out for you as a white male. Especially as a non Jewish and/or middle class white make.

He Who Shall Be Unnamed said:

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I'm also curious if Avant Garde or Double B, or any others involved in college admissions, feel that this year seems to be or will be "different" in terms of admissions for high academic achieving non-minority students. Anybody "on the inside" know what changes schools are making, if any at all? My son is in that category. He isn't exactly excited about attending our state school, and I have also heard absolute nightmare stories about kids who are extremely academically qualified not getting offers from what I would call more "elite" schools.

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Thank you for inquiring about my opinion on this matter. I've delayed weighing in because I was waiting to hear more about it, but honestly, there hasn't been much chatter related to this decision since it was announced.

IMO, colleges will still pursue their diversity goals and with the advent of test-optional, it gives them enough cover to continue with their current practices. So I doubt the numbers or results drastically change because of this legislation.

However, I am hearing that more colleges, especially those with large application numbers will adopt more AI into their admission decision practices. I see this as a means of quickly eliminating a good portion of applicants that are among the bottom 25%. However, there's been some form of this around for a while as I remember TAMU implementing this with their scholarship application back in 2010. They didn't use "AI" but moved away from the manual review process and adopted an algorithm to score each applicant on a scale from 1 - 100.

If you're really interested in learning about the admissions process, the best book to read is by Jeffrey Selingo, "Who Gets In and Why: A Year Inside College Admission."

The college admission game for SELECTIVE COLLEGES has completely changed within the last decade and is no longer about well-rounded students -- there are just way too many good applicants with solid GPAs and test scores. I often tell families, if you're child is well-rounded, then they are average in today's applicant pool. Colleges today want to see students who are "Angular", which means students who pursued high school with intentionality and purpose.

It's about creating the following for your student:

• Deep, intellectual curiosities. There is more information at their fingertips than any generation before them. Students can literally educate themselves on any subject matter and there is no need to step into a classroom.
• Meaningful Relationships. It's not about quantity, but the quality of relationships that they create with people. Teachers that serve as mentors, or other individuals in their lives (not mom or dad) that can positively influence them and help them further derive meaning and interpretation of life experiences.
• Sense of Purpose and Commitment: How is your education and the relationships you are forging helping you contribute to your community, or society as a whole? What kind challenges is the local non-profit you're student volunteering for facing and how does their education/experiences interact with it? How can they further contribute in a meaningful manner to their community.

Texas A&M is not quite there, but it is approaching this level for many who live in the suburban regions of the state.

Thanks for your response. We are strapping in for what I expect will be a rough ride through the admissions process. He has great scores and a significant number of extracurriculars in a specific area (politics), but his politics aren't exactly in line with what the educational system seems to value. Honors College at our state school will save me money, but, again, it isn't exactly what he was looking for in many ways. Thanks again.

I would suggest you consider Hillsdale if you are not looking for a heavily STEM oriented college. At least your kid will not be penalized for being white or conservative there. The academics are quite good too.

Buck Turgidson said:

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The odds are slanted against white kids at highly selective universities and getting worse every year. The left is going hard after athletes and legacies in an effort to virtually shut the last of the non Jewish white kids out. Right now many Ivy League schools are teporting demographic breakdowns that are well under 40% white, and a high percentage of those spots are taken by Jewish kids. If you are not a hard left applicant willing to answer essay questions in a manner that will identify you as such, your work is cut out for you as a white male. Especially as a non Jewish and/or middle class white make.

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I've had several students with conservative or moderate beliefs successfully admitted to those schools without compromising their principles in their essay responses. In reality, it's exceedingly uncommon for a student's political affiliation to even come up. What truly matters is cultivating a collection of rich life experiences that are deeply understood, and then articulating meaningful life lessons in an essay.

Thanks. Without saying too much, there really couldn't be too much doubt about my son's politics based on what he has done and what is on his resume. He has very good grades and outstanding test scores, and will without a doubt be admitted to our state's flagship school. He should be an automatic admit into the Honors Program. That being said, I think if he wants to get into one of his "reach" schools, someone in the Admissions Department is going to have to look past the fact that he is Caucasian, upper middle class but not "donor class", and very conservative.

As to applying to Hillsdale, we aren't going to be applying there and he's not interested in going there. He does not shy from discussions/debates with others. Going to a school where there are liberals as well doesn't really scare or intimidate him. He has been in the world long enough to know what the temperature in academia is. Besides, I would have concerns that he would be "pigeon holed" if he were to attend there anyway.

Thanks again for both responses.

Buck Turgidson said:

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The odds are slanted against white kids at highly selective universities and getting worse every year. The left is going hard after athletes and legacies in an effort to virtually shut the last of the non Jewish white kids out. Right now many Ivy League schools are teporting demographic breakdowns that are well under 40% white, and a high percentage of those spots are taken by Jewish kids. If you are not a hard left applicant willing to answer essay questions in a manner that will identify you as such, your work is cut out for you as a white male. Especially as a non Jewish and/or middle class white make.

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While I don't dismiss this at all I think it is more complicated than that. The deck is stacked against an upper middle class white male in many ways because a lot of assumptions can be made about them ironically. Thus the key is don't act like a victim and find ways to make yourself stand out. I have been listening to A LOT of Podcasts and reading Blogs from Admissions folks lately trying to really understand the process and what makes the difference for kids as my son is a Junior with strong academics who is going to be going through it next year. I've learned an awful lot though I am not an expert, the key is listening to many opinions and looking for the common threads.

Part of the issue is everyone is gaming the system and there is so much more information available now. So a lot of the old paradigms have shifted. I would not want to be an admissions officer today. For instance you have stuff like the Common App that has a lot of benefits but it also has made it so that kids can apply to many more schools than they did in the past very easily. You have a lot of the top students that apply to all of the Top 25 schools either as a shotgun approach or out of ego as it is like a competitive sport to them. Personally I don't understand why someone would apply to a bunch of schools you have no intention of attending, a few for sure but many of these kids apply to dozens.

So the key is how do you stand out. Avante knows what he is talking about and I have seen it confirmed. If you are a white male with strong grades and typical EC's and an essay that reads like a hundred others you are unlikely to be admitted. Same with an Asian. One thing that has surprised me is learning that it really is more about getting over a bar in terms of academics and not trying to go for every point you can. The difference between a 1550 on an SAT and a 1600 is negligible, even a 1500 vs a 1600. Everyone's got a 3.9/40 as well. The next thing is AP Classes and if you are taking the most rigorous schedule you can, they want to see you challenged. The more you have a focused background as well that also helps. It's about telling your story and making it compelling and different, trying to get that Admissions officer to read your application and essays and go "That's a special kid" and someone they will want to fight for.

The reality is you might get unlucky on who reviews your app as well. One of the most interesting things I have seen is how kids who have been admitted to these top schools can go back and review their application and how it was reviewed. Often you see where they had 2 reviewers and 1 was very positive and the other was more marginal. One reviewer can read an essay and have a very different take than another and that goes far beyond race or sex. Hell you could just get unlucky and they are having a bad day or be one of the last ones they read vs the first ones, they are still human beings and many schools have 50k plus applications. You have to have a tight, compelling application that can get you in the "yes" pile in just a few minutes of review. Then there is an element of luck in terms of who the other applicants are that fill out the class. They can't admit everyone in the same major and they don't want everyone from the same small group of HS's or region with the same interests.

BTW, the gaming of the system is only getting worse and the competition more fierce. My son is "Double Pace" at his HS and is taking AP Calc as a Junior which used to be rare. He has 3 Freshman in his Calc class now and 8 Sophomores (all Asian). I mean that's 4 years ahead of the "normal" schedule of finishing HS with Pre Calc. I'm sure that's happening elsewhere at top end HS's. I remember when I started at A&M of my 23 fish buddies in the Corps only 4 had taken Calculus in HS at all. None of us had more than 10 hours of college credit before starting. It's not that we weren't smart it's just the resources and speed of things is so different now with the flow of information. Simply a different world.

As I have become more familiar with the process I am more convinced than ever that it is a crapshoot and who you have review your application pretty much seals the deal or not.

Again, my stepson got into Florida business which has a higher ranking and lower admission rate than Mays-yet he did not get into Mays. Dont get me wrong-I know Mays is insanely competitive but its a wonder to me why Florida thought he was qualified and A&M did not.... not to mention this is a kid living in Texas and not Florida.

My son's top choice school is having him do an alumna interview this weekend. I looked up the LinkedIn of the alumna and she is a minority female who works in San Francisco at a large corporation. Her minor in college was Women' and Gender Studies. Unreal bad luck and just one more data point that makes me think, as do others in this thread, apparently, that the hetero upper middle class White male is still SOL, as they say.

He Who Shall Be Unnamed said:

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My son's top choice school is having him do an alumna interview this weekend. I looked up the LinkedIn of the alumna and she is a minority female who works in San Francisco at a large corporation. Her minor in college was Women' and Gender Studies. Unreal bad luck and just one more data point that makes me think, as do others in this thread, apparently, that the hetero upper middle class White male is still SOL, as they say.

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Check out the school's Common Data Set and see if the interview is even considered in the student's admission decision. You can locate that information under "Section C-7."

More often than not, it's just an opportunity for the student to familiarize themselves with the school and to ask questions that help them understand the campus environment.

He Who Shall Be Unnamed said:

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My son's top choice school is having him do an alumna interview this weekend. I looked up the LinkedIn of the alumna and she is a minority female who works in San Francisco at a large corporation. Her minor in college was Women' and Gender Studies. Unreal bad luck and just one more data point that makes me think, as do others in this thread, apparently, that the hetero upper middle class White male is still SOL, as they say.

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Your son should focus on common ground topics (how nice it is to hike in northern CA, how much he enjoys certain things about the school campus, etc.). He also should say that he really enjoys understanding other peoples viewpoints and hearing about their life experiences.

Since his politics is obvious based on activities he partook in during school, I would suggest he owns it and try to be a leftist's favorite token conservative. Your son should convey that he has certain beliefs but that he is not incompatible with the school, the culture, or higher academia. He needs to seem very open minded and willing to learn, and that he enjoys differences of opinions and understanding/debating others.

As an example, every top institution has a spot for a Ben Shapiro, the key is being perceived as smart and open to debate and as someone who considers all sides of a given issue.

It could work to your son's benefit. It's definitely a differentiator and a chance at showing good character.

AvantGarde-CollegePrep said:

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He Who Shall Be Unnamed said:

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My son's top choice school is having him do an alumna interview this weekend. I looked up the LinkedIn of the alumna and she is a minority female who works in San Francisco at a large corporation. Her minor in college was Women' and Gender Studies. Unreal bad luck and just one more data point that makes me think, as do others in this thread, apparently, that the hetero upper middle class White male is still SOL, as they say.

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Check out the school's Common Data Set and see if the interview is even considered in the student's admission decision. You can locate that information under "Section C-7."

More often than not, it's just an opportunity for the student to familiarize themselves with the school and to ask questions that help them understand the campus environment.

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Great information, thanks again! I was able to find that section, and under "Interview", it is listed as "important". No other interviews are scheduled, and so I am assuming the alumnae interview is what they are talking about.

AggieKeith15 said:

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He Who Shall Be Unnamed said:

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My son's top choice school is having him do an alumna interview this weekend. I looked up the LinkedIn of the alumna and she is a minority female who works in San Francisco at a large corporation. Her minor in college was Women' and Gender Studies. Unreal bad luck and just one more data point that makes me think, as do others in this thread, apparently, that the hetero upper middle class White male is still SOL, as they say.

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Your son should focus on common ground topics (how nice it is to hike in northern CA, how much he enjoys certain things about the school campus, etc.). He also should say that he really enjoys understanding other peoples viewpoints and hearing about their life experiences.

Since his politics is obvious based on activities he partook in during school, I would suggest he owns it and try to be a leftist's favorite token conservative. Your son should covey that he has certain beliefs but that he is not incompatible with the school, the culture, or higher academia. He needs to seem very open minded and willing to learn, and that he enjoys differences of opinions and understanding/debating others.

As an example, every top institution has a spot for a Ben Shapiro, the key is being perceived as smart and open to debate and considers all sides.

It could work to your son's benefit. It's definitely a differentiator and a chance at showing good character.

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Thanks for your answer. All good advice. The school is not in northern CA, but the lady who will interview him is. My son visited San Francisco when he was quite young, the only thing he really remembers about it is going to Alcatraz.

I will try to coach him a bit on the interview, without coaching him too much or making him overly anxious about it. With regards to your example about being open to debate and considering all sides, my son definitely likes debating. In fact, when he was only about 13 or 14, he set up and hosted online debates for teenagers. Unfortunately, a number of the conservative teenagers got "doxxed" for their views, with students from the Left threatening to report them to their schools as promoting "hate speech". He ended up just shutting it down.

At the end of the day, I think you are right about where he might get a spot at a top institution - as the token punching bag for the liberal students/faculty. To be honest, it wouldn't really bother him all that much. Some institution is going to have to "think outside the box" if they are going to bring him in.

He Who Shall Be Unnamed said:

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My son's top choice school is having him do an alumna interview this weekend. I looked up the LinkedIn of the alumna and she is a minority female who works in San Francisco at a large corporation. Her minor in college was Women' and Gender Studies. Unreal bad luck and just one more data point that makes me think, as do others in this thread, apparently, that the hetero upper middle class White male is still SOL, as they say.

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I would just tell your son to be relaxed, open minded and friendly. Focus on the school and the reasons he wants to attend there. Say that he enjoys being challenged and exposed to different environments. In short don't let him be baited. If it goes poorly that may be a sign as well that it just wasn't meant to be.

Inevitably every school and pros and cons and for there are always other options. Best of luck to him!

AvantGarde-CollegePrep said:

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Buck Turgidson said:

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The odds are slanted against white kids at highly selective universities and getting worse every year. The left is going hard after athletes and legacies in an effort to virtually shut the last of the non Jewish white kids out. Right now many Ivy League schools are reporting demographic breakdowns that are well under 40% white, and a high percentage of those spots are taken by Jewish kids. If you are not a hard left applicant willing to answer essay questions in a manner that will identify you as such, your work is cut out for you as a white male. Especially as a non Jewish and/or middle class white make.

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I've had several students with conservative or moderate beliefs successfully admitted to those schools without compromising their principles in their essay responses. In reality, it's exceedingly uncommon for a student's political affiliation to even come up. What truly matters is cultivating a collection of rich life experiences that are deeply understood, and then articulating meaningful life lessons in an essay.

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Its less obvious than simply asking on an application if you are a leftist or not. The essay questions and application blanks are used more subtly to put together a picture of the student as probably liberal or not. I am even open to the idea that you simply have a far left group of admissions staff reviewing applications at most of these schools and they are simply picking the kids that appeal to them and those are naturally going to be overwhelmingly leftist without them having to explicitly think "is this kid a liberal or conservative?". Either way, highly qualified white, conservative males will be largely excluded.

The following survey of Harvard students illustrates how skewed the entering classes are. In the class of 2024 only about 7% identify as conservative. That is not an accident. https://features.thecrimson.com/2020/freshman-survey/lifestyle/

Buck, it is a zero sum game. You just have to play and beat them at their own game. Your son sounds like a super bright kid. Talking and writing in generalities should be easy for him.

One of my sons is currently shooting for Rice & MIT. Rice has gone completely off the woke cliff with the new university president. I am not feeling good about his chances to be a third generation Rice student in our family based on the current administration. Also, he probably isn't going to be a D-1 scholarship athlete, so that door is likely not open.

I actually still hope he has a shot at MIT as an athlete. For one thing, I think MIT tends to be less focused on leftist bull**** than the actual Ivy League schools. If he can top a 1500 on the SAT and continue making straight A's while taking all the AP classes offered by his school, I think he can potentially be of interest to the basketball coach. They are DIII - while that means no academic scholarships, it still means the coaches can help a qualified athlete move to the front of a long line of other qualified applicants. BTW, another kid from his school just did the same thing last year, except he's playing football there. We are trying to copy his strategy.

Buck Turgidson said:

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AvantGarde-CollegePrep said:

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Buck Turgidson said:

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The odds are slanted against white kids at highly selective universities and getting worse every year. The left is going hard after athletes and legacies in an effort to virtually shut the last of the non Jewish white kids out. Right now many Ivy League schools are reporting demographic breakdowns that are well under 40% white, and a high percentage of those spots are taken by Jewish kids. If you are not a hard left applicant willing to answer essay questions in a manner that will identify you as such, your work is cut out for you as a white male. Especially as a non Jewish and/or middle class white make.

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I've had several students with conservative or moderate beliefs successfully admitted to those schools without compromising their principles in their essay responses. In reality, it's exceedingly uncommon for a student's political affiliation to even come up. What truly matters is cultivating a collection of rich life experiences that are deeply understood, and then articulating meaningful life lessons in an essay.

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Its less obvious that simply asking on application if you are a leftist or not. The essay questions and application blanks are used more subtly to put together a picture of the student as probably liberal or not. I am even open to the idea that you have a far left group of admissions staff reviewing applications at most of these schools and they are simply picking the kids that appeal to them and those are naturally going to be overwhelmingly leftist without them having to explicitly think "is this kid a liberal or conservative?". Either way, highly qualified white, conservative males will be largely excluded.

The following survey of Harvard students illustrates how skewed the entering classes are. In the class of 2024 only about 7% identify as conservative. That is not an accident. https://features.thecrimson.com/2020/freshman-survey/lifestyle/

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I live in this world and spend six months each year assisting students with their college essays. Yes, a few colleges have more "pointed" questions, but the vast majority are not slanted in that way. And if they are, just like the post above giving advice to an interview, there is always a path to counter it. For many questions, the student can address each prompt very well by drawing lessons learned from their life experiences.

However, I've assisted students from the East Coast to the West Coast and three other continents, and a student's political affiliation is never a concern for me. If your student is equipped with rich life experiences, they will have plenty of material to draw from for their essays.

There is a lot of angst on this thread about the process. It is this way because the application numbers for these schools are too large (and they get bigger each year), and the game is amplified with each passing year because there are simply more resources available to students. I strongly recommend that families stop focusing on something they cannot control. You can't change it. However, you can manage the academic grades, rigor, test scores, and how well you assemble their college resume. And at the very least, if your student falls short of one of these schools, plenty of colleges will reward them for their hard work.