I should have kept my kid at Wilson; college admits are much better than the Big3

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a troll post. My daughter who went to Wilson is at Yale now. Not a legacy. She certainly works very hard but got all As her first and second semester at Yale. She was not even the valedictorian at Wilson. It was a difficult year for her. Maybe if she went to GDS it would have been easy but she stepped up and handled it just fine. Same for her friends who are at Columbia and Brown. AP exams are not graded by DCPS teachers. They are graded anonymously by AP graders. You have to know your stuff to do well on APs. Wilson is a mixed bag but the top 25% of kids there are very good.

Not top 25%, more like top 10%. Otherwise, your post may be somewhat accurate, but they do, as you pointed out, have a steeper learning curve once they get to college. For the really naturally intelligent ones, like your daughter, they can overcome that in a semester or two. But for those who are getting in for other reasons, you really have to wonder if Ivies are the best places for them. I know a Wilson kid committed to an Ivy for their sport who recently declared they will study something like "bio-medical engineering." Okay. Good luck with that.

My kids are in biomed at Wilson - it is tough. I challenge you to take a Ms. Krafft course!

My 9th grader got a C in her class. And she wouldn’t budge even after a parent meeting including administration. We are not fans of Ms. Krafft in our house.
My kid so far has 2 Cs at Wilson. And he is not a dummy. Virtual school was very tough on him and he was a bit depressed. So I think OP does not know anything about Wilson and is stirring the pot. I’m sure it is easier to get As at Wilson than at private school but you also take 8 classes per year and to manage all As with no handholding is not an easy feat. Some of the Wilson teachers seem to take pleasure in giving Cs and Ds. It strikes their egos to be considered hard ass teachers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here.
The other thing that is that my kid and other friends who left DCPS for private (Big5 and otherwise) are having a hard time with academics this fall. It hasn't been easy to suddenly be accountable for writing and reading.
Don't get me wrong--it's been AWESOME to watch as a parent (my kid is learning!!!) and they're all getting there. But the learning curve has been straight up. My kid is getting his/her first B (ever).
Meanwhile, their peers left in DCPS will have better college outcomes, having done 10% of the work. I just shake my head.

And to the poster who said that the kids at Wilson are disadvantaged unlike their coddled private peers? Give me a break. We're talking about wealthy, upper NW white people at Wilson.
Many are wealthier than I am. In fact, most are. These kids are at no disadvantage. They're just attending a high school that asks nothing of them and the colleges are non the wiser.

I doubt the colleges are nonetheless wiser. Listen, we make in the 300K range (sort of middle class for DC) and have kids at Wilson. But we also have kids in college so we could not afford a private high school too. I wish my Wilson kids were getting that high quality education that yours is getting. But I wouldn’t trade it for the emotional well-being of NOT being overloaded with stress and NOT being surrounded by uber wealth. Not worth it in my book as they have the rest of their lives to do any lost learning. They are already good writers/readers however.

[Anonymous]

I don’t know PP gets this idea that Big 3 Privates are filled with Uber wealth or that somehow being around driven and successful people is somehow going to crush their kid.

First off, at our Big 3 Private about 1/3 of the students are getting about 60- 75 percent FA and many are from Wards 1 & 4 - having lived there for a decade before those neighborhoods became Hip

There isn’t any real UBER wealth in DC anyway. It’s Washington, not a Swiss Boarding school for Christ’s sake

Lawyers, Finance guys and Fed Govt Admin - hardly UBER anything lol

Just successful enough to stir a little determination to succeed, which is a good thing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I moved my kid from Deal to private for 9th. The workload is about 5 times that of DCPS. My kid is finally learning to write and study.
It's night and day over DCPS. I can't stress this enough. It's easily 5 times the workload and my kid is actually learning.. I have kids left in DCPS. This year is another shit-show.
English school english classes that don't read a single book or write a single paper. AP classes that DON'T HAVE A TEACHER so the school is giving every kid an A as a default.

College admits are out and the Wilson admits (of white, upper class kids) are better than those at the Big3. These kids are the siblings
of the my kid's friends. They are getting in (unconnected) to Brown, Yale, Northwestern, Penn, and on and on.
You know how a Big 3 was shut out of Brown? Well, not Wilson. They have several kids going and they're not URM. They're upper middle class white kids.
DCPS grossly inflated grades during the pandemic. 19-20 quarters 3 and 4 counted any assignment as extra-credit. So if you did anything (EVEN ONE ASSIGNMENT) quarters 3 and 4 you
got an A. They those quarters were added to 1 and 2 and rounded up. It was almost impossible to get a B. Like statistically impossible if you turned in a SINGLE assignment.
Then last year (20-21) they barely had school and the lowest grade anyone could get was a B. Anything lower than a B was a "P".
You could get As for breathing (and my kids did). I can't emphasize enough how easy it was and is. It was insanity. My kids (19-20 and 20-21) had 98%+ in all classes
with next to no work). It was really stressful for us (and a lot of parents) because we knew our kids weren't learning anything. As such, many of us pulled our kids out.
But now, the kids graduating with this DCPS education are getting the top acceptances out of DC. I'm happy for them but it just seems insane.

I'm sure I'll get crucified for this but it's wacky. These kids are in some giant loophole or elite college admissions. Colleges are not taking the suburban public kids either
(with their 1600 SATs and 15 APs). Urban is where it's out--whether or not anything was learned.

Of course it is better to come from a "worse" HS than a "better" HS for application purposes! I thought everyone knew this??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I moved my kid from Deal to private for 9th. The workload is about 5 times that of DCPS. My kid is finally learning to write and study.
It's night and day over DCPS. I can't stress this enough. It's easily 5 times the workload and my kid is actually learning.. I have kids left in DCPS. This year is another shit-show.
English school english classes that don't read a single book or write a single paper. AP classes that DON'T HAVE A TEACHER so the school is giving every kid an A as a default.

College admits are out and the Wilson admits (of white, upper class kids) are better than those at the Big3. These kids are the siblings
of the my kid's friends. They are getting in (unconnected) to Brown, Yale, Northwestern, Penn, and on and on.
You know how a Big 3 was shut out of Brown? Well, not Wilson. They have several kids going and they're not URM. They're upper middle class white kids.
DCPS grossly inflated grades during the pandemic. 19-20 quarters 3 and 4 counted any assignment as extra-credit. So if you did anything (EVEN ONE ASSIGNMENT) quarters 3 and 4 you
got an A. They those quarters were added to 1 and 2 and rounded up. It was almost impossible to get a B. Like statistically impossible if you turned in a SINGLE assignment.
Then last year (20-21) they barely had school and the lowest grade anyone could get was a B. Anything lower than a B was a "P".
You could get As for breathing (and my kids did). I can't emphasize enough how easy it was and is. It was insanity. My kids (19-20 and 20-21) had 98%+ in all classes
with next to no work). It was really stressful for us (and a lot of parents) because we knew our kids weren't learning anything. As such, many of us pulled our kids out.
But now, the kids graduating with this DCPS education are getting the top acceptances out of DC. I'm happy for them but it just seems insane.

I'm sure I'll get crucified for this but it's wacky. These kids are in some giant loophole or elite college admissions. Colleges are not taking the suburban public kids either
(with their 1600 SATs and 15 APs). Urban is where it's out--whether or not anything was learned.

Of course it is better to come from a "worse" HS than a "better" HS for application purposes! I thought everyone knew this??

So everyone knows something that is patently untrue? Fascinating.

40% of the Harvard freshman class graduated from private schools, but sure it’s the kids from Anacostis HS that have the easiest time getting in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I moved my kid from Deal to private for 9th. The workload is about 5 times that of DCPS. My kid is finally learning to write and study.
It's night and day over DCPS. I can't stress this enough. It's easily 5 times the workload and my kid is actually learning.. I have kids left in DCPS. This year is another shit-show.
English school english classes that don't read a single book or write a single paper. AP classes that DON'T HAVE A TEACHER so the school is giving every kid an A as a default.

College admits are out and the Wilson admits (of white, upper class kids) are better than those at the Big3. These kids are the siblings
of the my kid's friends. They are getting in (unconnected) to Brown, Yale, Northwestern, Penn, and on and on.
You know how a Big 3 was shut out of Brown? Well, not Wilson. They have several kids going and they're not URM. They're upper middle class white kids.
DCPS grossly inflated grades during the pandemic. 19-20 quarters 3 and 4 counted any assignment as extra-credit. So if you did anything (EVEN ONE ASSIGNMENT) quarters 3 and 4 you
got an A. They those quarters were added to 1 and 2 and rounded up. It was almost impossible to get a B. Like statistically impossible if you turned in a SINGLE assignment.
Then last year (20-21) they barely had school and the lowest grade anyone could get was a B. Anything lower than a B was a "P".
You could get As for breathing (and my kids did). I can't emphasize enough how easy it was and is. It was insanity. My kids (19-20 and 20-21) had 98%+ in all classes
with next to no work). It was really stressful for us (and a lot of parents) because we knew our kids weren't learning anything. As such, many of us pulled our kids out.
But now, the kids graduating with this DCPS education are getting the top acceptances out of DC. I'm happy for them but it just seems insane.

I'm sure I'll get crucified for this but it's wacky. These kids are in some giant loophole or elite college admissions. Colleges are not taking the suburban public kids either
(with their 1600 SATs and 15 APs). Urban is where it's out--whether or not anything was learned.

Of course it is better to come from a "worse" HS than a "better" HS for application purposes! I thought everyone knew this??

So everyone knows something that is patently untrue? Fascinating.

40% of the Harvard freshman class graduated from private schools, but sure it’s the kids from Anacostis HS that have the easiest time getting in.

If a kid from Anacostia high school has a 4.0 unweighted, great sat scores, strong Rec, and a compelling essay and has some talent you bet they are in. Not so for the kids of that profile from X mcps high school where that’s a dime a dozen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The initial premise of this tread that is horrified that Wilson kids should be qualified or allowed to go to top colleges is clearly provocative. There are so many layers here!
By definition sending kids to elite big 3-5 schools is elitist. It comes with an attitude that those kids are more special and entitled to go to better colleges. The higher cost comes with lots of homework and constant stress to excel - and paid for the ability to cope much better during a global pandemic by having money to throw at the problem and smaller sizes of cherry picked kids to deal with. College admissions are used to nearly all the kids from these schools to get As and Bs. There’s a forced culture of achievement - and grade inflation. The amount of homework and stress aren’t proven to do much that’s really positive for kids. Proportionately these kids will always get into great colleges and do fine in life. Most of the kids are born on third base and think they hit a triple.
Wilson has for generations been “Yale or jail” - a reflection mostly of having higher income and low income families. The kids from higher income families at Wilson are very similar to those at the big 3-5 but the private school parents are so bought into the value of the schools they are paying for, they need to believe those kids won’t be able to cut it in college. Which is ridiculous. Yes many of the parents are just as insufferable as those at privates. But the private parents have chosen an intentionally elitist path. The demographics at Wilson have also changed in the recent 10-15 years and is continuing to change in make up. More and more kids are from higher income families are at Wilson than before. So the numbers applying for top schools and getting in will go up. Grade inflation has become a thing. The W schools in MoCo and the McLean and Fairfax schools have been doing it for while, with about 1/3 of classes getting all A’s.
Just a rant that private school parents can just feel happy with your privilege without kicking down at Wilson.

You lost all credibility in your post when you said that the Big3 have grade inflation. There is marked grade deflation over public and many Bs and Cs are given. The top student at my kid's Big3 last year had a 3.9.

Nearly every kid gets all As and Bs. The parents paying demand no less. You can call that grading on a curve or you can call that grade inflation. A small percentage or kids get Cs with any regularity and those parents go apoplectic that their kid has to settle for Tulane or Wisconsin.

You are so bought into the private culture you can’t see straight.

Say a kid who goes to Wilson gets a 5 in calculus and tests out of 2 semesters of calc at an Ivy - but did about half the homework at Wilson as a Big 3 kid. (True story by the way) are they still less than?

There is so much academic pressure theater at the Big 3s to justify the price tag and feeling of elitism it really warps any perspective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I moved my kid from Deal to private for 9th. The workload is about 5 times that of DCPS. My kid is finally learning to write and study.
It's night and day over DCPS. I can't stress this enough. It's easily 5 times the workload and my kid is actually learning.. I have kids left in DCPS. This year is another shit-show.
English school english classes that don't read a single book or write a single paper. AP classes that DON'T HAVE A TEACHER so the school is giving every kid an A as a default.

College admits are out and the Wilson admits (of white, upper class kids) are better than those at the Big3. These kids are the siblings
of the my kid's friends. They are getting in (unconnected) to Brown, Yale, Northwestern, Penn, and on and on.
You know how a Big 3 was shut out of Brown? Well, not Wilson. They have several kids going and they're not URM. They're upper middle class white kids.
DCPS grossly inflated grades during the pandemic. 19-20 quarters 3 and 4 counted any assignment as extra-credit. So if you did anything (EVEN ONE ASSIGNMENT) quarters 3 and 4 you
got an A. They those quarters were added to 1 and 2 and rounded up. It was almost impossible to get a B. Like statistically impossible if you turned in a SINGLE assignment.
Then last year (20-21) they barely had school and the lowest grade anyone could get was a B. Anything lower than a B was a "P".
You could get As for breathing (and my kids did). I can't emphasize enough how easy it was and is. It was insanity. My kids (19-20 and 20-21) had 98%+ in all classes
with next to no work). It was really stressful for us (and a lot of parents) because we knew our kids weren't learning anything. As such, many of us pulled our kids out.
But now, the kids graduating with this DCPS education are getting the top acceptances out of DC. I'm happy for them but it just seems insane.

I'm sure I'll get crucified for this but it's wacky. These kids are in some giant loophole or elite college admissions. Colleges are not taking the suburban public kids either
(with their 1600 SATs and 15 APs). Urban is where it's out--whether or not anything was learned.

Of course it is better to come from a "worse" HS than a "better" HS for application purposes! I thought everyone knew this??

So everyone knows something that is patently untrue? Fascinating.

40% of the Harvard freshman class graduated from private schools, but sure it’s the kids from Anacostis HS that have the easiest time getting in.

If a kid from Anacostia high school has a 4.0 unweighted, great sat scores, strong Rec, and a compelling essay and has some talent you bet they are in. Not so for the kids of that profile from X mcps high school where that’s a dime a dozen.

Sorry but no. As someone that went to what was known as an “inner city” high school, what you just posted was a kid hoping to pull together pull Grants and enough merit scholarships from Rotary and other sources, combined with work study, to attend the state flagship university without going substantially out of pocket with loans.

The kids that go from “inner city” public to Harvard are doing big things and building resumes in high school that would make Tracy Flick blush.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The initial premise of this tread that is horrified that Wilson kids should be qualified or allowed to go to top colleges is clearly provocative. There are so many layers here!
By definition sending kids to elite big 3-5 schools is elitist. It comes with an attitude that those kids are more special and entitled to go to better colleges. The higher cost comes with lots of homework and constant stress to excel - and paid for the ability to cope much better during a global pandemic by having money to throw at the problem and smaller sizes of cherry picked kids to deal with. College admissions are used to nearly all the kids from these schools to get As and Bs. There’s a forced culture of achievement - and grade inflation. The amount of homework and stress aren’t proven to do much that’s really positive for kids. Proportionately these kids will always get into great colleges and do fine in life. Most of the kids are born on third base and think they hit a triple.
Wilson has for generations been “Yale or jail” - a reflection mostly of having higher income and low income families. The kids from higher income families at Wilson are very similar to those at the big 3-5 but the private school parents are so bought into the value of the schools they are paying for, they need to believe those kids won’t be able to cut it in college. Which is ridiculous. Yes many of the parents are just as insufferable as those at privates. But the private parents have chosen an intentionally elitist path. The demographics at Wilson have also changed in the recent 10-15 years and is continuing to change in make up. More and more kids are from higher income families are at Wilson than before. So the numbers applying for top schools and getting in will go up. Grade inflation has become a thing. The W schools in MoCo and the McLean and Fairfax schools have been doing it for while, with about 1/3 of classes getting all A’s.
Just a rant that private school parents can just feel happy with your privilege without kicking down at Wilson.

You lost all credibility in your post when you said that the Big3 have grade inflation. There is marked grade deflation over public and many Bs and Cs are given. The top student at my kid's Big3 last year had a 3.9.

Nearly every kid gets all As and Bs. The parents paying demand no less. You can call that grading on a curve or you can call that grade inflation. A small percentage or kids get Cs with any regularity and those parents go apoplectic that their kid has to settle for Tulane or Wisconsin.

You are so bought into the private culture you can’t see straight.

Say a kid who goes to Wilson gets a 5 in calculus and tests out of 2 semesters of calc at an Ivy - but did about half the homework at Wilson as a Big 3 kid. (True story by the way) are they still less than?

There is so much academic pressure theater at the Big 3s to justify the price tag and feeling of elitism it really warps any perspective.

Talk about not seeing straight. 58% of B-CC graduates have weighted GPAs > 4.00. That’s 300 kids per year graduating from one school with GPAs > 4.0. The amount of grade inflation in MCPS is crazy.

[Anonymous]

Why wouldn't you just do private school all the way until 11th, the. Transfer to Wilson? Best of both worlds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I moved my kid from Deal to private for 9th. The workload is about 5 times that of DCPS. My kid is finally learning to write and study.
It's night and day over DCPS. I can't stress this enough. It's easily 5 times the workload and my kid is actually learning.. I have kids left in DCPS. This year is another shit-show.
English school english classes that don't read a single book or write a single paper. AP classes that DON'T HAVE A TEACHER so the school is giving every kid an A as a default.

College admits are out and the Wilson admits (of white, upper class kids) are better than those at the Big3. These kids are the siblings
of the my kid's friends. They are getting in (unconnected) to Brown, Yale, Northwestern, Penn, and on and on.
You know how a Big 3 was shut out of Brown? Well, not Wilson. They have several kids going and they're not URM. They're upper middle class white kids.
DCPS grossly inflated grades during the pandemic. 19-20 quarters 3 and 4 counted any assignment as extra-credit. So if you did anything (EVEN ONE ASSIGNMENT) quarters 3 and 4 you
got an A. They those quarters were added to 1 and 2 and rounded up. It was almost impossible to get a B. Like statistically impossible if you turned in a SINGLE assignment.
Then last year (20-21) they barely had school and the lowest grade anyone could get was a B. Anything lower than a B was a "P".
You could get As for breathing (and my kids did). I can't emphasize enough how easy it was and is. It was insanity. My kids (19-20 and 20-21) had 98%+ in all classes
with next to no work). It was really stressful for us (and a lot of parents) because we knew our kids weren't learning anything. As such, many of us pulled our kids out.
But now, the kids graduating with this DCPS education are getting the top acceptances out of DC. I'm happy for them but it just seems insane.

I'm sure I'll get crucified for this but it's wacky. These kids are in some giant loophole or elite college admissions. Colleges are not taking the suburban public kids either
(with their 1600 SATs and 15 APs). Urban is where it's out--whether or not anything was learned.

Of course it is better to come from a "worse" HS than a "better" HS for application purposes! I thought everyone knew this??

So everyone knows something that is patently untrue? Fascinating.

40% of the Harvard freshman class graduated from private schools, but sure it’s the kids from Anacostis HS that have the easiest time getting in.

If a kid from Anacostia high school has a 4.0 unweighted, great sat scores, strong Rec, and a compelling essay and has some talent you bet they are in. Not so for the kids of that profile from X mcps high school where that’s a dime a dozen.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The initial premise of this tread that is horrified that Wilson kids should be qualified or allowed to go to top colleges is clearly provocative. There are so many layers here!
By definition sending kids to elite big 3-5 schools is elitist. It comes with an attitude that those kids are more special and entitled to go to better colleges. The higher cost comes with lots of homework and constant stress to excel - and paid for the ability to cope much better during a global pandemic by having money to throw at the problem and smaller sizes of cherry picked kids to deal with. College admissions are used to nearly all the kids from these schools to get As and Bs. There’s a forced culture of achievement - and grade inflation. The amount of homework and stress aren’t proven to do much that’s really positive for kids. Proportionately these kids will always get into great colleges and do fine in life. Most of the kids are born on third base and think they hit a triple.
Wilson has for generations been “Yale or jail” - a reflection mostly of having higher income and low income families. The kids from higher income families at Wilson are very similar to those at the big 3-5 but the private school parents are so bought into the value of the schools they are paying for, they need to believe those kids won’t be able to cut it in college. Which is ridiculous. Yes many of the parents are just as insufferable as those at privates. But the private parents have chosen an intentionally elitist path. The demographics at Wilson have also changed in the recent 10-15 years and is continuing to change in make up. More and more kids are from higher income families are at Wilson than before. So the numbers applying for top schools and getting in will go up. Grade inflation has become a thing. The W schools in MoCo and the McLean and Fairfax schools have been doing it for while, with about 1/3 of classes getting all A’s.
Just a rant that private school parents can just feel happy with your privilege without kicking down at Wilson.

You lost all credibility in your post when you said that the Big3 have grade inflation. There is marked grade deflation over public and many Bs and Cs are given. The top student at my kid's Big3 last year had a 3.9.

Nearly every kid gets all As and Bs. The parents paying demand no less. You can call that grading on a curve or you can call that grade inflation. A small percentage or kids get Cs with any regularity and those parents go apoplectic that their kid has to settle for Tulane or Wisconsin.

You are so bought into the private culture you can’t see straight.

Say a kid who goes to Wilson gets a 5 in calculus and tests out of 2 semesters of calc at an Ivy - but did about half the homework at Wilson as a Big 3 kid. (True story by the way) are they still less than?

There is so much academic pressure theater at the Big 3s to justify the price tag and feeling of elitism it really warps any perspective.

Talk about not seeing straight. 58% of B-CC graduates have weighted GPAs > 4.00. That’s 300 kids per year graduating from one school with GPAs > 4.0. The amount of grade inflation in MCPS is crazy.

The original post on this tread was basically complaining that Wilson was grade inflating. One way to look at it is they are now doing what all the other schools in the area already do!! MoCo, Fairfax and Privates. More signs of gentrification.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I moved my kid from Deal to private for 9th. The workload is about 5 times that of DCPS. My kid is finally learning to write and study.
It's night and day over DCPS. I can't stress this enough. It's easily 5 times the workload and my kid is actually learning.. I have kids left in DCPS. This year is another shit-show.
English school english classes that don't read a single book or write a single paper. AP classes that DON'T HAVE A TEACHER so the school is giving every kid an A as a default.

College admits are out and the Wilson admits (of white, upper class kids) are better than those at the Big3. These kids are the siblings
of the my kid's friends. They are getting in (unconnected) to Brown, Yale, Northwestern, Penn, and on and on.
You know how a Big 3 was shut out of Brown? Well, not Wilson. They have several kids going and they're not URM. They're upper middle class white kids.
DCPS grossly inflated grades during the pandemic. 19-20 quarters 3 and 4 counted any assignment as extra-credit. So if you did anything (EVEN ONE ASSIGNMENT) quarters 3 and 4 you
got an A. They those quarters were added to 1 and 2 and rounded up. It was almost impossible to get a B. Like statistically impossible if you turned in a SINGLE assignment.
Then last year (20-21) they barely had school and the lowest grade anyone could get was a B. Anything lower than a B was a "P".
You could get As for breathing (and my kids did). I can't emphasize enough how easy it was and is. It was insanity. My kids (19-20 and 20-21) had 98%+ in all classes
with next to no work). It was really stressful for us (and a lot of parents) because we knew our kids weren't learning anything. As such, many of us pulled our kids out.
But now, the kids graduating with this DCPS education are getting the top acceptances out of DC. I'm happy for them but it just seems insane.

I'm sure I'll get crucified for this but it's wacky. These kids are in some giant loophole or elite college admissions. Colleges are not taking the suburban public kids either
(with their 1600 SATs and 15 APs). Urban is where it's out--whether or not anything was learned.

Of course it is better to come from a "worse" HS than a "better" HS for application purposes! I thought everyone knew this??

So everyone knows something that is patently untrue? Fascinating.

40% of the Harvard freshman class graduated from private schools, but sure it’s the kids from Anacostis HS that have the easiest time getting in.

If a kid from Anacostia high school has a 4.0 unweighted, great sat scores, strong Rec, and a compelling essay and has some talent you bet they are in. Not so for the kids of that profile from X mcps high school where that’s a dime a dozen.

+1

Except the most acclaimed graduate of Anacostis HS in the last decade or so didn’t go to Harvard, she went to Georgetown. The gulf between these places is too great.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/five-years-ago-she-was-a-homeless-high-school-valedictorian-saturday-she-got-a-degree-from-georgetowni-want-people-to-look-at-me-and-say-she-did-it-i-can-do-it-/2019/05/18/4d2af82e-766e-11e9-b3f5-5673edf2d127_story.html

[Anonymous]

Oh please. My kid went to Wilson and I can tell you that every one of her friends that got into an Ivy absolutely deserved it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The initial premise of this tread that is horrified that Wilson kids should be qualified or allowed to go to top colleges is clearly provocative. There are so many layers here!
By definition sending kids to elite big 3-5 schools is elitist. It comes with an attitude that those kids are more special and entitled to go to better colleges. The higher cost comes with lots of homework and constant stress to excel - and paid for the ability to cope much better during a global pandemic by having money to throw at the problem and smaller sizes of cherry picked kids to deal with. College admissions are used to nearly all the kids from these schools to get As and Bs. There’s a forced culture of achievement - and grade inflation. The amount of homework and stress aren’t proven to do much that’s really positive for kids. Proportionately these kids will always get into great colleges and do fine in life. Most of the kids are born on third base and think they hit a triple.
Wilson has for generations been “Yale or jail” - a reflection mostly of having higher income and low income families. The kids from higher income families at Wilson are very similar to those at the big 3-5 but the private school parents are so bought into the value of the schools they are paying for, they need to believe those kids won’t be able to cut it in college. Which is ridiculous. Yes many of the parents are just as insufferable as those at privates. But the private parents have chosen an intentionally elitist path. The demographics at Wilson have also changed in the recent 10-15 years and is continuing to change in make up. More and more kids are from higher income families are at Wilson than before. So the numbers applying for top schools and getting in will go up. Grade inflation has become a thing. The W schools in MoCo and the McLean and Fairfax schools have been doing it for while, with about 1/3 of classes getting all A’s.
Just a rant that private school parents can just feel happy with your privilege without kicking down at Wilson.

You lost all credibility in your post when you said that the Big3 have grade inflation. There is marked grade deflation over public and many Bs and Cs are given. The top student at my kid's Big3 last year had a 3.9.

Nearly every kid gets all As and Bs. The parents paying demand no less. You can call that grading on a curve or you can call that grade inflation. A small percentage or kids get Cs with any regularity and those parents go apoplectic that their kid has to settle for Tulane or Wisconsin.

You are so bought into the private culture you can’t see straight.

Say a kid who goes to Wilson gets a 5 in calculus and tests out of 2 semesters of calc at an Ivy - but did about half the homework at Wilson as a Big 3 kid. (True story by the way) are they still less than?

There is so much academic pressure theater at the Big 3s to justify the price tag and feeling of elitism it really warps any perspective.

Talk about not seeing straight. 58% of B-CC graduates have weighted GPAs > 4.00. That’s 300 kids per year graduating from one school with GPAs > 4.0. The amount of grade inflation in MCPS is crazy.

That’s because an A in AP and IB classes counts as a 5. Colleges don’t look at weighted GPAs anyway, they look at unweighted grades. Many even take apart your kid’s transcript and rebuild it with their own proprietary weighting systems. So enough about the weighed grades already, thanks.