Free advice from a senior high school parent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Out of control public GPAs is a myth private school parents tell themselves.

+1

-100. Tell that to all of the public school parents who complain to me about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP where are your stats? I randomly picked an fcps high school, and it had a senior class of 550. My child’s school senior class last year had 75 kids. The top 15% of kids went to a top university (hypsm + Duke, Cal tech, Penn, Brown, Columbia). Based on your post OP, are you saying that greater than 83 kids from any random DMV public high school went to a tippy top school?

Not OP but your analysis is not apples to apples. Lots of public school kids may have been gotten admitted to top schools but had to choose a lower ranked school based on merit. The wealth of private school parents skews the numbers when it comes to enrollment in top schools.

Signed, private school parent with a kid enrolled in top 20 at full pay

Ok, so over 83 kids were admitted to the very top schools per DMV public high school?

I have my doubts about that.

Perhaps they were or perhaps they could have gotten in but didn’t apply because they could not afford it.

It’s silly to believe that the smartest kids all go to private schools. Not when getting into those schools is so often based on hooks rather than merit and requires a whole lotta money to get in and to pay tuition.

No one is saying this at all. Read the posts. There are tons of super smart kids in the DMV. Many are in public. No one is saying they're all in private.
Just that the private schools (or at least the elite ones) tend to only have very strong kids. No, not to a person--of course! But as a cohort, yes.
They've admitted and then counseled out kids (or had kids leave on their own) to create this dynamic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, what's striking to me is how all the privates seem to have the same college outcomes: Bullis, Sidwell, NCS, Holy Child. They're getting kids into the exact same schools. There is no longer any benefit for suffering through Sidwell or NCS over Flint Hill or St. Andrews.

The way things are going, the admissions will be BETTER from these easier schools this year or next. The schools that are holding out on to super strict grading (NCS, Sidwell, to a lesser degree GDS and STA) are going to have to pivot or really become irrelevant.

Flint Hill is a joke. They are very protective of this matriculation data. Wonder why…

Well so far they're doing much better than NCS (two schools I'm closely familiar with) with ED admits (at the same colleges). And you might say "it will all work out in the end". Well yes---maybe, maybe not. It generally works out okay for the cohort at large. It does not work out for every kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP where are your stats? I randomly picked an fcps high school, and it had a senior class of 550. My child’s school senior class last year had 75 kids. The top 15% of kids went to a top university (hypsm + Duke, Cal tech, Penn, Brown, Columbia). Based on your post OP, are you saying that greater than 83 kids from any random DMV public high school went to a tippy top school?

Not OP but your analysis is not apples to apples. Lots of public school kids may have been gotten admitted to top schools but had to choose a lower ranked school based on merit. The wealth of private school parents skews the numbers when it comes to enrollment in top schools.

Signed, private school parent with a kid enrolled in top 20 at full pay

Ok, so over 83 kids were admitted to the very top schools per DMV public high school?

I have my doubts about that.

Why not? Do you have proof they weren’t?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because I send my child to a top all girls private HS, she is surrounded by students who are driven to achieve. She is also not distracted by boys who might be carrying guns or trying to rape them in the bathroom. I like our small safe school honestly. Will she get into a top college? I suspect she will. Does it matter that she attended this school and not our local public? Who knows? But I do like that she will make it out of HS without all that trauma. And she has also expressed to me that she appreciates the opportunity to be in such an excellent school. Those two things alone make it worth it.

Your daughter will probably be pretty messed up though for college with these views you’re teaching her. Good lord. Better move to a convent next so she can avoid the trauma of college.

Oh please she’s not that sheltered lol. She’s just safer than most kids during school hours.

[Anonymous]

PP you really are not coming across well.

[Anonymous]

From a college counselor: what is most helpful to consider is not what high school the student is coming from but the rigor of the courses they take. Period.

Also, colleges are looking for geographic diversity so everyone from the DMV, public or private, is in a certain pool of candidates.

The advice to choose private for the extras and not for a college app advantage is wise. Also, colleges do know the difference between a Sidwell and a Bullis. The student applying from Sidwell, GDS, NCS, Potomac is read differently. Just like the student who has demonstrated rigor in their academic schedule. But it is not the only consideration, of course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP you really are not coming across well.

But it is true. I am just stating what most people won’t say publicly because it would be politically incorrect. I don’t care what some random dcum user thinks lol. The bottom line is she isn’t exposed to these dangers at school. She can use the bathroom whenever she and not worry about when she might run into. This is not the case at our public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, what's striking to me is how all the privates seem to have the same college outcomes: Bullis, Sidwell, NCS, Holy Child. They're getting kids into the exact same schools. There is no longer any benefit for suffering through Sidwell or NCS over Flint Hill or St. Andrews.

The way things are going, the admissions will be BETTER from these easier schools this year or next. The schools that are holding out on to super strict grading (NCS, Sidwell, to a lesser degree GDS and STA) are going to have to pivot or really become irrelevant.

Flint Hill is a joke. They are very protective of this matriculation data. Wonder why…

it’s easily found with admits to top schools and many other schools to match their academic diversity

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From a college counselor: what is most helpful to consider is not what high school the student is coming from but the rigor of the courses they take. Period.

Also, colleges are looking for geographic diversity so everyone from the DMV, public or private, is in a certain pool of candidates.

The advice to choose private for the extras and not for a college app advantage is wise. Also, colleges do know the difference between a Sidwell and a Bullis. The student applying from Sidwell, GDS, NCS, Potomac is read differently. Just like the student who has demonstrated rigor in their academic schedule. But it is not the only consideration, of course.

i don’t believe that. i think these schools look at the GPA number and not give credit to the rigor of the school. i have a top elite athlete who had friends discounted because their gpa was not a 3.0 or higher regardless of the schools rigor. it IS absolutely a number first then they look at the rest

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you're considering a private school for your kid b'c you think it will improve their chances for admission at a competitive college, think again. Especially in the DMV, where there are some great public school options, it is 100% not worth it to go private just for college admissions.

If you want to do private b'c you think it will be a better experience for your child, that's another issue altogether. That's why we chose private and for that, it's been great: smaller classes, teachers who know the kids, etc.

But kids aren't getting into the super-selective colleges at any higher rate than they do from good publics. They did back in the '90s and before, but those days are over.

So if college admission is your goal, save your money!

Not sure where your kid is in school or whether your kid really screwed up, but this has not been our experience at all, and isn't the experience of others at our kids' top private. Sorry things didn't work out for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What a pathetic thread. The only goal of HS is to get into the right college. How about an actual education for your child?

You didn't read the OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree! There is so much more to private than college admissions. The education, community, the fact that parents have a say in their kid's education, the alumni network, and in general the teachers are happier.
I went to a K-8 and afterward to a private highschool and I loved it how everyone knew me and who I was. An important thing, kids are lacking today. That they matter.

OP said that too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What a pathetic thread. The only goal of HS is to get into the right college. How about an actual education for your child?

You didn't read the OP.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Out of control public GPAs is a myth private school parents tell themselves.

According to Forbes, between 2010 and 2022, there was evidence of steady grade inflation among high schoolers. During that period, even as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (the “Nation’s Report Card”) recorded steady declines in reading, math, and U.S. history achievement, student GPAs climbed steadily higher in Public Schools. The average adjusted GPA increased from 3.17 to 3.39 in English; from 3.02 to 3.32 in math; from 3.28 to 3.46 in social studies; and from 3.12 to 3.36 in science. In 2022, more than 89% of high schoolers in Public Schools received an A or a B in math, English, social studies, and science.