

I can get your kid into an Ivy - imgabe
http://finance.yahoo.com/college-education/article/103709/I-Can-Get-Your-Kid-Into-an-Ivy

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whacked_new
Great, someone has figured out the recipe for high-performing, cookie-cutter
drones. They might as well submit their super-early-action resumes to Wall
Street alongside their college applications.

I have so many more snide remarks to make about this, but I can't say there
aren't upsides... at least it tells you there is always a way, if you're
willing to find it.

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rontr
I actually think she's creating something very different from drones. It
sounds like she's pushing kids to do extraordinary things that they wouldn't
think of doing by themselves, but as long as those are the things about which
the kids are passionate (music, science, photography, etc). Even if the end
goal is to get into a good college, I don't think it diminishes from those
kids' achievements under her guidance.

In the end, it sounds like if the parents and the kids were a bit creative
they wouldn't need that woman's services. But she helps the would-be
uncreative drones be less drone-like, and that's what helps them get admitted.

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paulgb
Ok, but how many of her clients would still be clients if the tag line was "I
push your kids to do extraordinary things". I could be wrong, but I think the
target audience wants to trade their money for a college acceptance,
regardless of the means.

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icky
She's hacked the system. This can only be a good thing if it forces the
schools to patch it.

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steveplace
1) This is wrong.

2) Why didn't I think of it first.

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aswanson
I can't knock her hustle but she genuinely annoys me.

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utnick
it would be cool if people did things they wanted to do instead of things that
look good on applications

if colleges didn't care about them, I think membership in student council,
natl honor society, habitat for humanity, chess club, band, etc, etc would
fall by 99%

people should just be real

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Alex3917
Article is incorrect. The Academic Index is an agreement between the Ivies
about the minimum GPA/SAT necessary for recruited athletes. The cutoff is
different for each school, based on the average of the overall student body.
However the AI has nothing to do with the general admissions process.

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imgabe
I don't doubt that you're right in the stated purpose of the AI, but that
doesn't necessarily mean the admissions officers don't use it for anything
else.

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streblo
I know a lot of people who were able to get into ivies or ivy league caliber
schools without paying 40k. They did it on their own, for free. If you have to
pay 40k to get your kid into an ivy, they probably don't belong there in the
first place.

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edw519
As I read this article, part of me was disgusted, but another part kept
saying, "Brilliant!"

What a business model...

Find prospects with essentially unlimited resources and find out what they
CAN'T buy. Then provide a service to dramatically increase their probability
of getting it. Do that service excellently. And, most of all, find a way to
guarantee (if even only semantically) your success.

I know tons of people with lots of money who constantly surprise me with how
they spend it chasing something they CAN'T BUY. They chauffer their kids back
and forth to every imaginable activity (to improve their chances later on).
They take vitamins, eat weird foods, and go to "holistic" retreats to "insure"
their health and longevity. They even donate tons of money to religious and
spiritual institutions to insure their place in the "world to come".

They can't buy any of it. But they sure can pay to improve their odds. I say
this woman is really onto something.

Now if only I could find my angle...

For only $49,995, I will guarantee your ycombinator application gets accepted
in the next round. This includes personal start-up business counseling and 2
weeks at my exclusive retreat at a world class resort.

(This guarantee doesn't apply to lame ideas or applicants. "Lame" to be
defined by me at a later date.)

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reitzensteinm
Or just offer a money back guarantee and honour it. Make 50k off of the 20%
who make it through, and Robert's yer mother's brother.

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sethg
Alan Dershowitz once told the story of a court clerk who would approach the
plaintiffs in every trial and say "For $5,000 I'll try to convince the judge
to rule in your favor. If you still lose the case I'll give you your money
back." Then he would make the same offer to the defendants.

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aston
His mistake was not keeping the vigorish.

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edw519
OTOH, with the speed of our court system, he probably could've made a nice
little income on the interest.

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mynameishere
Hey, if she was a publishing agent, she would take 15 percent of all the kids'
future salaries.

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jey
depressing.

