Bias against privates high school in admissions?

[Anonymous]

(I posted this in private schools but I think it’s maybe more relevant here)


Look I know this is an uncomfortable topic. Probably one you’ll want to deny if you have a kid in private. But could we have a frank convo about this? I have multiple friends with kids in privates who have top grades and SAT scores but don’t get into schools that their public counterparts do. Like UVA for example.

I get it-there’s a backlash against the perceived privilege of privates, but how bad is it? I keep hearing about first generation college students being what’s sought after. How true is this?

We are debating public vs private for high school. DS has been accepted to an elite private for upper school but has a great public. We see so many intangible benefits to attending the private, things like character and social skills and being more in alignment with our family values. Public has a solid education & offers great academics but lacks the focus on those things. And I have a number of friends with kids from privates that didn’t get into schools their public counterparts did. To the point that I’m being warned to go public instead!

How true is this? I get that college overall is so much harder to get into-but is there a bias against privates now in admissions?? Have you experienced this?

[Anonymous]

UVA’s alumni magazine had a big front page spread & article on how many first generation college students they have now. So they’re def looking at that/working towards that.

I often wonder what supports schools like UVA have in place to help those students. I work for a nonprofit that supports impoverished minority students and helps them get into college & funds it. All of them are first gen. We have a 95% acceptance rate but only 57% make it to graduation. It’s a challenging problem.

[Anonymous]

Hahahaha. Poor private school kids. No. They plenty of admissions advantages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:(I posted this in private schools but I think it’s maybe more relevant here)


Look I know this is an uncomfortable topic. Probably one you’ll want to deny if you have a kid in private. But could we have a frank convo about this? I have multiple friends with kids in privates who have top grades and SAT scores but don’t get into schools that their public counterparts do. Like UVA for example.

I get it-there’s a backlash against the perceived privilege of privates, but how bad is it? I keep hearing about first generation college students being what’s sought after. How true is this?

We are debating public vs private for high school. DS has been accepted to an elite private for upper school but has a great public. We see so many intangible benefits to attending the private, things like character and social skills and being more in alignment with our family values. Public has a solid education & offers great academics but lacks the focus on those things. And I have a number of friends with kids from privates that didn’t get into schools their public counterparts did. To the point that I’m being warned to go public instead!

How true is this? I get that college overall is so much harder to get into-but is there a bias against privates now in admissions?? Have you experienced this?

You do realize it’s same in college? Public vs private?

My kids went public HS and are attending T20 private colleges for the reason you wrote.

[Anonymous]

Is the goal UVA?

Def could be true true for OOS flagships.
Def not true for selective private colleges.

Most ppl at privates don’t want to go to public flagships universities anyway so it doesn’t matter.

Check out how many kids from a private are going to a T25-30. If more than 40-50% of class, it’s def better than a public school. And not all private high schools are the same - just as not all public’s are the same.

[Anonymous]

Also, your post seems to equate first gen kids with public school kids. Most public school kids are not first gen. I assume you know that. Plenty of public school kids with crazy stats get rejected from UVA. In state. Look at TJ stats on UVA or any of the McLean schools. Your are way off base.

[Anonymous]

Troll

[Anonymous]

IME is it less a bias but rather a numbers game.

[Anonymous]

I’m afraid to ask how you think Washington area public schools do not reflect your family’s values. Yikes. Definitely go private if that is your mindset.

[Anonymous]

What is the end goal in life?
Winning the Prize of admission to a highly selective college?

[Anonymous]

Kids at our private high school don’t get into UVA (OOS) but do regularly get into Dartmouth/ rice/Cornell/ Vanderbilt/WashU and others.

Take a very close look at your prospective HS college exmissions…

[Anonymous]

Might be true for public flagship universities but definitely not true for private colleges.

[Anonymous]

Silly post
Look at Harvard Westlake’s College Admissions for 2023 as an example - tell me there’s a negative to attending private
https://www.hw.com/Portals/28/Harvard-WestlakeProfile2023-24.pdf

[Anonymous]

It can certainly be a disadvantage to go to a magnet or private school with more high achieving kids. Thats why you go to the schiil because the kiid wants to go to learn, not because of college admissions.

[Anonymous]

Here’s the secret:
OOS flagships do not really have holistic admissions in the same way and tend to like AP and weighted GPA. Many private high schools have neither….
But private universities understand that very well.