Annoyed That Private School High School Students Have Better Admissions Results than Public School Students

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Between their inflated grades and $$ to do early decision (because they can pay), this system seems so rigged. Anyone else notice this?

You MUST be joking with your talk about inflated grading when your kid goes to Montgomery County. You can get an A one semester and a D another and get a B for the final grade. MCPS also gives full credit for homework if there is a “good faith effort.” - no points taken off for accuracy or completeness. Also, you can’t get below a 50%. My kid at private doesn’t have any of this nonsense. She earns her grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I took my kid out of public school because of the ridiculous grading policies. He went from straight As to a mix of As, Bs, and Cs. I paid a lot of money for the switch because education isn’t just about learning content. It’s more about learning life skills like punctuality, respect, hard work, etc. Sadly, those life skills aren’t being taught in public school anymore. On my son’s last day in public school, a student threw a bottle of water at the teacher. That would’ve been a serious offense in his current school. The kid was brought back to class 20 minutes later Luke nothing happened. No wonder the teachers are quitting and not even going into teaching these days.

Most life skills should be taught and reinforced AT HOME, along with some basic educational skills. For some reason folks on this forum want to narrow down the reason that teachers are leaving to be the behavior of the kids. And while that may be part of the reason, teachers keep repeatedly telling you it’s PARENTS that are making their job a nightmare.

For example, stop giving kids below 7th grade cell phones. Stop complaining about homework. Join the PTA in more than name only. Stop believing your kid is a genius and doesn’t deserve a C. Adjust your mindset about your kids chances of getting into an Ivy. Stop imagining that education looks like it did when you were a kid, especially since your kid perspective of education/school is likely skewed. When a teacher spends their precious minutes calling/emailing you, jump into action. And for the love of all things stop comparing public schools to private schools as its an apple to banana comparison.

[Anonymous]

Debating public vs. private when using some of the best public schools in the country as a comparison. Your heads would explode if you saw how most public schools in the U.S. operate.

Never change, DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The rich students in MCPS have the same advantages. It’s really a rich vs poor issue not a private vs public issue. But yes, it is really unfair!

It's actually not. Private schools have the benefit of lower student to college counselor ratios. And it helps. I have a niece at an expensive but middling private high school in Montgomery County. Proportionally, the college matriculation stats at this school are mind boggling and I know her peers aren't taking the amount of AP classes, say, kids in the 'W' zoned schools are taking and their standardized tests scores are likely not better. But their college counseling admissions staff really pounds the pavement for these kids - 85% of their graduating students received merit scholarships. And given the income level of these parents, those kids don't even need the money.

So, 85% of their students ended up at lower tier schools where they are really standing out above the crowd? I don't think that's what "W" zoned families find ideal.

No - they ended up at very competitive colleges, including some Ivy League institutions. They have the kind of advantages you just don’t and will never have in public school.

Very competitive colleges don’t give out merit scholarships. Try again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Between their inflated grades and $$ to do early decision (because they can pay), this system seems so rigged. Anyone else notice this?

You MUST be joking with your talk about inflated grading when your kid goes to Montgomery County. You can get an A one semester and a D another and get a B for the final grade. MCPS also gives full credit for homework if there is a “good faith effort.” - no points taken off for accuracy or completeness. Also, you can’t get below a 50%. My kid at private doesn’t have any of this nonsense. She earns her grades.

Why are you so upset about this? If a student had a 92 A one semester and a 68 D the second semester, that would average to an 80, which is in fact a B.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The rich students in MCPS have the same advantages. It’s really a rich vs poor issue not a private vs public issue. But yes, it is really unfair!

It's actually not. Private schools have the benefit of lower student to college counselor ratios. And it helps. I have a niece at an expensive but middling private high school in Montgomery County. Proportionally, the college matriculation stats at this school are mind boggling and I know her peers aren't taking the amount of AP classes, say, kids in the 'W' zoned schools are taking and their standardized tests scores are likely not better. But their college counseling admissions staff really pounds the pavement for these kids - 85% of their graduating students received merit scholarships. And given the income level of these parents, those kids don't even need the money.

The school’s counselor may do some things but most of the well-off kids probably have a private counselor as well.

[Anonymous]

You guys, on the private school board the parents are all complaining that their kids would get into better colleges if they went to public school because of *their* inflated grading.

The truth is that it’s just much harder to get into elite colleges than it used to be. Legacies and sports recruits are over represented at private schools, so it looks like they’re doing better. Also, plenty of great students in public schools aren’t even interested or applying to elite privates because (like us) they know they can’t afford it. My kid luckily is in love with UMD. We’ve been saving since she was born and have enough to pay for it but not enough to pay for an elite private, and we have enough income that we wouldn’t get aid. That’s why.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Between their inflated grades and $$ to do early decision (because they can pay), this system seems so rigged. Anyone else notice this?

You MUST be joking with your talk about inflated grading when your kid goes to Montgomery County. You can get an A one semester and a D another and get a B for the final grade. MCPS also gives full credit for homework if there is a “good faith effort.” - no points taken off for accuracy or completeness. Also, you can’t get below a 50%. My kid at private doesn’t have any of this nonsense. She earns her grades.

My kid loves pointing out how their public school friend went from all As in all advanced classes at their public to needing tutoring to maintain Bs and Cs. I can’t speak for all privates, but there is definitely not grade inflation at our school. And yes, even the bottom of the class gets accepted to good colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Between their inflated grades and $$ to do early decision (because they can pay), this system seems so rigged. Anyone else notice this?

You MUST be joking with your talk about inflated grading when your kid goes to Montgomery County. You can get an A one semester and a D another and get a B for the final grade. MCPS also gives full credit for homework if there is a “good faith effort.” - no points taken off for accuracy or completeness. Also, you can’t get below a 50%. My kid at private doesn’t have any of this nonsense. She earns her grades.

My kid loves pointing out how their public school friend went from all As in all advanced classes at their public to needing tutoring to maintain Bs and Cs. I can’t speak for all privates, but there is definitely not grade inflation at our school. And yes, even the bottom of the class gets accepted to good colleges.

Conversely, when my neighbor's kid left RMIB for one of the big 3, they said it was like a vacation for them. Said they could nap through classes and get straight A's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The rich students in MCPS have the same advantages. It’s really a rich vs poor issue not a private vs public issue. But yes, it is really unfair!

Private schools do have the advantage of better school counselors. I find it odd that admissions requires school counselor recommendations.

Better isn’t fair at all. I’d imagine there are many counselors in public’s that are as good if not better than those in private. However it is likely that they have much larger caseloads and depending on the district and school several other challenges that they are competing against.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure the admissions really are better. The private schools are stacked thick with legacy, big donors, semi famous parents, etc. if you take your average white kid whose parents didn’t go to fancy school and who aren’t giving tons of money, I really don’t think they are going to do any better at a private school.

This. Selective private schools are basically pre-screening for students who would have excellent college outcomes regardless of high school. It's not surprising that they have a higher acceptance rate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Between their inflated grades and $$ to do early decision (because they can pay), this system seems so rigged. Anyone else notice this?

You MUST be joking with your talk about inflated grading when your kid goes to Montgomery County. You can get an A one semester and a D another and get a B for the final grade. MCPS also gives full credit for homework if there is a “good faith effort.” - no points taken off for accuracy or completeness. Also, you can’t get below a 50%. My kid at private doesn’t have any of this nonsense. She earns her grades.

Why are you so upset about this? If a student had a 92 A one semester and a 68 D the second semester, that would average to an 80, which is in fact a B.

Everyone starts with a 50, so you are almost guaranteed a D. Plus, most Ds averaged with a A are, in fact, a C or a B-. What’s wrong with just getting the grade you deserve? Average the two numbers and be done. But that’s not how equity/MCPS works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Between their inflated grades and $$ to do early decision (because they can pay), this system seems so rigged. Anyone else notice this?

Rigged toward the wealthy for sure! Early decision and early action both favor e wealthy. And, it is reasonable for colleges to assume full pay and offer a spot to a child whose family has the finances to shell out $40-60k a year for four years of HS or perhaps even K-12.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The rich students in MCPS have the same advantages. It’s really a rich vs poor issue not a private vs public issue. But yes, it is really unfair!

This! We need to move to a more Marxist...um...I mean...equitable system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Between their inflated grades and $$ to do early decision (because they can pay), this system seems so rigged. Anyone else notice this?

You should be "annoyed" at your own stupidity. It's had been this way since forever. We had exactly one generation (Gen X) who was taught and bought the lie that we are a meritocracy. Every other generation knew this wasn't true.