View of privates from a former college admissions staffer
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Anonymous
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Before I went to grad school, I worked in the admissions office of a very competitive liberal arts college. While this isn't an Ivy, I think it gave me some insight as I start the search for my kids' private school.
The bottom line is that people on this board have an unhealthy focus on the Big 3 or Big 5 or whatever. If your reason for sending your child there is that you want them to get into the best colleges, you are stressing far too much. The large private schools in the area don't have a substantial advantage over one another when it comes to college admissions. I know I know you have a story. But I am telling you from experience - when it came to school quality, we looked at factors like the percentage of students who went to college from the last year's senior class, and at almost all of these schools that was 100%. It is a substantial advantage over even the good area public schools, but not over any of the college prep-focused privates. You may see more kids from the most elite private schools get into Ivys, but that has far more to do with them (and perhaps their parents) than it does their school. You might have non-college reasons for scrambling to get your kid into the top private school in the area - friends who attend, near your house, you like the course offerings, etc. I'm just saying that if your kid does not get in, this will not have a huge impact on their college chances. For my kids, I'm focusing on the schools that are the best fit for their personalities, and are somewhat conveniently located, etc. |
Anonymous
| How long ago was your experience? Asking because conventional wisdom now is that college admission chances are better from public, so I was surprised to see your point about an advantage to schools that send 100% to college. |
Anonymous
| Yeah, this is less “an insider insight” than it is “common knowledge”. |
Anonymous
| Cool story, but, with the exception of Bullis, the quality of the college acceptances tend to track with the rankings |
Anonymous
That’s not “conventional wisdom” it’s just internet trolling. |
Anonymous
| Thank you OP. Any other insights? Ignore the negative posters. |
Anonymous
| It must have been a really college. You do not even know how to spell. It is " Ivies" not " Ivys". I call BS on you. |
Anonymous
Yes. Must have been a really college. |
Anonymous
| Dumbest post ever. What sets privates apart is 100% college matriculations, but otherwise are all pretty much viewed the same? That's not how admissions works, especially at top SLACs. |
Anonymous
someone hit a nerve |
Anonymous
How do you know that? Is it what you know or just what you think you know? |
Anonymous
| “This must be uninformed speculation because it differs from the uninformed speculation that I rely on.” |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
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Dated.
What I have heard from recent college admin is that the private school kids are coming in very well-prepared to do college level work. They are seeing so many kids arrive and need remedial help, need tutoring in required courses which should not be so difficult to anyone that took the courses in college--calc, etc. Writing is awful. They do really seriously take into account high school rigor. Our private, not a big 3 (about half the cost) had an amazing year last year. I do know based on looking at our public school's listed results, my kid likely wouldn't have gotten into several of the schools he did from our big public. |
Anonymous
Borrowing this! |