The Death of Private School As We Know It

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of absolute nonsense flying around in this thread.

Because schools publish admissions, and at least my school shares in one way or another specific students with specific colleges so you can tell who was URM/athlete/legacy/etc, I am really confused that people think it's possible that parents don't understand the lay of the land by the time their kids get to junior year. In many cases, these kids have been in the same school since pre-Kindergarten!

Parents know. It's not a last minute surprise that the majority of the class isn't going to an Ivy.

I don't think you really know until it actually hits you in the face.

That makes absolutely no sense. My eldest kid is in elementary and I'm already reasonably confident my kid will get into a non-Ivy based on the extensive information I have gotten about where kids from my kids' school go when compared with those kids' legacy status, URM status, and athletic prowess. The odds don't favor Ivy acceptance, from any school. Obviously.

[Anonymous]

Husband and I graduated from our state flagship and the private and Catholic school kids ran circles around everyone in the classroom and socially. I went to "one of the best" public schools in the state and could not keep up. They were on a different level. Anyone pinching pennies when it comes to kindergarten through 12th education for an alleged better roll of the dice with Ivies is frankly an idiot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of absolute nonsense flying around in this thread.

Because schools publish admissions, and at least my school shares in one way or another specific students with specific colleges so you can tell who was URM/athlete/legacy/etc, I am really confused that people think it's possible that parents don't understand the lay of the land by the time their kids get to junior year. In many cases, these kids have been in the same school since pre-Kindergarten!

Parents know. It's not a last minute surprise that the majority of the class isn't going to an Ivy.

I don't think you really know until it actually hits you in the face.

Huh? My husband and I did not go to Ivys. Our kids are at a Big3 and are top students. We don't expect them to attend Ivys.
We know many who did attend Ivys and don't expect that their kids will. ANYONE will their head out of the sand knows that things have drastically changed since we were young.

[Anonymous]

This is why I pulled my kids from private elementary 3 years ago and put them on a public school path. I live in CA and I could see that private school high school students get dinged.

[Anonymous]

Wealthy but not super wealthy families at private schools know the lay of the land and that's why they target colleges like Notre Dame, Boston College, Georgetown, Wash U, UVa, Michigan, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, SMU, and Villanova — not Ivies and Stanford, which are full of grubby swots and the children of international crooks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Husband and I graduated from our state flagship and the private and Catholic school kids ran circles around everyone in the classroom and socially. I went to "one of the best" public schools in the state and could not keep up. They were on a different level. Anyone pinching pennies when it comes to kindergarten through 12th education for an alleged better roll of the dice with Ivies is frankly an idiot.

They're an idiot because there is no better roll at a DMV public. If you ever review the admits from Whitman, Wilson, Mclean, etc. something like 98% of the Ivy admits are legacy, athletes or URM. THE SAME FREAKING demographics as the private school admits. THERE IS NO MAGIC IVY-BOUND HIGH SCHOOL FOR WHITE OR ASIAN KIDS. Except many some of the NE boarding schools?
But actually I'm sure it's the same story there. More admits but they're probably also legacies, URM, athletes plus some Ivy faculty kids thrown in.

[Anonymous]

Wealthy but not super wealthy families at private schools know the lay of the land and that's why they target colleges like Notre Dame, Boston College, Georgetown, Wash U, UVa, Michigan, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, SMU, and Villanova — not Ivies and Stanford, which are full of grubby swots and the children of international crooks.

Many of these are Catholic colleges and a lot of Catholic HS parents would welcome over higher ranked colleges. Bur, lots of legacy applicants from these schools also.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The early admissions decisions coming out of NCS and STA right now are very impressive so I am not sure that things have changed that much.

NCS has 5 in at Columbia. 4 ED, one athlete.
That's all I know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The early admissions decisions coming out of NCS and STA right now are very impressive so I am not sure that things have changed that much.

NCS has 5 in at Columbia. 4 ED, one athlete.
That's all I know.

Congrats to those five girls! What a nice bit of cheer before the holidays.

[Anonymous]

IF I understand OP correctly, they believe that because they now realize that paying for a Big 3’s doesn’t help their above average and otherwise unremarkable kids get into Ivies that this means the death of private schools?

It’s a pretty funny post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Husband and I graduated from our state flagship and the private and Catholic school kids ran circles around everyone in the classroom and socially. I went to "one of the best" public schools in the state and could not keep up. They were on a different level. Anyone pinching pennies when it comes to kindergarten through 12th education for an alleged better roll of the dice with Ivies is frankly an idiot.

They're an idiot because there is no better roll at a DMV public. If you ever review the admits from Whitman, Wilson, Mclean, etc. something like 98% of the Ivy admits are legacy, athletes or URM. THE SAME FREAKING demographics as the private school admits. THERE IS NO MAGIC IVY-BOUND HIGH SCHOOL FOR WHITE OR ASIAN KIDS. Except many some of the NE boarding schools?
But actually I'm sure it's the same story there. More admits but they're probably also legacies, URM, athletes plus some Ivy faculty kids thrown in.

Coming from the DMV, public or private, is frequently detrimental for applicants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I teach in a public school and have seen the behind the curtain. It’s just pathetic. We basically beg students to come to school at this point. When they show up, they sleep, play on their phones, socialize. They pass the vast majority of them because it would look bad if too many kids failed. It was bad before the pandemic but it’s really bad now. My kid could go to my school and be the #1 student in the grade. I’d never send him to a public school. I agree that the expectations in private school are so much higher. I work two jobs to send him to private school. I’d work a third job if I needed to.

+1. I spent almost two decades teaching in a public high school. My own children attend a private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Husband and I graduated from our state flagship and the private and Catholic school kids ran circles around everyone in the classroom and socially. I went to "one of the best" public schools in the state and could not keep up. They were on a different level. Anyone pinching pennies when it comes to kindergarten through 12th education for an alleged better roll of the dice with Ivies is frankly an idiot.

They're an idiot because there is no better roll at a DMV public. If you ever review the admits from Whitman, Wilson, Mclean, etc. something like 98% of the Ivy admits are legacy, athletes or URM. THE SAME FREAKING demographics as the private school admits. THERE IS NO MAGIC IVY-BOUND HIGH SCHOOL FOR WHITE OR ASIAN KIDS. Except many some of the NE boarding schools?
But actually I'm sure it's the same story there. More admits but they're probably also legacies, URM, athletes plus some Ivy faculty kids thrown in.

Coming from the DMV, public or private, is frequently detrimental for applicants.

Cold hard truth is that only about a dozen Whitman graduates each year out of a class of 600 will attend an Ivy. It’s also about a dozen at Sidwell each year out of a class of 125. Those dozen kids, whether from Sidwell or Whitman, are the same kids.

Probably the real difference maker, if it’s important to people, is for selective college admissions at the tier below immediately Ivies. Ivy admissions have been a crap shoot for decades.

[Anonymous]

With public schools in freefall with all the violence, shootings, stabbings, lack of discipline, drugs, teacher shortages, no classes, half days, and more days off, there’s always going to be a market for private schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Recent Big 3 parent. At least 70% of the parents expected a bump for sending their kid to the name brand private. Of course they expect their children to be highly educated and prepared. And then to get a bump.

Who came up with the 70% figure? Gallup? 🧐