Bias against privates high school in admissions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:look up what your private school got in PPP "loans" and get back to us on.

taxpayers also pay for the roads, the fire department, the police, the snowplows, the garbage removal, the sidewalks, the access to internet/sewer/elec that your tax-free school enjoys.

Wealthy private school parents are funding the bulk of those through taxes also.

You are assuming the private school parents are the wealthy ones. Some are yes. Some are not. You’re view of the world is incredibly myopic.

And yet I know what myopic means. You do not.

+1 Person who calls non-woke posters myopic is tiresome.

Woke isn’t the issue. It is myopic to believe private school parents fund the bulk of publically accessed things like roads, public schools, public works, etc through their taxes is what’s myopic. It shows a lack of understanding, or is myopic.

Still don’t think you grasp the meaning.

Still don't think you're able to address an issue, but use a tangent to take the spotlight off of you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Be aware that the bias may extend to "good publics" with privileged students, too. "Success stories" in "bad schools" tend to stand out more.

I interview kids from a well regarded magnet every year for my alma mater. None of them ever get in. It's almost a punch line. I mean, someone gets in from there, but none of the (very impressive) students I interview. They probably would have been better off at their base schools, or even better some random HS in PG.

There's always an advantage for the same kid with the same stats to going lower on the HS food chain. How low are you willing to go? Your kid could clean up by going to a Title I school in Indiana, but then they're in a Title I school in Indiana.

I'm happy with my kid at a mid tier private.

Students from that school get in but none that you interview.

Good illustration for why alum interviews are being phased out.

They're not being phased out at my school. It's possible the admittees go to someone who writes better interview reports than I do, I don't know. I have had interviewees admitted, just none from Impressive Magnet.

The point is going public is no silver bullet. You'd have to go to a "bad" public to get any results, and many don't have the stomach for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:look up what your private school got in PPP "loans" and get back to us on.

taxpayers also pay for the roads, the fire department, the police, the snowplows, the garbage removal, the sidewalks, the access to internet/sewer/elec that your tax-free school enjoys.

Wealthy private school parents are funding the bulk of those through taxes also.

the bulk is paid for by people with no children or adult children. so just stop.

[Anonymous]

I didn’t read ten pages, but I think it hurts at some schools, and helps at others. Examples being NYU and Hamilton. But I will say I went to the Sidwell equivalent in my hometown and it has helped beyond college admissions. You’re able to connect with others who went to privates and it can sometimes help with career prospects. I got an internship thru a connection and my brother got a job thru a connection.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:(I posted this in private schools but I think it’s maybe more relevant here)


Look I know this is an uncomfortable topic. Probably one you’ll want to deny if you have a kid in private. But could we have a frank convo about this? I have multiple friends with kids in privates who have top grades and SAT scores but don’t get into schools that their public counterparts do. Like UVA for example.

I get it-there’s a backlash against the perceived privilege of privates, but how bad is it? I keep hearing about first generation college students being what’s sought after. How true is this?

We are debating public vs private for high school. DS has been accepted to an elite private for upper school but has a great public. We see so many intangible benefits to attending the private, things like character and social skills and being more in alignment with our family values. Public has a solid education & offers great academics but lacks the focus on those things. And I have a number of friends with kids from privates that didn’t get into schools their public counterparts did. To the point that I’m being warned to go public instead!

How true is this? I get that college overall is so much harder to get into-but is there a bias against privates now in admissions?? Have you experienced this?

I am unaware of any bias by public universities against privately schooled high school kids (I'm not saying there isn't any, just that I haven't personally observed it). However, a college admissions officer at a very high-level private university told me that high school kids from very expensive private schools have an advantage in terms of admission at her university. Private colleges and universities like full-pay parents and where best to find them but at the most expensive private schools.

[Anonymous]

Definitely a bias against private schools in the UC System. Kids get into HYPMS but not UCSB

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:(I posted this in private schools but I think it’s maybe more relevant here)


Look I know this is an uncomfortable topic. Probably one you’ll want to deny if you have a kid in private. But could we have a frank convo about this? I have multiple friends with kids in privates who have top grades and SAT scores but don’t get into schools that their public counterparts do. Like UVA for example.

I get it-there’s a backlash against the perceived privilege of privates, but how bad is it? I keep hearing about first generation college students being what’s sought after. How true is this?

We are debating public vs private for high school. DS has been accepted to an elite private for upper school but has a great public. We see so many intangible benefits to attending the private, things like character and social skills and being more in alignment with our family values. Public has a solid education & offers great academics but lacks the focus on those things. And I have a number of friends with kids from privates that didn’t get into schools their public counterparts did. To the point that I’m being warned to go public instead!

How true is this? I get that college overall is so much harder to get into-but is there a bias against privates now in admissions?? Have you experienced this?

I am unaware of any bias by public universities against privately schooled high school kids (I'm not saying there isn't any, just that I haven't personally observed it). However, a college admissions officer at a very high-level private university told me that high school kids from very expensive private schools have an advantage in terms of admission at her university. Private colleges and universities like full-pay parents and where best to find them but at the most expensive private schools.

And the actual data back this up.

Bias is in favor of these kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wealthy people just don’t use public high school. Personally I never even considered it.

Omg did you type this with a straight face?

They only posted it to bait the typical 7 figure HHI people from saying they would never send their kids to private school. We get it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wealthy people just don’t use public high school. Personally I never even considered it.

Omg did you type this with a straight face?

They only posted it to bait the typical 7 figure HHI people from saying they would never send their kids to private school. We get it.

Not true. Like they said, wealthy people just don’t use public high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely a bias against private schools in the UC System. Kids get into HYPMS but not UCSB

The ice are great schools for instate students but not really anywhere the same qualify as the Ivies when factoring in their housing issues and huge class sizes. So no loss there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely a bias against private schools in the UC System. Kids get into HYPMS but not UCSB

I don’t know about this . Last year, 5 or 6 girls from our private got into the UC system with a grad class of 80 or so. I didn’t pay attention to which campuses.

[Anonymous]

I have a public school graduate at a T30 OOS flagship and a private school student going through the application process now. My private school student is getting a better education, but I’m concerned about how admissions will turn out. Most of the top public universities seem to calculate 4 points for an A, 3 points for a B, etc. — and then give an extra .5 for honors classes and 1 point for AP classes. At our private high school, only one honors section is offered for each class and students only take honors in their strongest subjects. At the public high school my older child attended, decent students took honors for everything. I agree with what others have said. Private high school sets you up well for private colleges, but it seems like a disadvantage with selective public universities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely a bias against private schools in the UC System. Kids get into HYPMS but not UCSB

Def true at our private

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a public school graduate at a T30 OOS flagship and a private school student going through the application process now. My private school student is getting a better education, but I’m concerned about how admissions will turn out. Most of the top public universities seem to calculate 4 points for an A, 3 points for a B, etc. — and then give an extra .5 for honors classes and 1 point for AP classes. At our private high school, only one honors section is offered for each class and students only take honors in their strongest subjects. At the public high school my older child attended, decent students took honors for everything. I agree with what others have said. Private high school sets you up well for private colleges, but it seems like a disadvantage with selective public universities.

Kid will do well in private colleges or where your HS has connections

It does work out.

Look at your HS data: what % of the class is attending to T30/T10 SLAC? At ours it’s nearly 75-80%.
For T20, it’s closer to 45-50%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:(I posted this in private schools but I think it’s maybe more relevant here)


Look I know this is an uncomfortable topic. Probably one you’ll want to deny if you have a kid in private. But could we have a frank convo about this? I have multiple friends with kids in privates who have top grades and SAT scores but don’t get into schools that their public counterparts do. Like UVA for example.

I get it-there’s a backlash against the perceived privilege of privates, but how bad is it? I keep hearing about first generation college students being what’s sought after. How true is this?

We are debating public vs private for high school. DS has been accepted to an elite private for upper school but has a great public. We see so many intangible benefits to attending the private, things like character and social skills and being more in alignment with our family values. Public has a solid education & offers great academics but lacks the focus on those things. And I have a number of friends with kids from privates that didn’t get into schools their public counterparts did. To the point that I’m being warned to go public instead!

How true is this? I get that college overall is so much harder to get into-but is there a bias against privates now in admissions?? Have you experienced this?

The wackiness of this topic has inspired me to compose a poem that captures its non-intuitiveness:

Private school dou[che]?
No Ivy for you.
Just public U.

—Thank you💁🏻‍♂️