Big 3 Schools and Celebrities

[Anonymous]

Fine, so we are all agreed then that for purposes of this thread, "celebrities" means notable people in Washington. Can anyone answer the original question?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fine, so we are all agreed then that for purposes of this thread, "celebrities" means notable people in Washington. Can anyone answer the original question?

Yes and no. Please go back and read the previous page of posts dissecting what category of positions and jobs in this town make one an actual Washington celebrity (generally defined as, many people in this country have heard of you, or at least recognize the position you hold, or the company you founded).

There is a very small category of people who qualify as a Washington celebrity. There is, however, a large subset category of people in this town who qualify as a "Washington personality", or a "person of note in Washington", or a "notable person in Washington", or whatever you want to call them.

To answer the original question, this subset category of "notable people" are the ones who -- by and large -- the original poster was referring to when she or he asked whether their children received an admissions advantage.

I would posit that the qualified children of the small category of Washington celebrities likely receive an admissions advantage. However, because there are so many people in the subset category of "Washington notables", I doubt that their children receive much - if any - of an admissions advantage because the admissions committee always has a large group of these applicants to choose from in any admissions class. So they will likely choose only the most qualified of that group, perhaps the daughter of the power lobbyist over the son of the assistant secretary.

[Anonymous]

I give up. I can't care anymore about the original question. You've succeeded in muddying the waters so much with side-show BS about who you personally want to categorize as a celebrity versus notable person versus person of note versus power player. If we continue, we'll just have another 8 pages of bickering over who belongs in which category. Congratulations on your efforts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I give up. I can't care anymore about the original question. You've succeeded in muddying the waters so much with side-show BS about who you personally want to categorize as a celebrity versus notable person versus person of note versus power player. If we continue, we'll just have another 8 pages of bickering over who belongs in which category. Congratulations on your efforts.

I am sorry that you want, or can only process, simple answers. Perhaps you should move to a different town, someplace where the typical Washingtonian's spirited back-and-forth discussion, and sharing of ideas, opinions, and nuances, is not commonplace, and where you will therefore not tax your intellect too much.

[Anonymous]

Shouldn't the original question be whether independent schools will take a parent's position into consideration and, if so, to what extent and under what circumstances. Does anyone actually think that whether the school is a "Big X" makes a difference here.

Unless, of course, OP is trying to gauge their DC's chances at a particular school, in which case the "who is a celebrity" discussion is extremely pertinent!

[Anonymous]

If you're President Obama, a Senator or know Rep., or JTIII or David Gregory (before he got bounced) or someone of that caliber in DC, the school will likely want your child.If just a lawyer or lobbyist w/o a big name -- those people are a dime a dozen in DC.

[Anonymous]

NCS was $18K tuition in 1992. Adjusted for inflation, that would be $30.6K in 2015 dollars.

Went to HS in this area back in the day. Did see many children of "famous for DC" parents get some sort of college boost - but mostly by working connections of getting their friends with strong ties to colleges/universities to write recs, make calls, pull strings -- or they already had some sort of legacy tie that their status helped inflate their kid's status significantly. ie. many of those kids 'jump the line' over kids with higher GPAs/SATs/APs/special accomplishments. But it's hard to measure directly. And of course, money/contributions by families helps always too.

[Anonymous]

NCS was $18K tuition in 1992. Adjusted for inflation, that would be $30.6K in 2015 dollars.

Went to HS in this area back in the day. Did see many children of "famous for DC" parents get some sort of college boost - but mostly by working connections of getting their friends with strong ties to colleges/universities to write recs, make calls, pull strings -- or they already had some sort of legacy tie that their status helped inflate their kid's status significantly. ie. many of those kids 'jump the line' over kids with higher GPAs/SATs/APs/special accomplishments. But it's hard to measure directly. And of course, money/contributions by families helps always too.
Note that famous for DC did mean some of the higher status gov't positions (WH officials, higher profile appointees), any sort of congressman (even from a lame county in a rural state!), TV journalist/personalities, ambassadors, some of the bigger Big Law lawyers, etc. (this was before the tech boom but assume that would now include tech CEOs.
Agree back in the day (late 80s, early 90s) GDS used to be considered a cut below Sidwell, STA/NCS - but no more. And Maret a click below that.

[Anonymous]

DC is Hollywood for ugly people.

[Anonymous]

The Mondale kids went to GDS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Mondale kids went to GDS.

+ 1... a cut below Sidwell, STA/NCS

[Anonymous]

But man was the daughter a hottie.

[Anonymous]

What's GDS?

[Anonymous]

Oh god there you go again. New money yapping back and forth like a bunch of hyenas in the night. We live in a nondescript row home and refuse to get trapped in that La Brea Tar Pit life that revolves around the Club and your stupid journeys to Peru. We have our house in Maine far away from the arrivistas. Daddy left us tons of stocks, easy stuff like JNJ and PG and we really don't have to leave the house. So go ahead chuckle heads spend it all. Poverty Sucks and god knows you'll be back in it soon. We get together with Trey and his wife Taphy once a month or so kill a bottle of gin and maybe some Lafite
and just enjoy the beautiful things like espadrilles on men and Bean Shoes. We have our old ones from the 70s with the small lettering. So head on down to Vineyard Vines and pretend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I give up. I can't care anymore about the original question. You've succeeded in muddying the waters so much with side-show BS about who you personally want to categorize as a celebrity versus notable person versus person of note versus power player. If we continue, we'll just have another 8 pages of bickering over who belongs in which category. Congratulations on your efforts.

I am sorry that you want, or can only process, simple answers. Perhaps you should move to a different town, someplace where the typical Washingtonian's spirited back-and-forth discussion, and sharing of ideas, opinions, and nuances, is not commonplace, and where you will therefore not tax your intellect too much.

I really hope you're not one of the posters on the Relationship forum, often complaining about DH tuning you out or being checked out of the marriage.