Will Negative Press Impact Applications/Admissions?

[Anonymous]

Just to get back to the original question for a minute:

My guess is that the numbers of applicants to Prep and Holton won't change, but the political leanings of the applicants will.

I know the parents of three girls at Holton whose daughters are happy there now but who are very unhappy with the school's current "believe ALL women!" push which is facially pro-woman but they see as is just liberal bias. I think many fewer Catholics will apply to Holton this year.

As for Prep, it is the poster child for conservative male entitlement right now, and as such I think many liberal parents will not want their liberal friends to see that "GP" sticker on their Prius.

I don't think other area schools will be affected at all. The commenters above who do seem to be doing so out of wishful thinking against a school or group of schools that they personally dislike.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm part of one of the communities in question, and very politically progressive. My view is that I'd rather stay and work to shape the culture myself than abandon it and let the problem continue. In my particular community, I see enough positive action to make me feel reasonably good about the future direction of things.

+1 Love this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just to get back to the original question for a minute:

My guess is that the numbers of applicants to Prep and Holton won't change, but the political leanings of the applicants will.

I know the parents of three girls at Holton whose daughters are happy there now but who are very unhappy with the school's current "believe ALL women!" push which is facially pro-woman but they see as is just liberal bias. I think many fewer Catholics will apply to Holton this year.

As for Prep, it is the poster child for conservative male entitlement right now, and as such I think many liberal parents will not want their liberal friends to see that "GP" sticker on their Prius.

I don't think other area schools will be affected at all. The commenters above who do seem to be doing so out of wishful thinking against a school or group of schools that they personally dislike.

Prep has a built in (i.e. legacy) applicant pool, and as your guess stated, the number of applicants won't change - it just needs 120 slots per year or so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the kind of parents who know the value of having a close knit alumni network that looks out for one another - as demonstrated in today's article on Kavanaugh in WaPo know that value of sending their children to these kinds of institutions and know the value of being associated with institutions that will groom and look after their own. They know they are the elite and intend to stay that way as long as possible.

You people really place way too much into this “alumni network”. These are his high school friends who are defending him. They would do the same thing if they all went to public school.

Based on my experience in public school, then and now, it's every person for themselves. You went there because you lived within its boundaries.

When our own boys went to one of the two local Jesuit high schools, I was surprised by how they all seemed to stick together including the alumni. It was different from the shark-tank of cliques I experienced at one of the top US public high schools in a NJ town.

+100 People who are not immersed in it do not know the strong bond these boys maintain for years later. It is awesome.

this is all utter and complete nonsense. this is a great example of the weird and baseless generalizations people on this site make about public/private schools. people believe whatever they want to believe, and they will extrapolate from whatever reinforces whatever they want to believe in the first place.

Gonzaga is one school that where friendships last a lifetime. You obviously do not know anything about this school or any of the others. Does your public school have alumni events every year like Gonzaga? Alumni are always on campus, reconnecting and giving back. I am sorry, but I don't see that going on at Churchill or Whitman or any other public high schools. That doesn't make Gonzaga better than public...it is just different. You can't possibly say they are the same. If you are interested, you can get a feel for the spirit of Gonzaga here: https://vimeo.com/249255850

I went to public schools. I'm now in my 40s. Most of my best friends that I have today, I met in elementary school. I went to nursery school with some of them. I've been friends with one person since we were two years old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the kind of parents who know the value of having a close knit alumni network that looks out for one another - as demonstrated in today's article on Kavanaugh in WaPo know that value of sending their children to these kinds of institutions and know the value of being associated with institutions that will groom and look after their own. They know they are the elite and intend to stay that way as long as possible.

You people really place way too much into this “alumni network”. These are his high school friends who are defending him. They would do the same thing if they all went to public school.

Based on my experience in public school, then and now, it's every person for themselves. You went there because you lived within its boundaries.

When our own boys went to one of the two local Jesuit high schools, I was surprised by how they all seemed to stick together including the alumni. It was different from the shark-tank of cliques I experienced at one of the top US public high schools in a NJ town.

+100 People who are not immersed in it do not know the strong bond these boys maintain for years later. It is awesome.

this is all utter and complete nonsense. this is a great example of the weird and baseless generalizations people on this site make about public/private schools. people believe whatever they want to believe, and they will extrapolate from whatever reinforces whatever they want to believe in the first place.

Gonzaga is one school that where friendships last a lifetime. You obviously do not know anything about this school or any of the others. Does your public school have alumni events every year like Gonzaga? Alumni are always on campus, reconnecting and giving back. I am sorry, but I don't see that going on at Churchill or Whitman or any other public high schools. That doesn't make Gonzaga better than public...it is just different. You can't possibly say they are the same. If you are interested, you can get a feel for the spirit of Gonzaga here: https://vimeo.com/249255850

I went to public schools. I'm now in my 40s. Most of my best friends that I have today, I met in elementary school. I went to nursery school with some of them. I've been friends with one person since we were two years old.

But are they the “right” kind of people?

[Anonymous]

"We never thought we’d be in a community where there was an anti-Semitic incident"

Really? What a naive and fragile little teacup you are. We Jews have been taking crap everywhere we've gone for thousands of years. Why would it stop now? I prefer this incident to liberal college campuses pushing BDS on students who don't know any better.

And who expects perfection in any community anyway? Inappropriate behavior like anti-Semitic jokes happen in every community, especially ones filled with teenagers. What matters is how the community responds to that inappropriate behavior. STA responded forcefully but thoughtfully. You bringing it up to bash STA makes you look bad, not the STA community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here: I'm not muck raking. I'm sincerely wondering if it might be easier to be accepted at these schools this year and wondering if Landon had fewer applications after its bad press years ago. I'm sure there is a core constituent base and that Landon rebounded. But, was there a dip? If considering Holton or Prep or St. Albans, might my DD and/or DS have an easier chance applying this year? DD is also looking at Catholic girls schools.

Why would you put Holton in that group? I don't particularly like Holton, but one of its students being assaulted 35 years ago does not seem to have anything to do with the school overall. It's not like they created a culture that encouraged being assaulted then and for sure don't now.

[i]

I did not include Holton for ANY of the reasons you suggest. The school is fantastic, has a seemingly warm culture and is a victim in all of this. But, in my experience some idiots (young and adult) still view it (and the girls) as more "liberal" because it is not parochial.

Both of the above two posters have got to be joking. Only an extremely liberal school would allow the following to be printed in their yearbook:
"After we conquered the boys of Landon and Prep, we moved onto St. John's and Gonzaga... WITH GREAT SUCCESS." Caps are mine.

What school on earth would allow this to go to press?

[Anonymous]

Since the Kavanaugh confirmation hearing, traffic on Prep’s online store increased 7,000 percent—that’s right, 7,000. They expect their largest attendance ever at this year’s open house. After all, how many schools can boast two sitting SCOTUS justices along current Federal Reserve Chair, along with NFL and MLB executives, countless government/business/military leaders, Medal of Honor, Emmy Award, Pulitzer Prize and Olympic gold medal recipients, and the creator of modern chemotherapy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just to get back to the original question for a minute:

My guess is that the numbers of applicants to Prep and Holton won't change, but the political leanings of the applicants will.

I know the parents of three girls at Holton whose daughters are happy there now but who are very unhappy with the school's current "believe ALL women!" push which is facially pro-woman but they see as is just liberal bias. I think many fewer Catholics will apply to Holton this year.

As for Prep, it is the poster child for conservative male entitlement right now, and as such I think many liberal parents will not want their liberal friends to see that "GP" sticker on their Prius.

I don't think other area schools will be affected at all. The commenters above who do seem to be doing so out of wishful thinking against a school or group of schools that they personally dislike.

Really? So, Hilton parents aren’t ‘pro female’ ? No thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Since the Kavanaugh confirmation hearing, traffic on Prep’s online store increased 7,000 percent—that’s right, 7,000. They expect their largest attendance ever at this year’s open house. After all, how many schools can boast two sitting SCOTUS justices along current Federal Reserve Chair, along with NFL and MLB executives, countless government/business/military leaders, Medal of Honor, Emmy Award, Pulitzer Prize and Olympic gold medal recipients, and the creator of modern chemotherapy?

You have learned nothing from this ordeal. Nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since the Kavanaugh confirmation hearing, traffic on Prep’s online store increased 7,000 percent—that’s right, 7,000. They expect their largest attendance ever at this year’s open house. After all, how many schools can boast two sitting SCOTUS justices along current Federal Reserve Chair, along with NFL and MLB executives, countless government/business/military leaders, Medal of Honor, Emmy Award, Pulitzer Prize and Olympic gold medal recipients, and the creator of modern chemotherapy?

You have learned nothing from this ordeal. Nothing.

We learned that Prep has produced plenty of successful graduates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since the Kavanaugh confirmation hearing, traffic on Prep’s online store increased 7,000 percent—that’s right, 7,000. They expect their largest attendance ever at this year’s open house. After all, how many schools can boast two sitting SCOTUS justices along current Federal Reserve Chair, along with NFL and MLB executives, countless government/business/military leaders, Medal of Honor, Emmy Award, Pulitzer Prize and Olympic gold medal recipients, and the creator of modern chemotherapy?

You have learned nothing from this ordeal. Nothing.

We learned that Prep has produced plenty of successful graduates.

This could be a tough year to get into Prep based on what we saw at the Open House today - place was jammed with parents and student visitors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe we should all stop thinking so much about protecting our reputations and be brave and focus on the truth. Every institution that has had horrific scandals latelt from the Catholic Church to Penn State has been more interested in their reputations than in protecting real people.

+1 these schools are just as popular as ever and their alumni even more rabid. As a alumnus of a scandal plagued school, I understand the knee jerk reaction to fiercely protect your institution.

[Anonymous]

As a liberal who sent a kid to Prep, I think that most people will judge Prep as it is today not 30 years ago. The education is excellent and the sports facilities, which was our deciding factor, are spectacular. If your kid is a swimmer it’s s a no brainer. The teachers run the gamut from conservative to very liberal. We found parents we enjoyed and ignored the rest. Our kid emerged thoughtful and with an unbiased knowledge of all the major religions. The two years of slaying hrlped with Romance languages. He took a class on poetry which he loved including some very left wing poets. Ow doing well at an excellent university. He has a sweet girlfriend and although there were some parties with drinking I know for a fact that they were no different than public high school or Big 3 parties. I really doubt there will be fewer applications this year.

[Anonymous]

No not really. The negative press is only an eye opener for naive poor people. Most top colleges knew of this kind of culture because it is basically the culture of high SES White people who have influence and who can get away with anything. Besides, the entire legacy system is built upon these same people funding the colleges. Don't worry, be happy!