More competitive year than usual?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the upper schools are definitely more competitive. Not sure about the lower schools.

Two of the schools we just did revisit days at stated that applications were up 20-30% and actually number of students accepted was down 5-10% over previous year acceptance numbers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the upper schools are definitely more competitive. Not sure about the lower schools.

Two of the schools we just did revisit days at stated that applications were up 20-30% and actually number of students accepted was down 5-10% over previous year acceptance numbers.

Which schools were these? I wonder if applications numbers are up more at certain schools or similarly across the board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the upper schools are definitely more competitive. Not sure about the lower schools.

Two of the schools we just did revisit days at stated that applications were up 20-30% and actually number of students accepted was down 5-10% over previous year acceptance numbers.

The particular grade level we applied to at a Top 3 had an acceptance rate that was 42% lower than last year. I don't know specifically how many applicants there were last or this year. This was not for 9th grade, but don't want to share more. It's just difficult to know that DC worked hard, is strong in every category, and otherwise would have been accepted based on feedback we received. We thought we might actually have a slight chance to make the cut this year. I suppose it's probably better we didn't know about the reduction in number of students they would take ahead of time, as we may not have even tried.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My guess is that admissions people at many schools are trying to build a class which is diverse in many ways (beyond ethnicity). They want some athletes, some musicians, some artists, and so on. Acceptances are not merely based on academic achievement….

The other thing is that the K-12 schools are quickly realizing that pretty much the only kids they are getting into elite universities are minorities and athletes.
So these kids will have an increasing edge in high school admissions

So do you think private schools should admit less kids who are minorities and athletes? Do think it is unfair?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the upper schools are definitely more competitive. Not sure about the lower schools.

Two of the schools we just did revisit days at stated that applications were up 20-30% and actually number of students accepted was down 5-10% over previous year acceptance numbers.

The particular grade level we applied to at a Top 3 had an acceptance rate that was 42% lower than last year. I don't know specifically how many applicants there were last or this year. This was not for 9th grade, but don't want to share more. It's just difficult to know that DC worked hard, is strong in every category, and otherwise would have been accepted based on feedback we received. We thought we might actually have a slight chance to make the cut this year. I suppose it's probably better we didn't know about the reduction in number of students they would take ahead of time, as we may not have even tried.

Apply again for 9th if you really like the school. We did this after being waitlist in 6th and 7th in a grade where almost all the spots those years went to siblings, VIPS, etc. K
Our kid was accepted for 9th and has had a great experience at the school. This type of thing is more common than you think--many 9th grade applicants tried before. We have met many.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the upper schools are definitely more competitive. Not sure about the lower schools.

Two of the schools we just did revisit days at stated that applications were up 20-30% and actually number of students accepted was down 5-10% over previous year acceptance numbers.

The particular grade level we applied to at a Top 3 had an acceptance rate that was 42% lower than last year. I don't know specifically how many applicants there were last or this year. This was not for 9th grade, but don't want to share more. It's just difficult to know that DC worked hard, is strong in every category, and otherwise would have been accepted based on feedback we received. We thought we might actually have a slight chance to make the cut this year. I suppose it's probably better we didn't know about the reduction in number of students they would take ahead of time, as we may not have even tried.

I'm sorry about your child's situation and your understandable frustration. Sounds like GDS for 6th. The issue with the current 5th grade class is that it already has almost 70 kids, and they weren't going to admit the usual 18-20 kids as they have in regular times, and certainly not now when the typical 6th grade is the low 80s and the school is overenrolled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My guess is that admissions people at many schools are trying to build a class which is diverse in many ways (beyond ethnicity). They want some athletes, some musicians, some artists, and so on. Acceptances are not merely based on academic achievement….

The other thing is that the K-12 schools are quickly realizing that pretty much the only kids they are getting into elite universities are minorities and athletes.
So these kids will have an increasing edge in high school admissions

So do you think private schools should admit less kids who are minorities and athletes? Do think it is unfair?

Huh? No.
I'm not suggesting anything. Simply saying that as a parent of a senior at a Big3 (with friends whose kids are at other Big3s) that these schools are really struggling getting kids into college this year.
(no reflection on them--just the reality of college admissions in 2023)
The only kids sailing through to top 75 colleges are minorities and athletes. I am sure they will focus on enlarging these pools of high school admits this year and in the future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My guess is that admissions people at many schools are trying to build a class which is diverse in many ways (beyond ethnicity). They want some athletes, some musicians, some artists, and so on. Acceptances are not merely based on academic achievement….

The other thing is that the K-12 schools are quickly realizing that pretty much the only kids they are getting into elite universities are minorities and athletes.
So these kids will have an increasing edge in high school admissions

So do you think private schools should admit less kids who are minorities and athletes? Do think it is unfair?

Huh? No.
I'm not suggesting anything. Simply saying that as a parent of a senior at a Big3 (with friends whose kids are at other Big3s) that these schools are really struggling getting kids into college this year.
(no reflection on them--just the reality of college admissions in 2023)
The only kids sailing through to top 75 colleges are minorities and athletes. I am sure they will focus on enlarging these pools of high school admits this year and in the future.

The vast majority of admits to those college are white rich kids. Depending on the school athletes are maybe 5-10% and minorities are 7-18% with overlap. Sounds like a stupid strategy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Privates can be more insular and socially that can lead to a lot of mean girl types of behavior. Privates also favor certain kids and families in ways that I have never seen at public school and that can shake out in how they prioritize certain kids' schedules and in college counseling.

Mean girl behaviour can and does happen at any school, private, public, or other.

I have seen and heard about strong favoritism towards certain families in various public schools, often children of PTA leadership, children of parents who volunteer at the child’s school, children of star athletes, children of big contributors to the athletics booster club, and others. I have been specifically told about cases like these in local publics, such as FCPS and MCPS and likely other publics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My guess is that admissions people at many schools are trying to build a class which is diverse in many ways (beyond ethnicity). They want some athletes, some musicians, some artists, and so on. Acceptances are not merely based on academic achievement….

The other thing is that the K-12 schools are quickly realizing that pretty much the only kids they are getting into elite universities are minorities and athletes.
So these kids will have an increasing edge in high school admissions

So do you think private schools should admit less kids who are minorities and athletes? Do think it is unfair?

Huh? No.
I'm not suggesting anything. Simply saying that as a parent of a senior at a Big3 (with friends whose kids are at other Big3s) that these schools are really struggling getting kids into college this year.
(no reflection on them--just the reality of college admissions in 2023)
The only kids sailing through to top 75 colleges are minorities and athletes. I am sure they will focus on enlarging these pools of high school admits this year and in the future.

The vast majority of admits to those college are white rich kids. Depending on the school athletes are maybe 5-10% and minorities are 7-18% with overlap. Sounds like a stupid strategy

"Nearly 80 percent of Harvard students are involved in some kind of athletics..." https://college.harvard.edu/student-life/athletics

No, 80% are not recruited, but these schools are filled with high school athletes who continue to do sports in college.