Does going to a Big 3 school really help with college admissions?

[Anonymous]

In other threads private school parents regularly say they don't care where their kids end up at college? No longer the case?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In other threads private school parents regularly say they don't care where their kids end up at college? No longer the case?

yes - we all met a few weeks ago and decided we would start caring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In other threads private school parents regularly say they don't care where their kids end up at college? No longer the case?

I think it's more that the rest of us live in a world of nuance where there aren't only two extreme options of "don't care" and "care a ton." My sense is that most private school parents fall somewhere in the middle (i.e., they care somewhat about where their kids end up at college, but it's nowhere near the end-all and be-all of issues).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If in the top 10% of the class, yes, they will be in good shape. After that, no, I don't think it confers much advantage these days.

I agree with this. The problem being that it's really not easy to be in the top 10%. Pretty much everyone at a big3 for high school is very smart. Being in the top 10% is reserved for kids who study non-stop at the expense of almost everything else.
I'm beginning to realize that college admissions-wise my kids my kids would have been better off or just as good in public. They're well rounded kids--they work hard and do well in school, they play travel sports, they volunteer, they have active social lives---
but they're not going to be in the top 10%. That is reserved for the kids who are compulsive about school (more power to them but it's not most kids).

Curious. Does this really work? Denigrating other kids to rationalize your own kids mediocrity?

The top 10% kids at our school are all well rounded and play sports and do theater. That’s how they all get into top 10 schools. You don’t get in just studying all the time.

Do you know why your kid didn’t make the top 10%? They just weren’t smart enough. But continue living in your fantasy world.

Sorry. I was not meaning to be rude but you clearly are. The kids in the top 10% at our Big3 schools (my kids are 2 different ones) are really really driven to study. I don't know how to phrase it without you taking offense and insulting my kids. But my point stands it's not easy to be in this percentage. 90% of the very bright, hard working class are not. Those who are work really hard and are pretty compulsive about doing well (not meant to be an insult).

So you should be excused because you’re just an inadvertent asshole insulting other kids. That makes it all better. The basic premise is simply incorrect. Kids at the top study AND do all the other things you think your kids are doing.

Offensitive

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In other threads private school parents regularly say they don't care where their kids end up at college? No longer the case?

Do you have reading comprehension issues? Multiple people have said that here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why waste previous hours on tutoring and enrichment when the same can be accomplished during school hours? As far as I'm concerned, the value of time is priceless.

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a very hard time believing that the top 10 or 20 percent of MCPS graduates (for example) are consistently getting admitted to the so-called top colleges.

Exactly. If a typical MCPS class is about 800 kids, that would be 80 or 160 kids, which seems unlikely.

Yes, people will say - well, NCS/STA has 8 kids go to Harvard, and McLean High also had 8 kids go to Harvard. So they're the same! Numbers are hard for some people.

[Anonymous]

Very few McLean kids went to Harvard according to the Highlander

[Anonymous]

If you want your kids to experience a traditional prep school education, then send them to these schools. If your child has what it takes for admission to the top colleges: extremely wealthy family, world class talent at whatever it is that you do, or child of faculty then you can get in from anywhere. if your child is truly special, they will get in from any school. If your child is like most other kids who come from well educated families, work hard, play sports, then consider your child a good candidate for a decent four year university. And yes you can do that from public or private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a very hard time believing that the top 10 or 20 percent of MCPS graduates (for example) are consistently getting admitted to the so-called top colleges.

Exactly. If a typical MCPS class is about 800 kids, that would be 80 or 160 kids, which seems unlikely.

Yes, people will say - well, NCS/STA has 8 kids go to Harvard, and McLean High also had 8 kids go to Harvard. So they're the same! Numbers are hard for some people.

Well it could also be argued that the higher share of Harvard admits at STAs is due to legacy/donor development status of many of those kids. Not because a STA’s kid has some higher inherent merit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a very hard time believing that the top 10 or 20 percent of MCPS graduates (for example) are consistently getting admitted to the so-called top colleges.

Exactly. If a typical MCPS class is about 800 kids, that would be 80 or 160 kids, which seems unlikely.

Yes, people will say - well, NCS/STA has 8 kids go to Harvard, and McLean High also had 8 kids go to Harvard. So they're the same! Numbers are hard for some people.

Well it could also be argued that the higher share of Harvard admits at STAs is due to legacy/donor development status of many of those kids. Not because a STA’s kid has some higher inherent merit.

Did you come up with that theory all on your own there, Skippy?

[Anonymous]

No, everyone knows it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, everyone knows it.

So explain this to me. If the difference is due solely to legacy admits that suggests that either (1) all Ivy League grads in the area send their kids to private school or (2) they send their kids to both but private school legacy kids get in at a higher rate than public school legacy kids. Or do you think that private schools have a huge majority of the legacy students despite being a minuscule percentage of the total student population.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a very hard time believing that the top 10 or 20 percent of MCPS graduates (for example) are consistently getting admitted to the so-called top colleges.

Exactly. If a typical MCPS class is about 800 kids, that would be 80 or 160 kids, which seems unlikely.

It's not. The top 10% of public school graduates is not equivalent to the top 10% at an elite private school. The private school admits only the top x% of its applicant pool, which is itself a top y% of the general public (since these kids have parents who care enough to make the application, even irrespective of HHI).

This is why its so hard to answer OP's question, since it would take a lot of data and number crunching to compare apples to apples.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a very hard time believing that the top 10 or 20 percent of MCPS graduates (for example) are consistently getting admitted to the so-called top colleges.

Exactly. If a typical MCPS class is about 800 kids, that would be 80 or 160 kids, which seems unlikely.

It's not. The top 10% of public school graduates is not equivalent to the top 10% at an elite private school. The private school admits only the top x% of its applicant pool, which is itself a top y% of the general public (since these kids have parents who care enough to make the application, even irrespective of HHI).

This is why its so hard to answer OP's question, since it would take a lot of data and number crunching to compare apples to apples.

If you are in a wealthy, high SES area with good publics—the top 10% does not vary from the top 10% at private. There are enough kids that are all extremely high performing. And the schools are huge—2500 so there are many more to compete with. You don’t have a class 50% or more legacy- some of which are dumb as a bag of rocks. A class of 700 students vs a class of 200 can equal much more competition.