View of privates from a former college admissions staffer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How long ago was your experience? Asking because conventional wisdom now is that college admission chances are better from public, so I was surprised to see your point about an advantage to schools that send 100% to college.

You drank too much public school koolaid. No one in my circle thinks this.

Public school kids who excel at activities and leaderships roles as well as high SAT and AP classes will be more desirable than private school kids with same numbers. That’s not hard to understand.

Have any of you visited Harvard lately? Unless your student is at a top private school in Massachusetts or New York where they’re all located the odds aren’t any better than the top public school students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dated.

What I have heard from recent college admin is that the private school kids are coming in very well-prepared to do college level work. They are seeing so many kids arrive and need remedial help, need tutoring in required courses which should not be so difficult to anyone that took the courses in college--calc, etc. Writing is awful.

They do really seriously take into account high school rigor. Our private, not a big 3 (about half the cost) had an amazing year last year. I do know based on looking at our public school's listed results, my kid likely wouldn't have gotten into several of the schools he did from our big public.

you will never know that.

Also, I think you are not realizing that colleges compare the applicant with their peers within their school. Also, lots of these Big3/5 kids come from legacies. So, that could account for high % of admits to such schools.

Of course Big 3/5 schools will have better college acceptance rates than publics. Publics have lots of kids who don't even go to college, and/or cannot afford to go to college. It's an apples to orange comparison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cool story, but, with the exception of Bullis, the quality of the college acceptances tend to track with the rankings

This has much more to do with the wealth and Ivy legacy of the parents than it does the school itself. If you took the same top student from NCS/STA/Sidwell and put them in a less prestigious private school, they'd likely have similar admissions. In fact, they might do even better because they'd stand out in their class more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cool story, but, with the exception of Bullis, the quality of the college acceptances tend to track with the rankings

Because they track with the income of the parents. Not the school. The top schools tend to have the wealthiest parents, not necessarily the best students. Those students have parents who can pay for any college their kids get into.

yea, at some of these top colleges you have a better chance at getting in if you ED, and only people who can afford to pay for it will do ED to these expensive schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eventually people from these forums will come to the realization that not all families send their children to private schools because of college admissions. Some families simply don't want to deal with public schools.

That's nice for you.

OP did say that * if * you were sending your kids to those schools because of college acceptance... so your view doesn't apply here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course Big 3/5 schools will have better college acceptance rates than publics. Publics have lots of kids who don't even go to college, and/or cannot afford to go to college. It's an apples to orange comparison.

So many top colleges now are tuition-free or require zero financial contribution for middle class families or those who make even less. Almost no one at the top privates falls in that category.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dated.

What I have heard from recent college admin is that the private school kids are coming in very well-prepared to do college level work. They are seeing so many kids arrive and need remedial help, need tutoring in required courses which should not be so difficult to anyone that took the courses in college--calc, etc. Writing is awful.

They do really seriously take into account high school rigor. Our private, not a big 3 (about half the cost) had an amazing year last year. I do know based on looking at our public school's listed results, my kid likely wouldn't have gotten into several of the schools he did from our big public.

You don’t know where people from the public school applied. You think you are comparing apples to apples but you’re missing data.

This. So much data is missing on all fronts

[Anonymous]

And most students at HPY etc came from public schools or abroad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course Big 3/5 schools will have better college acceptance rates than publics. Publics have lots of kids who don't even go to college, and/or cannot afford to go to college. It's an apples to orange comparison.

So many top colleges now are tuition-free or require zero financial contribution for middle class families or those who make even less. Almost no one at the top privates falls in that category.

The top colleges are still heavily skewed to the wealthy and ultra-wealthy. The top 1% of the population by income comprise around 15% of the student body at Ivy schools. Sure, if you are lucky enough to get accepted as middle class, then it is free...however, the schools still prefer to admit kids with high GPAs, strong test scores, impressive ECs, athletes (which outside of revenue sports skew wealthy to ultra-wealthy), etc. All the things that wealthy kids present much better than middle-class kids (BTW, wealthy public kids at a Whitman or Langley also have this advantage).

[Anonymous]

Have any of you visited Harvard lately? Unless your student is at a top private school in Massachusetts or New York where they’re all located the odds aren’t any better than the top public school students.

No, but I’ve seen some recent videos from there. DC was interested in applying but after watching many recent news stories, I’m not sure I would pay for her to go there.
Maybe they should go back to admitting more private schools students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It must have been a really college. You do not even know how to spell. It is " Ivies" not " Ivys". I call BS on you.

Yes. Must have been a really college.

I want my kid to go to a "really" college. I think they will have a leg up because they go to public school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there is merit to OP’s post. I think there is a bubble about to happen in DC private schools. The reality it that it may be better to be at a less “Coveted” private for college when you take legacy off the table. Unless private schools do more for college admissions, there may not be the return investment that parents hoped for. I still believe private has benefit over public because the small classes are helpful and you do know that you will have teachers definitely prioritizing recommendations and your ancillary documents will get in on time. Time will tell. Last year’s admission cycle at our school was fine but not great. Two years in a row will start to show a trend and that isn’t good. I am sure schools like St. Andrews, Bullis and SJC are seeing an opening to up their status. These schools do a lot for their seniors.

ROI in relation to my DC’s future college admissions is not the reason I send them to private.

People who think this way are setting themselves up for disappointment.