Big 3 (or thereabouts) College Results - Class of 2021

[Anonymous]

I work at a very prestigious university. Strongly agree that recruiting first gen/low income kids is a priority. They strongly prefer to see kids who've overcome obstacles and worked their way through adversity, over kids who've been fed from a silver spoon their whole lives.

On the whole, you'll find those kids more at public schools than at private schools. Obviously there will be some exceptions, but the optics/perception of private HS are not warm in this day and age.

There's also the numbers. Grade inflation really isn't it (all colleges know these grading disparities, they're longstanding), but I guess it makes private parents feel better about the situation. Kids have to be SUPER competitive to make it to the top of their HS class in most publics around here. Once admitted, the Whitman kid tends to outperform the Big 3 kid. The Big 3 kid will, in turn, tend to outperform the Springbrook HS kid.

These patterns are not "new" because of COVID. What *has* changed in the last year are a) more emphasis on a politics of racial justice and equity, along with class politics to an extent and b) lots of deferrals from the class of 2020 filling up (up to 1/3 of) spots in next year's freshman class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work at a very prestigious university. Strongly agree that recruiting first gen/low income kids is a priority. They strongly prefer to see kids who've overcome obstacles and worked their way through adversity, over kids who've been fed from a silver spoon their whole lives.

On the whole, you'll find those kids more at public schools than at private schools. Obviously there will be some exceptions, but the optics/perception of private HS are not warm in this day and age.

There's also the numbers. Grade inflation really isn't it (all colleges know these grading disparities, they're longstanding), but I guess it makes private parents feel better about the situation. Kids have to be SUPER competitive to make it to the top of their HS class in most publics around here. Once admitted, the Whitman kid tends to outperform the Big 3 kid. The Big 3 kid will, in turn, tend to outperform the Springbrook HS kid.

These patterns are not "new" because of COVID. What *has* changed in the last year are a) more emphasis on a politics of racial justice and equity, along with class politics to an extent and b) lots of deferrals from the class of 2020 filling up (up to 1/3 of) spots in next year's freshman class.

There is some interesting info here but also some utter BS. The level of work at top privates is very high—those students are very prepared for college and always have been.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work at a very prestigious university. Strongly agree that recruiting first gen/low income kids is a priority. They strongly prefer to see kids who've overcome obstacles and worked their way through adversity, over kids who've been fed from a silver spoon their whole lives.

On the whole, you'll find those kids more at public schools than at private schools. Obviously there will be some exceptions, but the optics/perception of private HS are not warm in this day and age.

There's also the numbers. Grade inflation really isn't it (all colleges know these grading disparities, they're longstanding), but I guess it makes private parents feel better about the situation. Kids have to be SUPER competitive to make it to the top of their HS class in most publics around here. Once admitted, the Whitman kid tends to outperform the Big 3 kid. The Big 3 kid will, in turn, tend to outperform the Springbrook HS kid.

These patterns are not "new" because of COVID. What *has* changed in the last year are a) more emphasis on a politics of racial justice and equity, along with class politics to an extent and b) lots of deferrals from the class of 2020 filling up (up to 1/3 of) spots in next year's freshman class.

There is some interesting info here but also some utter BS. The level of work at top privates is very high—those students are very prepared for college and always have been.

I am the PP you're responding to, and am a professor. I teach hundreds of undergrads each year. I can tell you I have seen many kids over the years from Big 3 schools who are at best middling students once admitted. Some have struggled mightily with producing adequate work--and I teach in the humanities, not a STEM field.

[Anonymous]

^ NP. I am guessing that the Big 3 kids in your classes were not the ones in the top of the class at their Big 3s, but the W kids were probably at the top of class or closer to it. So you are not comparing the same tier of kids. I have kids who have attended public and Big 3, and am very confident that the top 50% at the Big 3 are at least as strong academically as the top 15-20% at a W school (and we are in a W district).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work at a very prestigious university. Strongly agree that recruiting first gen/low income kids is a priority. They strongly prefer to see kids who've overcome obstacles and worked their way through adversity, over kids who've been fed from a silver spoon their whole lives.

On the whole, you'll find those kids more at public schools than at private schools. Obviously there will be some exceptions, but the optics/perception of private HS are not warm in this day and age.

There's also the numbers. Grade inflation really isn't it (all colleges know these grading disparities, they're longstanding), but I guess it makes private parents feel better about the situation. Kids have to be SUPER competitive to make it to the top of their HS class in most publics around here. Once admitted, the Whitman kid tends to outperform the Big 3 kid. The Big 3 kid will, in turn, tend to outperform the Springbrook HS kid.

These patterns are not "new" because of COVID. What *has* changed in the last year are a) more emphasis on a politics of racial justice and equity, along with class politics to an extent and b) lots of deferrals from the class of 2020 filling up (up to 1/3 of) spots in next year's freshman class.

There is some interesting info here but also some utter BS. The level of work at top privates is very high—those students are very prepared for college and always have been.

I am the PP you're responding to, and am a professor. I teach hundreds of undergrads each year. I can tell you I have seen many kids over the years from Big 3 schools who are at best middling students once admitted. Some have struggled mightily with producing adequate work--and I teach in the humanities, not a STEM field.

And here I didn’t realize that professors had access to student records to know what high school they attended. That’s kind of creepy to be honest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because Wilson is so gritty

You are rolling your eyes but I agree with you. Wilson isn't gritty to the upper NW kids. They are mostly walled off in their AP courses. Our kid's neighborhood friends at Wilson are the children of doctors, lawyers, journalists, etc. They have every advantage of my my other child's friends at the Big3. Same incomes,
same privileges.
But the AD don't know this. They view my Wilson kid as fighting his/her way through a challenging experience at a diverse, high FARMs urban school (both of which Wilson is) and they LOVE it. They eat this SH%^&T up in admissions. The admission rates (especially this year) are off the charts for kids who have good grades at Wilson and a few leadership activities.
I'm actually worried about my Big3 kid (a few years younger).

Wilson kids are getting in for the same reasons other kids get in: hooks.

Not the ones I know.
They are not connected.

Patently false. Everyone is connected or hooked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work at a very prestigious university. Strongly agree that recruiting first gen/low income kids is a priority. They strongly prefer to see kids who've overcome obstacles and worked their way through adversity, over kids who've been fed from a silver spoon their whole lives.

On the whole, you'll find those kids more at public schools than at private schools. Obviously there will be some exceptions, but the optics/perception of private HS are not warm in this day and age.

There's also the numbers. Grade inflation really isn't it (all colleges know these grading disparities, they're longstanding), but I guess it makes private parents feel better about the situation. Kids have to be SUPER competitive to make it to the top of their HS class in most publics around here. Once admitted, the Whitman kid tends to outperform the Big 3 kid. The Big 3 kid will, in turn, tend to outperform the Springbrook HS kid.

These patterns are not "new" because of COVID. What *has* changed in the last year are a) more emphasis on a politics of racial justice and equity, along with class politics to an extent and b) lots of deferrals from the class of 2020 filling up (up to 1/3 of) spots in next year's freshman class.

There is some interesting info here but also some utter BS. The level of work at top privates is very high—those students are very prepared for college and always have been.

I am the PP you're responding to, and am a professor. I teach hundreds of undergrads each year. I can tell you I have seen many kids over the years from Big 3 schools who are at best middling students once admitted. Some have struggled mightily with producing adequate work--and I teach in the humanities, not a STEM field.

And here I didn’t realize that professors had access to student records to know what high school they attended. That’s kind of creepy to be honest.

There is no way my professors knew my high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ NP. I am guessing that the Big 3 kids in your classes were not the ones in the top of the class at their Big 3s, but the W kids were probably at the top of class or closer to it. So you are not comparing the same tier of kids. I have kids who have attended public and Big 3, and am very confident that the top 50% at the Big 3 are at least as strong academically as the top 15-20% at a W school (and we are in a W district).

The top W kids are going to the same schools as the top big 3 kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work at a very prestigious university. Strongly agree that recruiting first gen/low income kids is a priority. They strongly prefer to see kids who've overcome obstacles and worked their way through adversity, over kids who've been fed from a silver spoon their whole lives.

On the whole, you'll find those kids more at public schools than at private schools. Obviously there will be some exceptions, but the optics/perception of private HS are not warm in this day and age.

There's also the numbers. Grade inflation really isn't it (all colleges know these grading disparities, they're longstanding), but I guess it makes private parents feel better about the situation. Kids have to be SUPER competitive to make it to the top of their HS class in most publics around here. Once admitted, the Whitman kid tends to outperform the Big 3 kid. The Big 3 kid will, in turn, tend to outperform the Springbrook HS kid.

These patterns are not "new" because of COVID. What *has* changed in the last year are a) more emphasis on a politics of racial justice and equity, along with class politics to an extent and b) lots of deferrals from the class of 2020 filling up (up to 1/3 of) spots in next year's freshman class.

There is some interesting info here but also some utter BS. The level of work at top privates is very high—those students are very prepared for college and always have been.

I am the PP you're responding to, and am a professor. I teach hundreds of undergrads each year. I can tell you I have seen many kids over the years from Big 3 schools who are at best middling students once admitted. Some have struggled mightily with producing adequate work--and I teach in the humanities, not a STEM field.

And here I didn’t realize that professors had access to student records to know what high school they attended. That’s kind of creepy to be honest.

Yes. Something is off. College professors don’t have access to where each of their students went to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work at a very prestigious university. Strongly agree that recruiting first gen/low income kids is a priority. They strongly prefer to see kids who've overcome obstacles and worked their way through adversity, over kids who've been fed from a silver spoon their whole lives.

On the whole, you'll find those kids more at public schools than at private schools. Obviously there will be some exceptions, but the optics/perception of private HS are not warm in this day and age.

There's also the numbers. Grade inflation really isn't it (all colleges know these grading disparities, they're longstanding), but I guess it makes private parents feel better about the situation. Kids have to be SUPER competitive to make it to the top of their HS class in most publics around here. Once admitted, the Whitman kid tends to outperform the Big 3 kid. The Big 3 kid will, in turn, tend to outperform the Springbrook HS kid.

These patterns are not "new" because of COVID. What *has* changed in the last year are a) more emphasis on a politics of racial justice and equity, along with class politics to an extent and b) lots of deferrals from the class of 2020 filling up (up to 1/3 of) spots in next year's freshman class.

There is some interesting info here but also some utter BS. The level of work at top privates is very high—those students are very prepared for college and always have been.

I am the PP you're responding to, and am a professor. I teach hundreds of undergrads each year. I can tell you I have seen many kids over the years from Big 3 schools who are at best middling students once admitted. Some have struggled mightily with producing adequate work--and I teach in the humanities, not a STEM field.

And here I didn’t realize that professors had access to student records to know what high school they attended. That’s kind of creepy to be honest.

That post is more than creepy, it’s complete fabrication. Of course the professors don’t have access to prior records. And as a professor at a “prestigious school” I have no idea why they would be on this forum as few top students from any of our area privates attend school here in town because there are no matches for them in the area. It amazes me how much time folks devote to making up dishonest posts on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

I went to a selective liberal arts college. The students from Exeter etc tended to be less impressive than many students from other schools. My theories were that 1) they were not the top students at their very selective/rigorous private school and/or 2) they were burned out and had already peaked. (They expressed that they were burned out).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work at a very prestigious university. Strongly agree that recruiting first gen/low income kids is a priority. They strongly prefer to see kids who've overcome obstacles and worked their way through adversity, over kids who've been fed from a silver spoon their whole lives.

On the whole, you'll find those kids more at public schools than at private schools. Obviously there will be some exceptions, but the optics/perception of private HS are not warm in this day and age.

There's also the numbers. Grade inflation really isn't it (all colleges know these grading disparities, they're longstanding), but I guess it makes private parents feel better about the situation. Kids have to be SUPER competitive to make it to the top of their HS class in most publics around here. Once admitted, the Whitman kid tends to outperform the Big 3 kid. The Big 3 kid will, in turn, tend to outperform the Springbrook HS kid.

These patterns are not "new" because of COVID. What *has* changed in the last year are a) more emphasis on a politics of racial justice and equity, along with class politics to an extent and b) lots of deferrals from the class of 2020 filling up (up to 1/3 of) spots in next year's freshman class.

There is some interesting info here but also some utter BS. The level of work at top privates is very high—those students are very prepared for college and always have been.

I am the PP you're responding to, and am a professor. I teach hundreds of undergrads each year. I can tell you I have seen many kids over the years from Big 3 schools who are at best middling students once admitted. Some have struggled mightily with producing adequate work--and I teach in the humanities, not a STEM field.

And here I didn’t realize that professors had access to student records to know what high school they attended. That’s kind of creepy to be honest.

Yes. Something is off. College professors don’t have access to where each of their students went to school.

They absolutely do if they write the students' rec letters for internships, scholarships, etc. And I write plenty of them. Students usually list their HS info on their CVs.

[Anonymous]

I believe professors can and do look up high schools. Back in my day, my SLAC put out a “freshman faces” book that had all freshman’s pictures, home town an HS.

I went to a session held by my alma mater’s admissions office and they said they do get feedback from professors about students, usually along the lines of “why the hell did you accept that kid?”

FWIW, I went to a top prep school and was very much burned out by college. I definitely knew how to study and get it done when needed but I was a lazy student by the time I got to college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ NP. I am guessing that the Big 3 kids in your classes were not the ones in the top of the class at their Big 3s, but the W kids were probably at the top of class or closer to it. So you are not comparing the same tier of kids. I have kids who have attended public and Big 3, and am very confident that the top 50% at the Big 3 are at least as strong academically as the top 15-20% at a W school (and we are in a W district).

I doubt it. I don't want to out myself on this board, but there's no way a student not in the top of their class got into the school I teach at. We live in the DC area, I "super commute" when I am teaching in person bc my spouse works in this area. My kids go to a Big 3 but I'm thinking strongly of pulling them before MS.

It's not at all fabrication, but you believe what you want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ NP. I am guessing that the Big 3 kids in your classes were not the ones in the top of the class at their Big 3s, but the W kids were probably at the top of class or closer to it. So you are not comparing the same tier of kids. I have kids who have attended public and Big 3, and am very confident that the top 50% at the Big 3 are at least as strong academically as the top 15-20% at a W school (and we are in a W district).

I doubt it. I don't want to out myself on this board, but there's no way a student not in the top of their class got into the school I teach at. We live in the DC area, I "super commute" when I am teaching in person bc my spouse works in this area. My kids go to a Big 3 but I'm thinking strongly of pulling them before MS.

It's not at all fabrication, but you believe what you want.

I have a kid at each. The top students at both Big 3 schools and a school like Whitman are all very bright and hard working. But public school kids often have more grit.
Private school parents love to put down the public schools, saying they can retake tests and have rampant grade inflation. The retaking tests is in MS. My kid at Whitman has never been allowed to retake a test. And there is grade inflation, which hurts the top students somewhat. But it is actually very rare for kids to graduate with a perfect 4.0 unweighted. The teachers and classes are tough. And there is not the hand holding that you get in private school. It’s more sink or swim.