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2024 Washington DC area College commits
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Anonymous
It is a feat that proves that - top local private high schools have great and aggressive college counseling (except maybe Sidwell) - local private school families can afford to be full pay at college, and -- being full pay is a bump all by itself -- the kid can apply ED, and get that huge ED bump, because they don't have to shop around for FA packages -- the kid doesn't need the merit aid that ivies don't offer anyway (although many of the other top 25 do offer merit aid) -- the kid doesn't chose UMD or Pitt because of the generous merit aid offers If your kid meets all these criteria, then congratulations. But, 2/3 of the kids at your school also meet these same criteria. Many local privates actively select for these characteristics, so your school is full of kids who look exactly like yours. Local privates also select for legacy and athletic ability. So the proper reference group--and your kid's competition--is other kids at your school who also meet all these same criteria. The reference group is not the poors at Blair. Your competition is people like us: our completely unhooked kid is full pay at Columbia, applied ED, and had national-level recognition in an EC. Or maybe your competition is a kid with legacy or athletic recruitment (which local private schools do select for). So if more than half of Sidwell goes to T25, is this really a referendum on private school? Or is it a referendum on your family finances, and your kid would do just as well in the college sweepstakes coming from Whitman or Washington-Liberty? |
Anonymous
Anonymous
You're implying wealth-privilege is rampant. |
Anonymous
Grading is easier per parents and students with kids at both. Higher GPAs lead to better college outcomes. |
Anonymous
This is a looonggggg post. No kids at publics are not doing as well as privates percentage wise to top schools. Facts and numbers. Question here is privates vs. privates and what people are seeing is easier privates that grade easier and high higher average GPAs are doing as well if not better than schools notoriously known for grading lower with lower GPAs. Look at the Instagram pages. |
Anonymous
I will add with the exception of STA which I do not think grades easier but their grading and gpa system is pricing to be more advantageous. |
Anonymous
I’m the PP, and I only posted once above. I responded to the post that said colleges compare the “rigor at one school to the rigor at another.” You get an F for reading comprehension. |
Anonymous
Dartmouth is a very legacy friendly Ivy. This particular class has a lot of Dartmouth legacy and 1 athletic recruit. Will be interesting to see if any additional Potomac kids are accepted there in RD round. |
Anonymous
You have no idea which families are more capable of being full pay. Lots of private school families, by virtue of paying as many as 13 years of tuition for multiple kids, may have less money saved for college than the Bethesda/Potomac/McLean public school families who didn't have that expenditure. |
Anonymous
PP. Yes, that would be an accurate take-away. |
Anonymous
OK, wow. You don't understand that knowing SCHOOLS have different levels of rigor implies they compare KIDS within a school, not across schools? You get a 0 |
Anonymous
First, families shouldn't be sacrificing saving for college (or retirement) in favor of private school, unless the kid really does have needs that can't be met in public school. Second, you don't know either. You specifically don't know what percent of full-pay kids at NCS/STA are full-pay now, but they're applying for FA at college. My hunch is that it's a very low percentage. You seem to think it's something like half of that 50+% figure somebody pulled out of their butt. I doubt it. For one thing, many families at these schools are really wealthy. For another thing, parents understand very well the admissions bump their kid gets by applying ED and full-pay, so they'll make it work if they can. |
Anonymous
DP. This makes no sense. They compare within schools and also against other schools. Your point makes no sense. There is no guarantee they are giving a spot to any student from a particular school. Of course they look at GPAs and compare within schools and also with OTHER schools in the area. |
Anonymous
And they should use it to their advantage! I make no apologies in using being full pay to my kids’ advantage. |
Anonymous
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So many of the Big3 admits are outright because of hooks. I know two kids last year who had sub 3.5 GPAs and were shut out of top 75 schools until their parents called in a favor with a VIP in the 11th hour.
These communities are highly connected and ultimately everyone just needs ONE "elite" admit (if an elite admission is your thing) because no one can attend more than one college. My husband and I are nobodies in DC and our kids are at a Big3 with aid. Even we have one connection in the admissions office of a top15 school. It's a completely incidental childhood friendship from podunk USA where we grew up. My kids have no real desire to go to this school but will likely apply. If they get in, it will be attributed to their Big3 when it has nothing to do with the school. Their classmates will say, "huh, this doesn't make sense, XYZ is not a top 10% kid?!" but they'll never be the wiser. The Instagrams (especially this early in the admissions season) are not representative of much. These are not kids "off the street" and in by merit. They are by--in-large (with a few exceptions) kids who are in on hooks. Sure, they're also bright and strong students but it was the hook that tipped them over. How many times are people going to keep posting again and again and scratching their heads about the Instagrams?!!. |