The Death of Private School As We Know It

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did OP ever name the university that rejected her kid's ED application?

3.7 GPA doesn't sound very competitive for any top school. Certainly not T20.

Wasn't there a recent thread about how half of kids have 4.0s??

I am guessing her expectations were really off. A 3.7 in a top private may presumably buy easier access to a desirable, but not top, private university, or public college. I'm not even sure if that would ensure acceptance into a top 50 school honestly.

A 3.7 at NCS or Sidwell is top 25% of the class, possibly top 15%. Just shy of the Ivys, good enough for Chicago. They have grade deflation. NCS has not had a student with a 4.0 in many years.
This is not to say that public or private is better or worse---just that for what it's worth, a 3.7 at some of these schools is a top GPA. They just don't have kids graduating with straight As.

Top 25% isn't very special.

In small schools, Top 25% is a dozen students. Do you look down on the top 12-20 students at your school? That is the top 4% at a big public school.

This.

I'm a grad of a NYC private school comparable to DC "Top 3" schools. And then I went to an Ivy for college, T5 law school and law review, and elite big law. By far, the smartest cohort top to bottom that I have ever been around was my high school class of ~100 students. This top 25% isn't very special line is uninformed nonsense.

Well, OP kid just got rejected but ok. Glad you're so awesome from NYC

NYC PP here. My kids go to DC Big 3. I was responding to the obnoxious assertion that "Top 25% isn't very special." It's incredibly offensive, and wrong.

Is it really that offensive? Top 25% of anything sounds meh. It’s just how it is

[Anonymous]

Doesn't matter if you can't get into an Ivy, private lifers go to tier 2 and 3 colleges, get all As, and always graduate within 4 years. College ends up being easier than high school in many respects. While the public lifers--outside of the de facto private magnet public alums--end up at whatever campus and realize by week 1 or 2 they are literally years behind peers from writing ability to social skills and everything in-between. Wanna be pre-med and engineering quickly turns into marketing, communications, sociology, and political science -- and half of them take 5 or 6 years to graduate, if they don't quit before then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did OP ever name the university that rejected her kid's ED application?

3.7 GPA doesn't sound very competitive for any top school. Certainly not T20.

Wasn't there a recent thread about how half of kids have 4.0s??

I am guessing her expectations were really off. A 3.7 in a top private may presumably buy easier access to a desirable, but not top, private university, or public college. I'm not even sure if that would ensure acceptance into a top 50 school honestly.

A 3.7 at NCS or Sidwell is top 25% of the class, possibly top 15%. Just shy of the Ivys, good enough for Chicago. They have grade deflation. NCS has not had a student with a 4.0 in many years.
This is not to say that public or private is better or worse---just that for what it's worth, a 3.7 at some of these schools is a top GPA. They just don't have kids graduating with straight As.

Indeed. One of the folks “behind” me outside of the top 25% at my rigorous private only went to MIT and has since become one of the leading medical researchers/professors on the planet. The folks ahead of her did very similar or better.

Top 25% isn't very special.

In small schools, Top 25% is a dozen students. Do you look down on the top 12-20 students at your school? That is the top 4% at a big public school.

This.

I'm a grad of a NYC private school comparable to DC "Top 3" schools. And then I went to an Ivy for college, T5 law school and law review, and elite big law. By far, the smartest cohort top to bottom that I have ever been around was my high school class of ~100 students. This top 25% isn't very special line is uninformed nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Everyone is not the same. The top 25% of a top 3 private are very smart. Their parents had to have some smarts to earn the money to even pay for that education.

[Anonymous]

The bigger issue is that U.S. colleges have never been meritocracies and the trend is only increasing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't matter if you can't get into an Ivy, private lifers go to tier 2 and 3 colleges, get all As, and always graduate within 4 years. College ends up being easier than high school in many respects. While the public lifers--outside of the de facto private magnet public alums--end up at whatever campus and realize by week 1 or 2 they are literally years behind peers from writing ability to social skills and everything in-between. Wanna be pre-med and engineering quickly turns into marketing, communications, sociology, and political science -- and half of them take 5 or 6 years to graduate, if they don't quit before then.

This is silly and completely out of touch. Possibly a rationalization for their decisions. If your student is naturally good, well-rounded, and curious, they will strive in either environment. Save to it money and allow then to flourish in a REAL WORLD training ground! Do baseball players train for life at a bowling alley with only players of a certain demographic? You are fraud your little Johnny will fail and you continue to shelter and protect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone is not the same. The top 25% of a top 3 private are very smart. Their parents had to have some smarts to earn the money to even pay for that education.

Again, back to the parents ego and justifications…

[Anonymous]

Many bubble boys and girls can’t handle adversity outside of their circle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't matter if you can't get into an Ivy, private lifers go to tier 2 and 3 colleges, get all As, and always graduate within 4 years. College ends up being easier than high school in many respects. While the public lifers--outside of the de facto private magnet public alums--end up at whatever campus and realize by week 1 or 2 they are literally years behind peers from writing ability to social skills and everything in-between. Wanna be pre-med and engineering quickly turns into marketing, communications, sociology, and political science -- and half of them take 5 or 6 years to graduate, if they don't quit before then.

This is silly and completely out of touch. Possibly a rationalization for their decisions. If your student is naturally good, well-rounded, and curious, they will strive in either environment. Save to it money and allow then to flourish in a REAL WORLD training ground! Do baseball players train for life at a bowling alley with only players of a certain demographic? You are fraud your little Johnny will fail and you continue to shelter and protect.

Having done school and the “real world” I find it hilarious that you think public school is in any way indicative of the real world. Or any school for that matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did OP ever name the university that rejected her kid's ED application?

3.7 GPA doesn't sound very competitive for any top school. Certainly not T20.

Wasn't there a recent thread about how half of kids have 4.0s??

I am guessing her expectations were really off. A 3.7 in a top private may presumably buy easier access to a desirable, but not top, private university, or public college. I'm not even sure if that would ensure acceptance into a top 50 school honestly.

A 3.7 at NCS or Sidwell is top 25% of the class, possibly top 15%. Just shy of the Ivys, good enough for Chicago. They have grade deflation. NCS has not had a student with a 4.0 in many years.
This is not to say that public or private is better or worse---just that for what it's worth, a 3.7 at some of these schools is a top GPA. They just don't have kids graduating with straight As.

Top 25% isn't very special.

In small schools, Top 25% is a dozen students. Do you look down on the top 12-20 students at your school? That is the top 4% at a big public school.

This.

I'm a grad of a NYC private school comparable to DC "Top 3" schools. And then I went to an Ivy for college, T5 law school and law review, and elite big law. By far, the smartest cohort top to bottom that I have ever been around was my high school class of ~100 students. This top 25% isn't very special line is uninformed nonsense.

Well, OP kid just got rejected but ok. Glad you're so awesome from NYC

NYC PP here. My kids go to DC Big 3. I was responding to the obnoxious assertion that "Top 25% isn't very special." It's incredibly offensive, and wrong.

Is it really that offensive? Top 25% of anything sounds meh. It’s just how it is

You seem pretty ignorant. I can assure you that not a single person graduating cum laude thinks it’s “meh”.

[Anonymous]

After reading all the comments in this thread, what exactly is the gain of attending an Ivy or a T20 college? Is it a "better" education? A "better" community? a "tradition" or a family "legacy"? Why is it worth $100K a year when the world is turning anti-elite, anti-wealth etc....? Don't all of the same arguments about why NOT to spend a lot of $ on a Big 3 instead of DCPS/MCPS/FCPS etc...apply to why NOT to spend $$$ on Ivy, T20SLAC, etc.. and instead go to community college and then UMD/VaTech/UDC, etc..? It's silly to argue your moral superiority for attending a public K-12 school and crow about Ivy admissions.

[Anonymous]

Sidwell seniors getting washed out at Brown will do this to a parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here are the 2021 admissions from a Big3 (does not included multiple admits at many of the schools). Is there one college on this list that you wouldn't be happy that your kid is attending?
Personally I think it's awesome and guarantee that my kid will attend a decent college---never mind that they are also learning to to write well and think critically.

Boston College
Boston University
Brown
Bucknell
Colby
Colgate
William and Mary
Columbia
Cornell
Dartmouth
Davidson
Duke
Emory
Georgetown
Georgia Tech
Harvard
Johns Hopkins
NYU
Northwestern
Oberlin
Princeton
SMU
Stanford
Syracuse
Tufts
Tulane
UCLA
Chicago
Michigan
Penn
Richmond
Sewanee
USC
St. Andrews
UVA
Wisconsin
Vanderbilt
Wake Forest
Washington and Lee
Wash U
Yale

Not one bad school on this list. Impressive!

[Anonymous]

All great schools!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Husband and I graduated from our state flagship and the private and Catholic school kids ran circles around everyone in the classroom and socially. I went to "one of the best" public schools in the state and could not keep up. They were on a different level. Anyone pinching pennies when it comes to kindergarten through 12th education for an alleged better roll of the dice with Ivies is frankly an idiot.

They're an idiot because there is no better roll at a DMV public. If you ever review the admits from Whitman, Wilson, Mclean, etc. something like 98% of the Ivy admits are legacy, athletes or URM. THE SAME FREAKING demographics as the private school admits. THERE IS NO MAGIC IVY-BOUND HIGH SCHOOL FOR WHITE OR ASIAN KIDS. Except many some of the NE boarding schools?
But actually I'm sure it's the same story there. More admits but they're probably also legacies, URM, athletes plus some Ivy faculty kids thrown in.

At least in the DC area, there aren't a lot of Asians in private high schools. Mainly public. Same for families from Indi