2008 College Placement for "Elite" DC Area Private Schools?

[Anonymous]

We chose an "elite" private school for our DC 13 years ago because we thought it would be a "good fit." DC will be going to Ohio Wesleyan next year. I now realize that we were fooling ourselves. We could have found a "good fit" anywhere. My DC is a hard working and curious student and we are committed and involved parents. We lied to ourselves. We really chose the school for the payoff. Well, it didn't pay off in the way we thought it would (DH and I are both Yale grads). My best advice is to learn from our mistake. If I had to do it all over again, we would have gone public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sidwell

C L A S S O F 2 0 0 5 – S U M M A RY R E P O RT

8 number of schools that will enroll more than four SFS students (Columbia, Harvard, Michigan, NYU, U. Pennsylvania, Princeton and Yale)

http://www.sidwell.edu/data/files/news/AlumniMagazine/summer_fall_2005.pdf, p22

This is, of course, the telling statistic and an impressive one.

However, I find it interesting that there has not been much discussion on this thread about the role of legacy status in college admissions for children from private school. While I have no data to back my assumptions up, it stands to reason that there are more parents who have attended Ivy League and other top colleges and universities in the population of parents who can afford to send their child to one of the private schools. And legacy status has a huge impact on college admissions.

That said, I am definitely in the camp of those who believe that selecting a school for your child, whether it is private of public, should be based primarily on considerations about fit and quality of life for the child during the school years. Not potential pay-off in terms of ultimate admission to a particular college or university.

That may be why Sidwell asks for parents' education background. Double legacies from an Ivy must be especially attractive if the child shows high potential.

[Anonymous]

I think that one thing you have to remember that a lot of the kids are entering the private schools in pre-K or K when it is not entirely clear how they will do academically down the line. Most private schools offer very good educations but not every kid is going to be a straight A student. There will be kids who struggle, especially in high school. So not everyone is going to get into a top school - and keep in mind that top schools are not going to let in a whole class no matter how many future Mensa members there are.

As a product of a NYC private school (where about 25% of my class went to an Ivy, and were well versed in sushi eating ] I can tell you there were some not bright bulbs in the class. Many of them were kids who were "survivors" - had been there since Kindergarten.

Also want to add that the hardest part of an ivy league school is GETTING IN!! Once there, I really do not believe you work any harder than at most schools. In fact, my best friend from HS went to Harvard and I went to a top small, liberal arts school and when we compared work, it was clear that I did more than she (and she was a real grind!). Also, while Ivy League schools have great faculties, there is no guarantee you will get into there class. The Ivies are not the end all be all, focus on your kid's education now and worry about college when the time comes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Also, while Ivy League schools have great faculties, there is no guarantee you will get into there class. The Ivies are not the end all be all, focus on your kid's education now and worry about college when the time comes.

Plus high status research-oriented schools reward....research! That brilliant scholar may or may not know how to effectively share that knowledge with students and, in fact, may prefer to work with graduate students. Additionally, some of the Ivies are notoriously hard to get tenure at so a young graduate in need of a reference letter may find down the road that the young faculty member who once wrote a good reference letter has moved on to another institution. As many have said already, don't fall for the name -- look at the student and the school and make a good match.

[Anonymous]

Oh common on, I'll just state the obvious here: Sidwell BLATANTLY accepts more children who's parents are Ivy League grads than any other "types" of kids. Sidwell knows how to play the game and taking the young children of Ivy Leaguers gives 2 clear advatages: 1.) intelliegnce is hereditary and nurtured by SES, and 2.) legacies have a small bias in the admissions game. Ergo, Sidwell gets more graduates into Ivies. Simple.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We chose an "elite" private school for our DC 13 years ago because we thought it would be a "good fit." DC will be going to Ohio Wesleyan next year. I now realize that we were fooling ourselves. We could have found a "good fit" anywhere. My DC is a hard working and curious student and we are committed and involved parents. We lied to ourselves. We really chose the school for the payoff. Well, it didn't pay off in the way we thought it would (DH and I are both Yale grads). My best advice is to learn from our mistake. If I had to do it all over again, we would have gone public.

Ohio Wesleyan is an excellent school. But I guess your point is that you would have gotten there without the private school education. Well, I can one up you. Our DS was rejected by the University of MD. I know it's become a very competitive school. But we are MD residents. He has excellent scores and extra curriculars. His class rank wasn't as high, mainly because he's at one of the "Elites," surrounded by many other very bright kids. Not only did his middle of the road class rank hurt him. I'm convinced the fact that he came from the fancy private schools worked against him as well (arguably insular, devoid of struggle and real life experience).

If I ever get a call next year to contribute to our current elite school's fund drive, I think I'm going to slug someone.

[Anonymous]

call me cynical, but i still wouldn't put it past people on this board to post messages about how private school isn't "worth it" just so that they can grab that spot you might give up.

so, please take these posts with a grain of salt!

[Anonymous]

From looking at the matriculation info at a lot of private schools and talking to parents and teachers, it appears that if you want your child to go to one of the traditional highly ranked schools -- Ivies etc. -- then your best bet seems to be with the traditional private schools (St. Albans, Sidwell, Landon, NCS, Holton Arms). The more "progressive" schools (GDS, Maret, Edmund Burke, Potomac) seem to take a more non-traditional path to college. Not saying either is better. Just my observation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From looking at the matriculation info at a lot of private schools and talking to parents and teachers, it appears that if you want your child to go to one of the traditional highly ranked schools -- Ivies etc. -- then your best bet seems to be with the traditional private schools (St. Albans, Sidwell, Landon, NCS, Holton Arms). The more "progressive" schools (GDS, Maret, Edmund Burke, Potomac) seem to take a more non-traditional path to college. Not saying either is better. Just my observation.

Yes, I've noticed that too. Theories?

[Anonymous]

The traditional schools have more parents who are Ivy alums and hellbent on seeing their children follow the same path. More of the parents at more progressive schools are willing to entertain a wider set of options for their children.

Just a theory.

[Anonymous]

Also, kids who are more used to the progressive approach may want to follow the same path for college. When you are used to choice, autonomy, etc. in high school you may not want to go to a school that is too traditional for fear it may seem too limiting or structured (notice I said "seem").

[Anonymous]

From talking to someone who's a college counselor at a "progressive" school (not in DC), it seems as if certain schools develop relationships with certain colleges, and so a lot of students go there. I remember asking the college counselor about a couple of more "traditional" colleges, and she said "Oh, we don't have a relationship with them; they'd never take anyone from our school." I guess the private schools tend to steer kids to colleges that they're familiar with. Something to ask about when looking at schools, although I've found school officials very reluctant to discuss the subject. For $30,000 a year, I'd like wider options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WILSON? In the District? Better than Maret? Based on how many anecdotal reports, 14:34?

For those in shock that anyone from Wilson (yes, in the District) would go to good schools, or those that just want to compare, here is a partial list of their acceptances for the 2008 class:

Yale (3)
Princeton (1)
Stanford (1)
University of Pennsylvania (3)
Columbia (1)
Dartmouth (1)
UC Berkeley (2)
Cornell (2)
Duke (1)
Georgetown (1)
Univ Virginia (5)
University of Chicago (2)
Barnard (3)
Univ Michigan (17)
Williams (1)
Wesleyan (3)
Amherst (2)
Swarthmore (1)
Washington University (St Louis) (3)
Vassar (2)
Vanderbilt (2)
Tufts (4)
Oberlin (1)
McGill (2)
Davidson (1)
St. Johns (7)
George Washington (6)
University of NC (2)
Penn State (15)
University Colorado (12)
University of Wisconsin (15)
University of Texas (2)

[Anonymous]

Way to go Wilson! That list ranks up there with any of the private schools around here. But I wonder what percentage of their students (a) graduate, and (b) go on to college? The dilemna is that many kids do very well at Wilson. But those kids often come from families where education is a priority and they'd do well anywhere. Also, most middle and upper-middle class black families won't send their kids there, and so the result is almost two separate schools: a high-achieving, largely white group of students, and lower-income, lower achieving African American and Hispanic students. As a parent of African American children, I felt like my children would have a hard time fitting in, and opted for private. Most of my friends took the same route.

[Anonymous]

I am pretty shocked at some of the perceptions and fallacies here.

Neither my wife, nor I attended "elite" universities, yet our children are at one of the "name" private schools. It is simply a better fit for the kids and their learning styles irrespective of what their life paths might be (I would not even encourage Ivies based on the experience my friends who attended versus my State College experience).

It is rather hard to think about these schools in the context of colleges which may be 15 years in the future. For us, it is about the learning environment etc.