[stupac2]

"I would bet that more than 90% of the entering students at elite institutions had parents who did at least one of these things: "
*paid for extra college counseling. "Have you decided where you want to go to college?  Oh, Stanford?  That's nice dear, I hope you get in..."
*paid for SAT training "Remember to get lots of sleep, you've got the SAT tomorrow, dear"
* paid for lessons or memberships in extracurricular activities designed to enhance the application "OK, I cleared out the garage so we can pull the engine out of the MG."
* paid for study abroad opportunities  "Why don't you take some classes at Pasadena City College, dear?"
* use personal connections to arrange for summer internships [Did my intern summer working construction building the new Lockheed Aircraft assembly plant in Palmdale ]
*paid for travel expenses for college visits and interviews. [Chipped in $20 for food so me and friend could pile into a car and piggyback on the freebees for Steve Jubb's football recruiting visit]

The numbers of students who could figure out how to do all of this by themselves without parental helicoptering is tiny.

To be fair, things have changed quite a bit in recent years. Getting into Stanford is something like 3 times harder than when I applied, and I'm 28...

[stupac2]

"I would bet that more than 90% of the entering students at elite institutions had parents who did at least one of these things: "
*paid for extra college counseling. "Have you decided where you want to go to college?  Oh, Stanford?  That's nice dear, I hope you get in..."
*paid for SAT training "Remember to get lots of sleep, you've got the SAT tomorrow, dear"
* paid for lessons or memberships in extracurricular activities designed to enhance the application "OK, I cleared out the garage so we can pull the engine out of the MG."
* paid for study abroad opportunities  "Why don't you take some classes at Pasadena City College, dear?"
* use personal connections to arrange for summer internships [Did my intern summer working construction building the new Lockheed Aircraft assembly plant in Palmdale ]
*paid for travel expenses for college visits and interviews. [Chipped in $20 for food so me and friend could pile into a car and piggyback on the freebees for Steve Jubb's football recruiting visit]

The numbers of students who could figure out how to do all of this by themselves without parental helicoptering is tiny.

To be fair, things have changed quite a bit in recent years. Getting into Stanford is something like 3 times harder than when I applied, and I'm 28...