Why do people dislike the Big Three?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: The Santa Claus statement was smug. There is no Santa Claus. There are the big three. And the Ivies. And the people who don't like that (the fact these terms DO INDEED exist... yes Virginia there is a Beauvoir) are either (1) jealous or (2) disgruntled former students/parents.

And this is one of the dumber posts on this thread. Nobody in their right mind would deny that Beauvoir, or for that matter Sidwell, EXIST.

The question of the thread is: are these really the "big 3" schools in DC. The Ivies are definable -- they are a football league. But what the h@#$ do people mean by "big" -- big pricetag, big in the sense of K-12, or big snooty prestige? The Ivies are recognized nationwide. Most of the so-called "big 3" are unknown outside of DC, unless you phrase it in terms of "the school that Obama's kids go to" or "the first integrated school in DC" or "the school with the cathedral with the funeral services for presidents". Andover or Exeter people have heard of outside of DC, Sidwell not so much. Plus, there are tons of great schools, private and public, in the DC area.

Unlike the term "Ivies", this arbitrary term "big 3" seems totally debatable - it seems like it was created by a lot of insecure wannabees. Not even jealous, because they probably haven't even applied yet!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: The Santa Claus statement was smug. There is no Santa Claus. There are the big three. And the Ivies. And the people who don't like that (the fact these terms DO INDEED exist... yes Virginia there is a Beauvoir) are either (1) jealous or (2) disgruntled former students/parents.

And this is one of the dumber posts on this thread. Nobody in their right mind would deny that Beauvoir, or for that matter Sidwell, EXIST.

The question of the thread is: are these really the "big 3" schools in DC. The Ivies are definable -- they are a football league. But what the h@#$ do people mean by "big" -- big pricetag, big in the sense of K-12, or big snooty prestige? The Ivies are recognized nationwide. Most of the so-called "big 3" are unknown outside of DC, unless you phrase it in terms of "the school that Obama's kids go to" or "the first integrated school in DC" or "the school with the cathedral with the funeral services for presidents". Andover or Exeter people have heard of outside of DC, Sidwell not so much. Plus, there are tons of great schools, private and public, in the DC area.

Unlike the term "Ivies", this arbitrary term "big 3" seems totally debatable - it seems like it was created by a lot of insecure wannabees. Not even jealous, because they probably haven't even applied yet!

The other poster actually denied the existence of an Ivy League, I think. As to what constitutes a Big Three, perhaps it's subject to debate. New York uses the term Top Tier. For some reason no one questions there are a set of schools which, if nothing else (and maybe nothing else) are harder to get into. Maybe everyone would be happier with the term most competitive.

[Anonymous]

I don't think she did deny the existence of an Ivy League, unless that's some different poster from the one quoted above. "There are the Big 3. And the Ivies". Or so she said, plus something about how "these terms DO INDEED exist"....

[Anonymous]

In response to the original query, most people hate the Big 3 because they either did not get in, or could not afford it. Both reminders that while all these elite Washington, D.C. overachievers have done well in life, others have done better.


Many of those who are at the Big 3 hate it because they realize they are surrounded by fellow overachievers whose worst characteristics (inflated egos, hyper-competitiveness) are only stoked by making into the Big 3. To have to pay 30K to ensure that you are surrounded by such unbearable people and to likely ensure that your progeny turn into such inflated ego, hyper-competitive types is sad. The fact that we continue to do it anyway is tragic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In response to the original query, most people hate the Big 3 because they either did not get in, or could not afford it. Both reminders that while all these elite Washington, D.C. overachievers have done well in life, others have done better.

A nice attempt to be even-handed, but this part is wrong. We turned down a so-called "big three", because we weren't that impressed compared to other choices. And no regrets three years on.... And do we just think they're overrated, or do we actually hate them? Maybe a little of both, with the dislike coming from the stories we hear from people with kids in them.