Do you think it is easier to get into a top college from public or private?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:It will depend on the school. Private schools obviously have an advantage bc they choose their students. That’s not the case at public high schools that educate everyone in their district. That’s their mission.

But the top 10-20 percent of students at well resourced public schools like Langley and the Ws do just as well as the elite private school students when it comes to college admissions. And the STEM kids at public schools are usually much stronger than the private school students. Which is no small thing these days.

Do they all get into top20 schools? This is the question. I don't know as I'm a private school parent. At STA and Sidwell they do. 100%.
Do 100% of the top 20% at Langley and the Ws get into top20 schools?

100 percent of students at STA and Sidwell do not go to top 20 schools. If you're talking about the top 10-20 percent at STA and Sidwell, sure. But you're talking about a few dozen students at most who all went through a competitive admissions process just to go to high school. That's not the case at public schools, where everyone can attend.

The other thing to remember is that STA and Sidwell parents tend to be rich. They don't think about merit scholarships. There are a lot of great students at Langley and the Ws that end up choosing full rides at Maryland or UVA or honors programs elsewhere with significant awards over dropping $400,000 to attend Cornel or Columbia. Most people have more than one kid, and spending $800,000 for college is a big stretch for most working professionals. So professional UMC families make different choices than the STA and Sidwell families who aren't concerned by cost.

But in terms of college admissions, there is no meaningful difference in results between private school students and the strong public school students. And of course there are a lot of wealthy families in the W and Langley districts, so the money issue doesn't apply to everyone. Choose whatever is a better fit for your kid.

Of course, there are differences, you just identified some,

One can reasonably conclude that if one wants to attend an instate public college, doesn’t matter where you go. But private schools do better with top private colleges, it’s obvious from the composition of the class. We have really touched on slacs, but they really love private school kids.

Absolutely no one cares about SLACs.

Both of my kids go to top 20 colleges and I've been following this thing for a little while. If you are in a good school district with all the options - from ECs to APs to high level math like multivariable - I can't see why one would choose a private school. Typically, in my area, that's the special needs option. Or the lazy rich choice.

I'm quite confident the top 10-20 percent of students at Whitman or Langley are far brighter and accomplished than students at GDS or Sidwell. And the college admissions results reflect that at the competitive schools.

The lady doth protest too much. Sounds like you aren’t confident at all.

This. It's okay to be poor, PP. No one is judging you. You are the only one being judgemental.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:You people are just nuts. You’re responding to OP’s thread asking about Langley High School compared to privates by bringing up the most elite and selective private high schools all over the country and saying they do better.

Well, duh. Of course they do.

But we’re talking about private schools in the DMV. With few exceptions it’s much less clear.

Another example of how this website going “national” is making it useless to DMV folks.

Yeah, it's weird when people are chiming in from SF or Seattle, or talking about Lawrenceville admission results. Kids who would otherwise go to Langley are sometimes also looking at Potomac, Landon, Gonzaga, and to a lesser extent some of the more academic DMV privates like Sidwell or St. Albans or NCS. What happens at elite boarding schools really doesn't matter.

So the OP sys Junior DC does not stand out in Public school. So should the younger ones be sent to one of those privates so they can stand out more from their peers?

Honestly, I don't think the OP's kid goes to Langley, so I'm not that inclined to give specific advice. The line that every kid at Langley is gunning for T20 is laughable. The bottom half of Langley is not even thinking about T50, much less T20.

So it should be easier to stand out at Langely?

This is way too generic of a question. Langley has close to 600 kids in each class. The top 10 percent is 60 kids, which is almost as many as the entire graduating class at a school at like St. Albans. The top 50% at St. Albans (30 kids) are probably comparable to the top 5% at Langley (30 kids). It is just apples and oranges. This is a stupid way to pick a high school.

well it is how the OP wants to pick a HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bay Area parent back again- one note.
The kids at our private school accepted their spots at the private colleges they were accepted to. Even though they were also excepted to one or both of Cal and UCLA. The drop off to the UC’s doesn’t happen until you get to Tufts for example. I suspect the private high schools result in higher yield for the T 20 (probably T30 and top SLAC’s) than the top public high schools. I don’t know whether that is part of the difference but it could be

It seems the the answer is that it is about the same degree of difficulty.

[Anonymous]

As I said before from my experience in the Bay Area- yes for the very top students but not for the next tier. Those kids from the public high schools don’t seem to get in to the top privates or Cal and UCLA. Look at the Stanley Zhong example- Gunn HS, was in the top 9% of his class but had at least one B in junior year and took stem AP’s but not the humanities side. Best acceptance was UC Davis. Similar kids from our local independent high schools (and there are several very good private high schools) have better/more choices.

I know nothing of Langley HS but what I do know is AO are assigned by region so the AO who reviews applicants from Langley also reviews the applicants from the local private high schools. Students in a geographic area are necessarily competing with each other . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As I said before from my experience in the Bay Area- yes for the very top students but not for the next tier. Those kids from the public high schools don’t seem to get in to the top privates or Cal and UCLA. Look at the Stanley Zhong example- Gunn HS, was in the top 9% of his class but had at least one B in junior year and took stem AP’s but not the humanities side. Best acceptance was UC Davis. Similar kids from our local independent high schools (and there are several very good private high schools) have better/more choices.

I know nothing of Langley HS but what I do know is AO are assigned by region so the AO who reviews applicants from Langley also reviews the applicants from the local private high schools. Students in a geographic area are necessarily competing with each other . .

Which is why I specifically noted what patterns I’d seen regionally from one top school but that set off an angry Langley parent.

[Anonymous]

Langley is sub par at best. Sorry.

[Anonymous]

Our private with 200 seniors had so many more Ivy/T10/20 acceptances than the 2,000 total seniors in our entire county. So, yes, private did better. The admissions officers know the rigor of every HS in the area and they get the AP exam profile and know which schools grade inflate, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our private with 200 seniors had so many more Ivy/T10/20 acceptances than the 2,000 total seniors in our entire county. So, yes, private did better. The admissions officers know the rigor of every HS in the area and they get the AP exam profile and know which schools grade inflate, etc.

But it’s a tough 4 years, rigorous in comparison. Faculty is top-notch in their fields.

[Anonymous]

It depends on the private school. I think private schools do place better for ivy/t20. However, public school kids likely have an advantage at flagship publics that like high gpa. Publics have more grade inflation and inflated gpa due to weighted gpa and heavy AP curriculum. Lots of pressure for perfection at public hs whereas private kids dont have that expectation. At our private, we have zero AP courses and few kids have perfect gpa's and all place very well, even the kids that aren't very strong. Our private has rigor, a strong curriculum that colleges know and a solid track record of kids doing well. Lots of opportunities for kids to distinguish themselves academically. Yes, school has legacy, urm, and wealthy donors. But we are neither (we got financial aid from the hs), and my smart, interesting kid is now at an Ivy and I don't think they would be there now if they went to public. Also, small classes mean teachers really know kids, kids are expected to lead discussions, etc. I think the exception might be for math/stem where public magnet school kids do very well in admission to top stem programs (mit, engineering, etc). I think public kids can distinguish themselves but they have to put in the effort to find opportunities where they can showcase their strengths. .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bay Area parent back again- one note.
The kids at our private school accepted their spots at the private colleges they were accepted to. Even though they were also excepted to one or both of Cal and UCLA. The drop off to the UC’s doesn’t happen until you get to Tufts for example. I suspect the private high schools result in higher yield for the T 20 (probably T30 and top SLAC’s) than the top public high schools. I don’t know whether that is part of the difference but it could be

No one cares about the Bay Area. This is a DMV website. We have no idea what the hell you’re talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bay Area parent back again- one note.
The kids at our private school accepted their spots at the private colleges they were accepted to. Even though they were also excepted to one or both of Cal and UCLA. The drop off to the UC’s doesn’t happen until you get to Tufts for example. I suspect the private high schools result in higher yield for the T 20 (probably T30 and top SLAC’s) than the top public high schools. I don’t know whether that is part of the difference but it could be

OP. Thanks for sharing. I found it helpful.

[Anonymous]

Private school kids have a huge advantage even for HYPSM — DC was admitted to a couple and met lots of kids from private schools there — boarding schools like Andover/Exeter. If regular private day school, the boost might not be as much. My DC attended public and was unhooked, but had interesting stuff on app but still we know DC was LUCKY. It’s possible but hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s always amusing to see how worked up public school parents get on these threads.

I was thinking just the opposite. The insecurity dripping from the private school parents' posts is something to behold. I guess they have to somehow rationalize throwing away thousands on private school.

OP, you're in an excellent school pyramid. Langley has fantastic college acceptance results. There's no way I'd pay for private in your situation.
NP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Langley is sub par at best. Sorry.

Case in point, lol! Anyone who knows anything about public schools is laughing at your silly claim.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As I said before from my experience in the Bay Area- yes for the very top students but not for the next tier. Those kids from the public high schools don’t seem to get in to the top privates or Cal and UCLA. Look at the Stanley Zhong example- Gunn HS, was in the top 9% of his class but had at least one B in junior year and took stem AP’s but not the humanities side. Best acceptance was UC Davis. Similar kids from our local independent high schools (and there are several very good private high schools) have better/more choices.

I know nothing of Langley HS but what I do know is AO are assigned by region so the AO who reviews applicants from Langley also reviews the applicants from the local private high schools. Students in a geographic area are necessarily competing with each other . .

No one knows (or cares) about any of the schools you keep mentioning. This thread is asking about a specific school in FCPS. Please stop posting about SF.