Can a kid who is not an URM, or recruited athlete or legacy get into an Ivy from a DC private?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, but chances of acceptance are better from a public.

Might as well save your money.

Not true. At all.

You can say this, but to those of us who follow college acceptances in NWDC it really does seem that ED from public is better than RD from private for an unhooked high stats kid. And for many families the >$200k they save by staying in public is the difference between ED and RD.

I don't follow anything, and anecdotes are worthless, but it's true the only Ivy acceptances I hear of come from MCPS, most of them from the Blair magnet, and some from random MCPS high schools. We live in a Bethesda neighborhood that's about 50% private, 50% MCPS.

Please note that the private school parents I know chose private (Sidwell, St Albans, etc) for reasons other than college admissions. So maybe that skews my already anecdotal data!

[Anonymous]

Private school kids are overrepresented at Ivy League and other top schools, relative to the overall student population.

But sure — keep up the myth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NCS had one girl last year who got into an Ivy without being a recruited athlete, URM or legacy (VIP or big donor legacy).
The trend seems to be continuing this year at NCS, GDS, Sidwell through ED at least. No kids admitted ED who are no hooked.

Time will tell if anyone unhooked gets in through regular decision.

The admissions landscape has REALLY, REALLY changed in recent (2 or so) years.
The high schools are trying to keep this under wraps but it is a a huge change.

I should also say that this seems to also be the trend at Jackson Reed (Wilson). Ivies so far are all crew, URM, legacy (but without the VIP/big donor part needed at the Big3 privates).
Plus a random few unhooked kids that got through (including one to Harvard). So they're faring a bit better than the privates but not by much.

School with Walls seems to be doing the best. The Ivies LOVE Walls. Smart kids, urban high school, many graduate with Associates Degrees from GW.
Tons of unhooked Ivy kids last year and a ton so far this year in ED.

I'm a parent with kids currently in high school in DCPS and two different Big3 schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Private school kids are overrepresented at Ivy League and other top schools, relative to the overall student population.

But sure — keep up the myth.

No one is saying kids from private schools don't get into Ivies. We are talking about UNHOOKED kids at private schools. And in general, private school kids in the DC area seem to be getting into Ivies in vastly lower numbers than they were 5-10 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Private school kids are overrepresented at Ivy League and other top schools, relative to the overall student population.

But sure — keep up the myth.

No one is saying kids from private schools don't get into Ivies. We are talking about UNHOOKED kids at private schools. And in general, private school kids in the DC area seem to be getting into Ivies in vastly lower numbers than they were 5-10 years ago.

Care to substantiate that claim?

[Anonymous]

Amazing how many people on this board have insight into years’ worth of college applications and have knowledge of all these kids’ circumstances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, but chances of acceptance are better from a public.

Might as well save your money.

Not true. At all.

You can say this, but to those of us who follow college acceptances in NWDC it really does seem that ED from public is better than RD from private for an unhooked high stats kid. And for many families the >$200k they save by staying in public is the difference between ED and RD.

Well yes, ED is a significant advantage. But ED vs ED or RD vs RD would be the only way to compare.

The person you replied to is just speaking out of their a**. They only have rumor and anecdata to back up their statement.

Look, I went to a Big3 and my kids are now at Jackson Reed. This is a real trend. The numbers have significantly changed over the past 10 years. Top colleges don't want overly privileged kids (unless they are so privileged that they can help the college lol).

Please provide us data to back up this claim.

[Anonymous]

A truly impressive student from a DC private can get into an Ivy, full stop.

[Anonymous]

No one has data because the schools don't want you to know this.

-But talk to any parent of a senior this year or last.
-Talk to a NW DC college admissions counselor.
-Look at the schools' student-run Instagram pages from last year and this year (not prefect but give trends)

Listen, we're not making this up for kicks and thrills or to start drama for fun. Pretty much no one is getting in who isn't a minority or an athlete or a big donor's kid.
OR feel free to keep paying the $55K per year and keep your head in the sand until your kid's senior year and you see this play out with your own kid. That's honestly probably the best approach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, but chances of acceptance are better from a public.

Might as well save your money.

Not true. At all.

You can say this, but to those of us who follow college acceptances in NWDC it really does seem that ED from public is better than RD from private for an unhooked high stats kid. And for many families the >$200k they save by staying in public is the difference between ED and RD.

Well yes, ED is a significant advantage. But ED vs ED or RD vs RD would be the only way to compare.

The person you replied to is just speaking out of their a**. They only have rumor and anecdata to back up their statement.

Look, I went to a Big3 and my kids are now at Jackson Reed. This is a real trend. The numbers have significantly changed over the past 10 years. Top colleges don't want overly privileged kids (unless they are so privileged that they can help the college lol).

Please provide us data to back up this claim.

There is no data to back up that colleges don’t want overly privileged kids. That’s BS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one has data because the schools don't want you to know this.

-But talk to any parent of a senior this year or last.
-Talk to a NW DC college admissions counselor.
-Look at the schools' student-run Instagram pages from last year and this year (not prefect but give trends)

Listen, we're not making this up for kicks and thrills or to start drama for fun. Pretty much no one is getting in who isn't a minority or an athlete or a big donor's kid.
OR feel free to keep paying the $55K per year and keep your head in the sand until your kid's senior year and you see this play out with your own kid. That's honestly probably the best approach.

Ah yes. The schools should publish full profiles of each admitted kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A truly impressive student from a DC private can get into an Ivy, full stop.

What do you mean by "truly impressive?"
Top 1-2 in the class with outlying extracurriculars to match? Yes, probably so. But that is 2 kids out of 75 or 125 or 150 that get in on academics/resume alone.

But that leaves a LOT of very smart, well prepared kids who can't.
The thing is---> this is a marked change in the past 3 years.
That is what people are saying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A truly impressive student from a DC private can get into an Ivy, full stop.

What do you mean by "truly impressive?"
Top 1-2 in the class with outlying extracurriculars to match? Yes, probably so. But that is 2 kids out of 75 or 125 or 150 that get in on academics/resume alone.

But that leaves a LOT of very smart, well prepared kids who can't.
The thing is---> this is a marked change in the past 3 years.
That is what people are saying.

And people know because of what they’ve “heard.” And yet, private schools continue to be WAY overrepresented at Ivy League schools.

But sure. Let’s believe your anecdotal data from Upper NW mommy gossip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one has data because the schools don't want you to know this.

-But talk to any parent of a senior this year or last.
-Talk to a NW DC college admissions counselor.
-Look at the schools' student-run Instagram pages from last year and this year (not prefect but give trends)

Listen, we're not making this up for kicks and thrills or to start drama for fun. Pretty much no one is getting in who isn't a minority or an athlete or a big donor's kid.
OR feel free to keep paying the $55K per year and keep your head in the sand until your kid's senior year and you see this play out with your own kid. That's honestly probably the best approach.

Nobody is arguing with you that T20 admissions for unhooked kids from the big 3 are almost nonexistent. We are arguing that DCPS does not have some secret sauce for unhooked kids. URM and athletics (the most obvious hooks) are not the only hooks getting some DCPS kids in. There is no way for parents to collect this data. It is all rumor and anecdata.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one has data because the schools don't want you to know this.

-But talk to any parent of a senior this year or last.
-Talk to a NW DC college admissions counselor.
-Look at the schools' student-run Instagram pages from last year and this year (not prefect but give trends)

Listen, we're not making this up for kicks and thrills or to start drama for fun. Pretty much no one is getting in who isn't a minority or an athlete or a big donor's kid.
OR feel free to keep paying the $55K per year and keep your head in the sand until your kid's senior year and you see this play out with your own kid. That's honestly probably the best approach.

We keep paying the 55k per child each year for the education and experience. If my kids become interested in top colleges, cool. But that's certainly not why we're there.