After all the drama, Big3 college admissions are really as strong as ever this year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Op seems to be exaggerating a bit as Sidwell list looks good but definitely has schools outside T50.

Much of the impressive Sidwell list is hooked.

You have no firsthand knowledge to back up this claim. There’s no way in the world you know where all of their parents attended college. None…so stop it.

LinkedIn & the internet in general exist. You search the last name & “DC” and, say, Dartmouth alumni dinner attendance lists come up.

Complete BS. At least half of Sidwell’s posted Ivy admits have common surnames, are not URMs, and do not mention sports in the future college plans. There’s zero chance that you can be certain that Sidwell student, “John Robinson,” (fictional name) is a Brown University legacy. There are simply too many Robinsons in DC. Further, John Robinson’s parents may actually live and work in Maryland or Virginia.

As a Sidwell insider, you can be quite certain, however.

You’re a Sidwell insider who has to use LinkedIn and internet searches to find parental information? Mmmkay.

Once again, complete and utter BS. Sidwell doesn’t ask about parents’ education background on admissions applications. The only way that administrators, teachers, other students, and you would know the parents’ colleges is if they ask the students. You DID not ask all of the aforementioned students for that information.

Now, get off Al Gore’s internet and go do something productive with your Sunday.

What?? You do realize that parents talk to each other, right? And aren't necessarily secretive about their backgrounds?

You’ve spoken to over a dozen parents about where they attended college? Yeah, right!

Been in the school over 10 years and yes have spoken to pretty much all the parents.

You have not spoken to all the parents about where they attended college. You could be in a particular school for 20 years and it wouldn’t come up with every parent. You have no way to predict which students would be admitted/attend an Ivy. BS!

Maybe you need to socialize a bit more w fellow parents and be a bit more relaxed. Let people tell you about themselves..

Yeah…BS!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op seems to be exaggerating a bit as Sidwell list looks good but definitely has schools outside T50.

Much of the impressive Sidwell list is hooked.

You have no firsthand knowledge to back up this claim. There’s no way in the world you know where all of their parents attended college. None…so stop it.

LinkedIn & the internet in general exist. You search the last name & “DC” and, say, Dartmouth alumni dinner attendance lists come up.

Complete BS. At least half of Sidwell’s posted Ivy admits have common surnames, are not URMs, and do not mention sports in the future college plans. There’s zero chance that you can be certain that Sidwell student, “John Robinson,” (fictional name) is a Brown University legacy. There are simply too many Robinsons in DC. Further, John Robinson’s parents may actually live and work in Maryland or Virginia.

As a Sidwell insider, you can be quite certain, however.

You’re a Sidwell insider who has to use LinkedIn and internet searches to find parental information? Mmmkay.

Once again, complete and utter BS. Sidwell doesn’t ask about parents’ education background on admissions applications. The only way that administrators, teachers, other students, and you would know the parents’ colleges is if they ask the students. You DID not ask all of the aforementioned students for that information.

Now, get off Al Gore’s internet and go do something productive with your Sunday.

What?? You do realize that parents talk to each other, right? And aren't necessarily secretive about their backgrounds?

You’ve spoken to over a dozen parents about where they attended college? Yeah, right!

Been in the school over 10 years and yes have spoken to pretty much all the parents.

You have not spoken to all the parents about where they attended college. You could be in a particular school for 20 years and it wouldn’t come up with every parent. You have no way to predict which students would be admitted/attend an Ivy. BS!

Maybe you need to socialize a bit more w fellow parents and be a bit more relaxed. Let people tell you about themselves..

Parents w Ivy degrees roll that information out a bit more easily anyway.. You don't need to know where EVERY parent went.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean, this is very obvious. In the 21st century it is not the priority of top Ivy League colleges to open the doors to graduates of rich and fancy prep schools. Their priorities are elsewhere. Anyone who thinks that sending their kid to a big three gives them an edge is about two decades behind the Times.

Colleges are a business—now and forever. It is absolutely the priority of highly selective colleges to admit wealthy, well prepared private school students. They will falter if they become a true meritocracy. That’s why need aware has made a resurgence. Full pay is also a hook.

You are clueless. We are talking about Ivy League colleges. They are not need aware. They have more money than God.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean, this is very obvious. In the 21st century it is not the priority of top Ivy League colleges to open the doors to graduates of rich and fancy prep schools. Their priorities are elsewhere. Anyone who thinks that sending their kid to a big three gives them an edge is about two decades behind the Times.

Agree that this is obvious. Others still seem to be in denial. Perhaps bc their DCs got in with a serious hook and they would rather think about it differently.

“Every American high schooler knows the supposed secret to a lifetime of success: admission to an elite university. Competition for coveted spots is so fierce that while an admission victory can’t be guaranteed, it can be gamed, if you know how to play. ‌

It worked for me: I attend a prestigious university, Stanford, which accepted fewer than 4 percent of applicants last year. There, over a quarter of the current undergraduate population came from private schools, even though only 14 percent of U.S. high schoolers attend one. The numbers are reportedly similar at most Ivy League universities. Harvard is one of the worst of them: A survey of its class of 2019 saw 35 percent of respondents hail from private schools.

Some of these students presumably attended parochial schools. However, many of my peers and I attended elite private schools: nationally ranked overachiever factories designed to churn out catnip for college admission offices.

These schools are so effective at influencing the admission process that they further advantage our society’s privileged few and leave everyone else free to believe that only the most accomplished, most brilliant students get into prestigious universities. The idea that admission to the most selective colleges and universities is based on merit presumes that a fast track to comfort, status and wealth doesn’t exist. But that’s just an illusion.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/01/opinion/school-private-college.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean, this is very obvious. In the 21st century it is not the priority of top Ivy League colleges to open the doors to graduates of rich and fancy prep schools. Their priorities are elsewhere. Anyone who thinks that sending their kid to a big three gives them an edge is about two decades behind the Times.

Colleges are a business—now and forever. It is absolutely the priority of highly selective colleges to admit wealthy, well prepared private school students. They will falter if they become a true meritocracy. That’s why need aware has made a resurgence. Full pay is also a hook.

You are clueless. We are talking about Ivy League colleges. They are not need aware. They have more money than God.

“Admitting a high proportion of private school students serves elite universities’ interests. During and after college, graduates from private schools are likely to outperform their public school peers. For example, in 2020, The Daily Princetonian reported, two-thirds of Princeton’s American Rhodes scholars attended private high schools, and the Association of Boarding Schools bragged in 2010 that its alumni are “3,000 percent more likely” to become Rhodes scholars than the average student. Prestigious postgraduate scholarships — or fancy postgraduation jobs — can help make a college more attractive to its deep-pocketed alumni and the next crop of prospective students.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/01/opinion/school-private-college.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op seems to be exaggerating a bit as Sidwell list looks good but definitely has schools outside T50.

Much of the impressive Sidwell list is hooked.

You have no firsthand knowledge to back up this claim. There’s no way in the world you know where all of their parents attended college. None…so stop it.

LinkedIn & the internet in general exist. You search the last name & “DC” and, say, Dartmouth alumni dinner attendance lists come up.

Complete BS. At least half of Sidwell’s posted Ivy admits have common surnames, are not URMs, and do not mention sports in the future college plans. There’s zero chance that you can be certain that Sidwell student, “John Robinson,” (fictional name) is a Brown University legacy. There are simply too many Robinsons in DC. Further, John Robinson’s parents may actually live and work in Maryland or Virginia.

As a Sidwell insider, you can be quite certain, however.

You’re a Sidwell insider who has to use LinkedIn and internet searches to find parental information? Mmmkay.

Once again, complete and utter BS. Sidwell doesn’t ask about parents’ education background on admissions applications. The only way that administrators, teachers, other students, and you would know the parents’ colleges is if they ask the students. You DID not ask all of the aforementioned students for that information.

Now, get off Al Gore’s internet and go do something productive with your Sunday.

What?? You do realize that parents talk to each other, right? And aren't necessarily secretive about their backgrounds?

You’ve spoken to over a dozen parents about where they attended college? Yeah, right!

Been in the school over 10 years and yes have spoken to pretty much all the parents.

You have not spoken to all the parents about where they attended college. You could be in a particular school for 20 years and it wouldn’t come up with every parent. You have no way to predict which students would be admitted/attend an Ivy. BS!

Maybe you need to socialize a bit more w fellow parents and be a bit more relaxed. Let people tell you about themselves..

Yeah…BS!

Troll alert

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who is in denial that the Big3 Ivy admits this year were all URM/double legacy/donors/athletes is just foolish. Talk to any senior.

If you think your kid has a shot at an Ivy (regardless of how academically gifted or fabulous they are) the first question to ask is "Did I attend such Ivy?" Second question: "have I given a lot of money over the years?"

It was the same at every school---STA, GDS, Sidwell, Maret, etc. It's just how life is in 2023.

Add an LGBTQ box and you have complete mapping.

Not at our "Big 5." 2 of the 3 Harvard admits were merit only. One was major donor's grandkid. The other kid are the top two in the class with very ECs. And not URM either. This is 100% truth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who is in denial that the Big3 Ivy admits this year were all URM/double legacy/donors/athletes is just foolish. Talk to any senior.

If you think your kid has a shot at an Ivy (regardless of how academically gifted or fabulous they are) the first question to ask is "Did I attend such Ivy?" Second question: "have I given a lot of money over the years?"

It was the same at every school---STA, GDS, Sidwell, Maret, etc. It's just how life is in 2023.

Add an LGBTQ box and you have complete mapping.

Not at our "Big 5." 2 of the 3 Harvard admits were merit only. One was major donor's grandkid. The other kid are the top two in the class with very ECs. And not URM either. This is 100% truth.

Name the school.

[Anonymous]

Not at our "Big 5." 2 of the 3 Harvard admits were merit only. One was major donor's grandkid. The other kid are the top two in the class with very ECs. And not URM either. This is 100% truth.

Not true at my kid's Big 3. The kids at the top of the class who people assumed would have their pick did not, but plenty of hooked kids did (and a couple of those hooked kids are also very strong students).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Not at our "Big 5." 2 of the 3 Harvard admits were merit only. One was major donor's grandkid. The other kid are the top two in the class with very ECs. And not URM either. This is 100% truth.

Not true at my kid's Big 3. The kids at the top of the class who people assumed would have their pick did not, but plenty of hooked kids did (and a couple of those hooked kids are also very strong students).

Same at ours. The trend was a little less clear last year, but is perfectly obvious now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who is in denial that the Big3 Ivy admits this year were all URM/double legacy/donors/athletes is just foolish. Talk to any senior.

If you think your kid has a shot at an Ivy (regardless of how academically gifted or fabulous they are) the first question to ask is "Did I attend such Ivy?" Second question: "have I given a lot of money over the years?"

It was the same at every school---STA, GDS, Sidwell, Maret, etc. It's just how life is in 2023.

Add an LGBTQ box and you have complete mapping.

Not at our "Big 5." 2 of the 3 Harvard admits were merit only. One was major donor's grandkid. The other kid are the top two in the class with very ECs. And not URM either. This is 100% truth.

Name the school.

NP here, but sounds a little like Potomac. I don't want to out the kids, and I don't know about the donor situation. One is an athlete, but not at a helmet sport or basketball-very high achiever. I know at least one of the others was 100% merit. No conenctions, no hooks--just really hard worker, really good choices, and very well-rounded. Not URM. There are at least three to Harvard. Also, two of the three going to Dartmouth are 100% merit, high achievers. Not URM. Honestly, most Potomac Ivy bound do not have hooks.

[Anonymous]

Are they legacy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Not at our "Big 5." 2 of the 3 Harvard admits were merit only. One was major donor's grandkid. The other kid are the top two in the class with very ECs. And not URM either. This is 100% truth.

Not true at my kid's Big 3. The kids at the top of the class who people assumed would have their pick did not, but plenty of hooked kids did (and a couple of those hooked kids are also very strong students).

NCS had ONE unhooked (non recruited athlete, legacy or URM) last year.
This year there are about 3.

[Anonymous]

Gds year didn’t look that great

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Gds year didn’t look that great

I think GDS is the only school in its peer group to still impose a 10-school cap.