Can a kid who is not an URM, or recruited athlete or legacy get into an Ivy from a DC private?

[Anonymous]

37% of Harvard’s Class of 2025 went to private school. 20% were legacies. I don’t believe every legacy went to private school, which means at the very least 17% of the class was non-legacy private — though it’s almost certainly more.

Only 10% of US seniors go to private school.

The reality is that private schools continue to overrepresent at these schools and it’s not just legacies/hooked kids.

https://features.thecrimson.com/2021/freshman-survey/makeup-narrative/

[Anonymous]

Sorry, legacy was 15%. So we’re actually talking about non-legacy private school kids being at least 22% of the class, but that assumes every legacy is a private school kid, which almost certainly isn’t true.

[Anonymous]

I’ve looked so far at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. All report having only 60% of their class coming from public school.

[Anonymous]

They might be able to get in if they went to a #bigthree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one has data because the schools don't want you to know this.

Pretty much no one is getting in who isn't a minority or an athlete or a big donor's kid.

Try UDC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one has data because the schools don't want you to know this.

-But talk to any parent of a senior this year or last.
-Talk to a NW DC college admissions counselor.
-Look at the schools' student-run Instagram pages from last year and this year (not prefect but give trends)

Listen, we're not making this up for kicks and thrills or to start drama for fun. Pretty much no one is getting in who isn't a minority or an athlete or a big donor's kid.
OR feel free to keep paying the $55K per year and keep your head in the sand until your kid's senior year and you see this play out with your own kid. That's honestly probably the best approach.

We keep paying the 55k per child each year for the education and experience. If my kids become interested in top colleges, cool. But that's certainly not why we're there.

This. Why some people think that the quality of the last four years of education is more important than the quality of the previous 13 is beyond me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one has data because the schools don't want you to know this.

-But talk to any parent of a senior this year or last.
-Talk to a NW DC college admissions counselor.
-Look at the schools' student-run Instagram pages from last year and this year (not prefect but give trends)

Listen, we're not making this up for kicks and thrills or to start drama for fun. Pretty much no one is getting in who isn't a minority or an athlete or a big donor's kid.
OR feel free to keep paying the $55K per year and keep your head in the sand until your kid's senior year and you see this play out with your own kid. That's honestly probably the best approach.

Nobody is arguing with you that T20 admissions for unhooked kids from the big 3 are almost nonexistent. We are arguing that DCPS does not have some secret sauce for unhooked kids. URM and athletics (the most obvious hooks) are not the only hooks getting some DCPS kids in. There is no way for parents to collect this data. It is all rumor and anecdata.

I don't think anyone is arguing that DCPS does much better. If you're white, not a recruited athlete and not a legacy from Jackson Reed you aren't getting into an Ivy either regardless of your grades and resume (with a tiny percentage of kids slipping through--but honestly this is the same at the Big3--a tiny number of unhooked kids get through). Walls seems to be a weird outlier. I don't know as much about MCPS, etc but I've heard it's similar this year.
This isn't a private vs. public debate but a shift in how colleges see this demographic of kids from this entire DMV region. It's not something the private schools can change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one has data because the schools don't want you to know this.

-But talk to any parent of a senior this year or last.
-Talk to a NW DC college admissions counselor.
-Look at the schools' student-run Instagram pages from last year and this year (not prefect but give trends)

Listen, we're not making this up for kicks and thrills or to start drama for fun. Pretty much no one is getting in who isn't a minority or an athlete or a big donor's kid.
OR feel free to keep paying the $55K per year and keep your head in the sand until your kid's senior year and you see this play out with your own kid. That's honestly probably the best approach.

We keep paying the 55k per child each year for the education and experience. If my kids become interested in top colleges, cool. But that's certainly not why we're there.

This. Why some people think that the quality of the last four years of education is more important than the quality of the previous 13 is beyond me.

It’s because they think the only point of going to one school vs another is to get into a particular college. It’s a myopic, unintelligent way of looking at schooling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Private school kids are overrepresented at Ivy League and other top schools, relative to the overall student population.

But sure — keep up the myth.

These kids and families will find other schools to invest their money and time in and make those schools as great if not better than the ivies. Most of the millionaires I know did not go to an Ivy. They went to schools with great school spirit and now invest heavily in their college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one has data because the schools don't want you to know this.

-But talk to any parent of a senior this year or last.
-Talk to a NW DC college admissions counselor.
-Look at the schools' student-run Instagram pages from last year and this year (not prefect but give trends)

Listen, we're not making this up for kicks and thrills or to start drama for fun. Pretty much no one is getting in who isn't a minority or an athlete or a big donor's kid.
OR feel free to keep paying the $55K per year and keep your head in the sand until your kid's senior year and you see this play out with your own kid. That's honestly probably the best approach.

Nobody is arguing with you that T20 admissions for unhooked kids from the big 3 are almost nonexistent. We are arguing that DCPS does not have some secret sauce for unhooked kids. URM and athletics (the most obvious hooks) are not the only hooks getting some DCPS kids in. There is no way for parents to collect this data. It is all rumor and anecdata.

I don't think anyone is arguing that DCPS does much better. If you're white, not a recruited athlete and not a legacy from Jackson Reed you aren't getting into an Ivy either regardless of your grades and resume (with a tiny percentage of kids slipping through--but honestly this is the same at the Big3--a tiny number of unhooked kids get through). Walls seems to be a weird outlier. I don't know as much about MCPS, etc but I've heard it's similar this year.
This isn't a private vs. public debate but a shift in how colleges see this demographic of kids from this entire DMV region. It's not something the private schools can change.

Do tell us where you got this amazing insight from.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Private school kids are overrepresented at Ivy League and other top schools, relative to the overall student population.

But sure — keep up the myth.

I believe you, but this happens in areas where the public schools just can't keep up. The DC area is not a normal metropolis. It is where overly-educated workers congregate, which makes the area public schools really competitive. So for this area, your general statement may not be true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one has data because the schools don't want you to know this.

-But talk to any parent of a senior this year or last.
-Talk to a NW DC college admissions counselor.
-Look at the schools' student-run Instagram pages from last year and this year (not prefect but give trends)

Listen, we're not making this up for kicks and thrills or to start drama for fun. Pretty much no one is getting in who isn't a minority or an athlete or a big donor's kid.
OR feel free to keep paying the $55K per year and keep your head in the sand until your kid's senior year and you see this play out with your own kid. That's honestly probably the best approach.

Nobody is arguing with you that T20 admissions for unhooked kids from the big 3 are almost nonexistent. We are arguing that DCPS does not have some secret sauce for unhooked kids. URM and athletics (the most obvious hooks) are not the only hooks getting some DCPS kids in. There is no way for parents to collect this data. It is all rumor and anecdata.

I am a public school kid and I would never send my kid to a public school in this area. Drugs in school, fights in the hallways, disruptions, and my friends kids who are in public school are trying to get their kids out. Knife fight in class in front of her daughter. Afraid to look at certain kids the “wrong way” or you may get jumped.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, but chances of acceptance are better from a public.

Might as well save your money.

Not true. At all.

You can say this, but to those of us who follow college acceptances in NWDC it really does seem that ED from public is better than RD from private for an unhooked high stats kid. And for many families the >$200k they save by staying in public is the difference between ED and RD.

This is true.

5 years ago, it was rare but possible to be entirely unhooked and get in from a DC private to a top Ivy. Today it’s impossible based on the stats of last 3 classes. How do I know? Multiple kids who have been at one of the top DC private schools. This year is like last year and the year before so far. Impossible for unhooked. And legacy is not a hook. Legacy VIP or legacy mega donor (7 figure or higher). Not a callous comment just pointing out the change.

I also feel the same way about the $ we spent on private. The education has been great but I do think we could have had the same at BCC or Whitman and had money for massive tutoring if needed and still saved $10s of thousands per year

The sole job of private school is not to get kid into top Ivy but for some parents of top academic kids, this was a critical factor and the entire thing has changed for this at least.

I would also add that at our Big3 the URM admits usually also have Legacy and/or VIP parents. Don’t assume the URM’s going to HYP are first gen, these are kids with rich legacy parents usually high up in the administration or other branches of government or prominent journalists, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Private school kids are overrepresented at Ivy League and other top schools, relative to the overall student population.

But sure — keep up the myth.

I believe you, but this happens in areas where the public schools just can't keep up. The DC area is not a normal metropolis. It is where overly-educated workers congregate, which makes the area public schools really competitive. So for this area, your general statement may not be true.

Unless you have data to prove that, I don’t buy it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve looked so far at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. All report having only 60% of their class coming from public school.

In other news, people willing to pay 50k a year for high school are willing to pay 80k a year for college