Is it true the Big 3 kids are getting hammered this year- and by that I mean bad admissions results?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid who is a sophomore at a Big 3 and by that let's say I mean St Albans/NCS, GDS, Sidwell or Maret. I have heard through my school grapevine that this year the kids at the elite privates are having terrible results-
especially the unhooked kids. I have heard that they are negatively affected by test-optional, the elimination of AP's and grade deflation.

Ok please tell me your experiences- Big 3 parents only please...I am not interested in hearing how well your W school kid did, or how stupid you think I am for paying private school tuition.

too bad. Kids who had to compete only with kids who had parents willing to pay for private school for a spot at a big 3 now have to compete with a much wider subset of kids. It turns out those other kids can have high GPAs, good AP scores, and extra curricular that get them into the same schools you want your kid to go.

[Anonymous]

Op are taking about Maret? I have heard it's a rough year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it just me or do a whole lot of these posts read as "I paid a ton of money for my privileged kid to go to private high school with the expectation that they'd get into a fancy-ass college and I am big mad that they are being lapped by a bunch of public school kids I do not know who I assume are undeserving and not as worthy as my precious darling."

YIKES.

It’s you, and the chip on your shoulder.

Do you know what that phrase means? Because being upset that you're not getting your money's worth in the return of a college of your preference is the absolute definition of entitlement and grudge-holding that the phrase conveys.

[Anonymous]

The seniors at our average/good high school on my street are doing very well this year. I would say that of the ones I know who are getting merit scholarships at well ranked schools absolutely deserve it and are cut out to do well. I don't know any Big 3 kids in my neighborhood though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid who is a sophomore at a Big 3 and by that let's say I mean St Albans/NCS, GDS, Sidwell or Maret. I have heard through my school grapevine that this year the kids at the elite privates are having terrible results-
especially the unhooked kids. I have heard that they are negatively affected by test-optional, the elimination of AP's and grade deflation.

Ok please tell me your experiences- Big 3 parents only please...I am not interested in hearing how well your W school kid did, or how stupid you think I am for paying private school tuition.

I would simply say to consider the self-interest of the people making these assessments. It can’t possibly be that this was an insanely competitive admissions year and their kids just didn’t make the cut; it has to be that less-worthy kids, whose parents didn’t pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for private school, somehow had an advantage. Come on.

I don't agree with you in pegging them as "less worthy," but public school kids absolutely have an advantage. As a parent of a Big 3 JR, I've known that for years. That is not why I'm choosing to spend the money on the private school.

These are the kids the schools want now - first gen, URMs, public schools from rural Montana. If you don't know that going in, you're setting yourself up for a big disappointment.

[Anonymous]

They want hard working, well-educated, well prepared, motivated.young scholars and they manage to find some in public high schools. Imagine that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They want hard working, well-educated, well prepared, motivated.young scholars and they manage to find some in public high schools. Imagine that.

How would you know which ones they are since all of the kids get As for not doing anything?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid who is a sophomore at a Big 3 and by that let's say I mean St Albans/NCS, GDS, Sidwell or Maret. I have heard through my school grapevine that this year the kids at the elite privates are having terrible results-
especially the unhooked kids. I have heard that they are negatively affected by test-optional, the elimination of AP's and grade deflation.

Ok please tell me your experiences- Big 3 parents only please...I am not interested in hearing how well your W school kid did, or how stupid you think I am for paying private school tuition.

I would simply say to consider the self-interest of the people making these assessments. It can’t possibly be that this was an insanely competitive admissions year and their kids just didn’t make the cut; it has to be that less-worthy kids, whose parents didn’t pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for private school, somehow had an advantage. Come on.

I don't agree with you in pegging them as "less worthy," but public school kids absolutely have an advantage. As a parent of a Big 3 JR, I've known that for years. That is not why I'm choosing to spend the money on the private school.

These are the kids the schools want now - first gen, URMs, public schools from rural Montana. If you don't know that going in, you're setting yourself up for a big disappointment.

From https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/04/private-schools-are-indefensible/618078/: “Less than 2 percent of the nation’s students attend so-called independent schools. But 24 percent of Yale’s class of 2024 attended an independent school. At Princeton, that figure is 25 percent. At Brown and Dartmouth, it is higher still: 29 percent.”

So unless those percentages shifted massively this year, your assertion just isn’t true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They want hard working, well-educated, well prepared, motivated.young scholars and they manage to find some in public high schools. Imagine that.

How would you know which ones they are since all of the kids get As for not doing anything?

I guess the wiz kids on the ad coms are pretty good. They seem to have a good job at the public where i am familiar with the students. None of those imposters you speak of managed to slip through.

[Anonymous]

It’s puzzling. Most private schools have been in-person or at least hybrid, while the public schools have floundered. Watered down grading, cheating, test optional. I’d be very wary of a 4.5 gpa coming out of a public this year. But, I suppose these colleges aren’t worried about it.

[Anonymous]

I'm so confused about these posts complaining how Big 3 kids are getting hammered this year. I thought the whole reason everyone sends their kids to private school is not for college placement but to instill that love of learning? I thought parents didn't care about college outcomes?

So why are so many parents complaining about where their Big 3/private school children and their college outcomes?

[Anonymous]

Interesting, from an admissions dean and college counselor at The Chadwick School in California:

"As I watch the celebrations of test-optional or test-blind, I am at the same time delighted for some of my students, yet also terrified that the advantage independent school students already have in essay reviews with counselors and lengthy references from teachers who know them well and can write brilliantly supportive recommendations, will be hugely amplified in the process without standardized markers (with the possible exception of AP results -- which opens another long tale of access and availability. Wealthy kids will, once again, come out ahead. Look even at the grade inflation curves at independent schools, according to NAIS data. Rather shocking that the average grades and grade point averages nationally at independent schools are just a hair below A. That's happening at upscale public schools, as well. Not at most public schools. We have become Lake Wobegon."

https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2021/03/22/do-top-colleges-favor-applicants-who-are-extremely-wealthy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid who is a sophomore at a Big 3 and by that let's say I mean St Albans/NCS, GDS, Sidwell or Maret. I have heard through my school grapevine that this year the kids at the elite privates are having terrible results-
especially the unhooked kids. I have heard that they are negatively affected by test-optional, the elimination of AP's and grade deflation.

Ok please tell me your experiences- Big 3 parents only please...I am not interested in hearing how well your W school kid did, or how stupid you think I am for paying private school tuition.

I would simply say to consider the self-interest of the people making these assessments. It can’t possibly be that this was an insanely competitive admissions year and their kids just didn’t make the cut; it has to be that less-worthy kids, whose parents didn’t pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for private school, somehow had an advantage. Come on.

I don't agree with you in pegging them as "less worthy," but public school kids absolutely have an advantage. As a parent of a Big 3 JR, I've known that for years. That is not why I'm choosing to spend the money on the private school.

These are the kids the schools want now - first gen, URMs, public schools from rural Montana. If you don't know that going in, you're setting yourself up for a big disappointment.

+1000.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm so confused about these posts complaining how Big 3 kids are getting hammered this year. I thought the whole reason everyone sends their kids to private school is not for college placement but to instill that love of learning? I thought parents didn't care about college outcomes?

So why are so many parents complaining about where their Big 3/private school children and their college outcomes?

I know it’s so weird? Almost like more than one person is posting on this board? Let me know if you figure it out.

[Anonymous]

Wealthy folks always come out ahead. That is how the world works unfortunately