Top public school achievers get into better colleges

[Anonymous]

Is this true? A high performing public school grad in DC would get into a better college than a middling Sidwell grad. I have seen this written before because of diversity issues ie, Yale doesn't want 1/2 the class from the same top private schools.

[jsteele]

Not directly answering your question, but related, is this article from the NY Post:

http://www.nypost.com/pagesixmag/issues/20080629/Private+School+Rejects

Its about the prestigious Dalton School not getting any of its students into Harvard.

[Anonymous]

There's some truth to it, IF you do well in public school. I know a lot of high-performing DC public school grads (mostly Wilson, Walls, and Banneker) that get into better colleges than private school grads. Those three schools probably have as good or better exmissions than a lot of private schools.

[Anonymous]

Yes, this is true. Not just because of colleges' interest in geographic and socioeconomic diversity but also because a smart kid is going to have a better chance of ending up at the top of his class in most public schools -- and thus stick out in the admissions process as a star -- than in highly selective and competitive private schools.

That said, a look at the list of colleges 08 Wilson grads were accepted to shows that there is a large group of high-achievers there. I'm looking forward to sending my kids. See pages 4 and 5 of this string for more info. The list of acceptances is from the Wilson listserv:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/45/14768.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this true? A high performing public school grad in DC would get into a better college than a middling Sidwell grad. I have seen this written before because of diversity issues ie, Yale doesn't want 1/2 the class from the same top private schools.

If the kid involved does not have parents or other close relatives who went to the desired college(s) and would graduate first or second in his/her DCPS class rather than, say, 10th in his/her priivate school class, then yes, the same kid would have a much better chance at admission coming from DCPS. I'm assuming here that SAT score/extramural credentials/demographics are held constant and that the private school in question is one where a number of the kids in the top 20 based on academic credentials (GPA/SAT) have parents who did go to the colleges where admission is desired.

The first cut for at least some of the elite colleges involves comparing the applicant to other candidates from the same school (some universities even keep stats on how well admittees from particular HSs have performed at their university which means the applicant may be compared not only to other current applicants but to previous matriculants from the same secondary school.)

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks. Some great info. Do we know how Wilson, Walls or Banneker students fare once at the Ivies? Any stats? I read an old article in the City Paper that profiled some of these students but again this was old.

[Anonymous]

Anecdotally, I think there is some truth to this.

Lets assume, for a moment, that the first 30 students of the graduating class at St. Albans really ARE smarter than the number 1 student at John Doe (whether its due to genetics, education, etc.). I think there are people who believe (perhaps with good cause, perhaps not) that this really is the case. That at St. Albans, you have such a wealth of talent, that almost all the students would be among the "best and brightest" at any normal public school. Assuming that is the case, being # 25 or #26 at St. Albans DOES hurt you in the college admissions game, compared to if you had gone to John Doe and been valedictorian.

The flip side of this, is that the disadvantage you might have for competing against your St. Albans peers at the top, starts to flip around towards the middle and bottom. I don't know this for a fact, but I suspect even the kid who finishes at the dead bottom of his class at St. Albans probably can go to a decent college... whereas the kid who finishes at the bottom of John Doe probably can't get in anywhere.

[Anonymous]

"A high performing public school grad in DC would get into a better college than a middling Sidwell grad."

Well duh and shouldn't this be the way it works? I went to an elite private school so no public school bias here, but a kid at the top of a public school should get into a better college than a student in the middle of an elite private school. A smart kid who is at the top of a school with thousands and has very high SAT schools is more qualified.

I think there is a misconception from kids in private schools that they automatically deserve to be admitted to Princeton. They seem to miss that even if their private school was harder and they received B+ rather than A-, an A- at the public school would not necessarily get them into Princeton anymore than their B+ at Sidwell.

I do believe that private school can better prepare the mid range students to succeed in college, even a non Ivy. Smaller class settings tend to include more focus on writing and in class discussion.

[Anonymous]

Uh, I believe Bannker has 100% college attendance (or acceptance) rate. Everyone there is accepted to college. NOw, maybe because of finances or other issues they don't all go, but colleges fall over themselves accepting Banneker kids. Now, maybe the public school grads have a harder time at college than the private school kids (and I've heard this anecdotally as well), but I think if you're talking about pure acceptance rates, your odds are better at a DC public school.