10. Likelies/Targets/Reaches #2
Mav knew of Davi Banerjee even before he arrived at Tiffin.
The girls at Colbert (including Mav’s Minxes) told him there was a “real influencer” who went to Tiffin; they consumed every scrap of content that Davi posted.
Mav knows that Davi is from London, which will help her a bit admissions-wise, though he has concerns about her extracurriculars.
“Schools like to see consistency,” Mav tells her. “It’s better to do one activity for all four years than half a dozen activities for a year or two. Admissions officers prefer depth to breadth, if that makes sense.”
Davi’s attention seems to be captured by the personal photos Mav keeps on his desk.
There’s one of Evan and Augie in their lacrosse uniforms and then one of the whole family—him, Amanda, Ev, and Augie—at the Grand Canyon the summer before last. Mav realizes it’s unusual to keep a picture of the woman who’s divorcing you on your desk.
Some people might say Mav is in denial about the end of his marriage.
Those people would be right.
“Is there a reason you dropped musical last year?” Mav asks. “And squash? What did you do instead?”
“Last year was challenging for me,” Davi says.
“My best friend, Cinnamon, died at the end of fourth-form, and she was the one who’d persuaded me to do the musical.
Without her, it felt pointless. I liked squash, but I was dealing with an eating disorder last winter, so I didn’t have the energy or the focus. ”
Mav leans in. He loves when students are real with him.
“I spent my free time last year studying vocab,” Davi says. “I brought up my verbal score on the SAT by a hundred and fifty points.”
“Impressive,” Mav says, meaning the effort. Davi’s scores are still a little low for Miami. “We should add some schools to your list. Have you considered St. Andrews?”
“In Scotland?” Davi says. “No, I want to go to school in the States.”
“You might want to reconsider—”
“I will not go to school anywhere in Great Britain,” Davi says.
“My parents have ruined home for me. They took a third person into their marriage, and I need to distance myself. They offered me a paid internship at their fashion label this past summer, but I chose to bus tables at a restaurant in Tuscany instead.” Davi gives Mav a frank look.
“I want an American college. I want Miami.”
“I’m sure you see yourself at a ‘hot’ school like Miami,” Mav says. “But trust me when I tell you that whatever school Davi Banerjee attends will become the hot school.”
“Aw, thanks,” Davi says. “That’s sweet.”
Mav writes: Charming, personable, surprisingly down-to-earth. Lost her best friend, developed an eating disorder, parents took a third person into their marriage (does this mean what I think it means?). Expect a great essay. Advise to retake SAT? Will fit in perfectly at Miami—rooting for her.
Olivia Hudezech-Tottingknaffer—UMiami
GPA 3.4; SAT 1420; thirds field hockey (third-, fourth-, and fifth-form); ’Bred Bulletin (sixth-form). Summer job: “nannying for the CEO of Fidelity Investments.”
“Miami certainly is popular this year,” Mav says.
Olivia H-T stiffens. “Why? Who else is applying there?”
Mav immediately identifies Olivia as one of those kids who obsesses about what everyone else is doing instead of focusing on herself.
The best thing for Olivia would be to apply to schools that no one else at Tiffin is considering—Rhodes College in Memphis if she wants the South, or Whitman College in Washington State.
Since money doesn’t seem to be an issue (Mav notes that Olivia is wearing three Cartier love bracelets and carrying a plum-colored Goyard bag), then what about High Point?
“Have you heard of High Point University in North Carolina?” Mav asks. “It has a five-star steak house on campus, a first-run movie theater, lots of amenities that you won’t find other places.”
“Did you tell Davi to apply to High Point?” Olivia asks.
Mav writes: Sheep.
This feels cruel, so he deletes it and writes: Follower.
Choosing Miami solely because it’s a hot school.
(Mav stops to wonder if this is true of Davi and Pippa also.
Maybe—but Mav can more easily picture them in Coral Gables.
He knows enough about student life at Miami to envision Olivia H-T crying on the phone to her mother because she didn’t get a bid from DPhiE or SDT during rush.)
Will nudge her toward High Point and warn her against egregious name-dropping (Fidelity, etc.).
Matilda “Tilly” Benbow—SMU
GPA 3.2; SAT 1310; field hockey, squash, lacrosse, DJ for Tiffin football games. Summer job: counselor at sailing camp, Newport, RI.
Were Mav’s instructions unclear? He asked each sixth-form student to come to him with a list of schools that they would then divide into likelies, targets, and reaches. What is up with these kids putting down only one school?
But when Tilly Benbow enters Mav’s office, he experiences that rare moment when—ahhhh!
—a student and school are a perfect match.
Tilly carries herself with the casual ease of an aristocrat.
She reeks of old money: Instead of Cartier bracelets, she wears a battered rope bracelet and a vintage Hermès watch (Mav recognizes the faded orange leather band).
Tilly’s light blond hair is in a messy bun, and she’s wearing white jeans with a plain navy T-shirt and a pair of beat-up Tretorns that are laced up backward, with the bow at her toes, so she can slip in and out of them.
Mav reads her rap sheet—serviceable grades and test scores, three sports, the job of blaring borderline-inappropriate songs at home football games, and sailing camp in Newport.
She is, he thinks, perfectly suited for SMU, where she’ll meet a business major from Winnetka or Grosse Pointe, he’ll pledge Fiji, she’ll pledge Kappa, they’ll move to Manhattan after he gets an offer on the trading floor at J.P.
Morgan and she nabs a position in appraisals at Christie’s.
They’ll live in the city for a few years until they buy the big house in Bergen County—or in Greenwich, where Tilly grew up.
“SMU seems like a good fit,” Mav says. “Maybe we should add Trinity and Bucknell just to be safe?”
He expects Tilly to feel seen. What he does not expect is for her to burst into tears.
Mav writes: SMU good fit, suggested other targets.
Emotional state fragile. “Going through some stuff” in her personal life, can’t seem to stop crying, isn’t eating or sleeping. Revealed the problem is a relationship, not someone at Tiffin, she says he’s older. Referred to Dr. Pringle for counseling.
Liam Donovan—no colleges listed
GPA 4.0 (transfer from Flushing High School in Queens); no test scores. Volunteer: Boys & Girls Club, Flushing. Work experience: McDonald’s (shift manager).
When Liam sits down, he says, “Just so you know, I’m not like the other kids here.”
This takes Mav by surprise. Liam looks like the other kids. He’s wearing a coat and tie (it’s Thursday, a chapel day). His reddish-blond hair is casually mussed, he’s carrying a Tumi backpack.
“You’re not?”
“I’m from Queens,” Liam says—and Mav does detect a bit of a New York accent. “My pop works for TSA at LaGuardia, my mom is out in North Dakota, she’s an admin at a nuclear weapons facility.”
“Wow?” Mav says.
“She doesn’t have the codes or anything,” Liam says. “I almost never see her…” He trails off. “The last time was, yeah… she came back for my brother’s funeral.”
“Your brother died?”
“Fentanyl overdose,” Liam says. He and Mav lock eyes for a moment, then Liam says, “I just thought you should know, I’m not rich or anything…”
Mav smiles. “Well, I’m not rich either.” He looks at Liam’s form. “I notice you didn’t list any colleges.”
“I wasn’t sure how big I was allowed to dream,” Liam says. “I have to get, like, a full scholarship.”
“We’ll get your FAFSA form filled out,” Mav says. “That’s financial aid. And we’ll need to sign you up for the SAT…”
“I was signed up to take it last spring,” Liam says. “But I ended up having to work that day, the other shift manager called in sick.”
Mav nods. “Have you made any friends here, Liam?”
“Davi is cool.”
“That she is,” Mav says.
“And I’ve been hanging with Pippa,” Liam says. “We’re both new, and she’s from the city too. She invited me over.”
“To her house?”
“Yeah. She said maybe this weekend, if I can get a leave request.”
Hmmm, Mav thinks. The Colbert School has three dozen day students, and what Mav has learned is that, while day students are an excellent source of revenue, they present a unique set of challenges.
These kids have homes and hometown friends and parents who perhaps aren’t as vigilant about underage drinking and teenage sex as the Tiffin faculty and administration.
Audre may not be aware of the potential nuisances of day students because Tiffin is so remote that Pippa Sacks is the first day student in Audre’s tenure.
Should Mav warn her? If it’s one thing he’s learned from his estranged-but-not-yet-ex-wife, it’s that female Heads don’t necessarily want to suffer through mansplaining from someone on the faculty, and especially not someone new.
“Sounds fun,” Mav says. “Do you have any friends among the boys?”
“I’ve been hanging with East.”
“East?”
Liam’s expression brightens. “Andrew Eastman, king of the school? You don’t know East?”
King of the school? Mav thinks. “Is he a sixth-former?”
“Yessir. East’s father, Jesse, is the boss around here. His girlfriend, O’Malley, is my pop’s cousin. She made all this happen for me.”
The boss around here? Audre is the boss, and Mav has learned that Mr. James, with his jailer’s ring of keys, is another kind of boss. Ditto Spooner, who was the person responsible for hiring Mav.