Did private schools get a bump in elite college admissions?

[Anonymous]

How many times do people who have BTDT need to repeat it?!?

Private does NOT give you an edge if you're an average middle class family with no hooks. The kids who get int Ivies from private have hooks other than academics, notably recruited athletes or Ivy alumni (or, more rarely development cases, ie, donating more than 10M to the school and leveraging friendships on the board).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are considering switching our kids from public to private. I know some people don’t care about college outcomes from private but our family absolutely does care. I have been looking at the instagram pages of colleges from both public and private schools in the DMV and the private schools seem to have done significantly better. I currently have 1 kid in high school (freshman at local well regarded public) and two kids in elementary. We applied to a few privates last year for oldest and he decided to stay at his public. I also looked at the college instagrams last year and it didn’t seem like a large difference but the difference this year seems more significant.

No and no

Private never ever does better.

I don't know what you are looking at but any W school, Magnet school etc does better than any private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are considering switching our kids from public to private. I know some people don’t care about college outcomes from private but our family absolutely does care. I have been looking at the instagram pages of colleges from both public and private schools in the DMV and the private schools seem to have done significantly better. I currently have 1 kid in high school (freshman at local well regarded public) and two kids in elementary. We applied to a few privates last year for oldest and he decided to stay at his public. I also looked at the college instagrams last year and it didn’t seem like a large difference but the difference this year seems more significant.

No and no

Private never ever does better.

I don't know what you are looking at but any W school, Magnet school etc does better than any private.

Doesn’t it depend on where you fall in the class? Kids profile is what determines it. If it’s top 10% at both (prob little difference) versus in the top 25 to 35% at a private versus same at public?

The outcomes are not the same for that cohort. Obviously assuming full pay you have much better outcomes at a private.

So if your kid is a superstar and an amazing tester, and will always be at the top of the pack, go public.

If kid possibly not in the top 10% of class, you will definitely have more options - including top 25 private universities - from a rigorous private high school.

[Anonymous]

Here’s my 2 cents. The top of a public HS with string rest scores will do just as well as one from a top private, possibly better. As it is, those universities are rejecting more than 90% of applicants so it’s hard to say there is a more than chance involved among that stratosphere. Where I see the difference is the next tier. My DC’s small, rigorous private sends kids from the middle 50% to still great, but not T25, colleges. VT, Bates, Grinnell, Case Western, RPI, UMD, NYU, Wake Forest, BC, W&M, Villanova, etc.

All that said, we didn’t pick this private with the goal of increasing the odds of getting into a rejective college. We did it because the curriculum is rigorous across the board and we wanted to have DC prepared for wherever they go, even if it means DC will end up at an “lower ranked” college than they otherwise might have. DC has become a strong writer. Something DC was absolutely NOT getting in public middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly it depends on your kid’s stats. What are the target types of schools based on gpa/stats/profile.


But imo yes, it does help. My kid w/ a 3.8 unweighted GPA at a non-DMV private got into colleges (including Ivy) that he wouldn’t have gotten into at a public. Maybe his GPA would’ve been higher at the public, but there’s no way he could’ve stood out.

Search for a thread here with 3.8 GDS in title…

His unweighted GPA would not have been higher at a good DMV public with the highest level of rigor available to him. Please stop the nonsense.

It would be higher at APS and MCPS. At APS, 90-100 is 4.0. And at MCPS a A+B= A/4.0. My kid’s private gives a 3.7 for —A. Not to mention the retakes available at all these schools. My kid gets a 60 - it stays a 60 in the grade book. I think private schools’ college acceptances are skewed by athletes, family connections, and the superstars they admit in 9th grade. One advantage I think the private has over public is admissions to SLACs. If you are going to do private just for college - DON’T. My kid and their friends at other private schools have way more homework than their public peers. And the mandatory afterschool activities all year round mean they are starting their homework much later than public school kids. Private was right for my Kid for a number of reasons, but as I look toward college I have slight regrets.

Thanks for posting this. We just switched our 8th grader into MCPS for next year from a Big 3 and I keep wondering if we made the right choice. The pressure cooker environment was a factor, not the only one though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are considering switching our kids from public to private. I know some people don’t care about college outcomes from private but our family absolutely does care. I have been looking at the instagram pages of colleges from both public and private schools in the DMV and the private schools seem to have done significantly better. I currently have 1 kid in high school (freshman at local well regarded public) and two kids in elementary. We applied to a few privates last year for oldest and he decided to stay at his public. I also looked at the college instagrams last year and it didn’t seem like a large difference but the difference this year seems more significant.

No and no

Private never ever does better.

I don't know what you are looking at but any W school, Magnet school etc does better than any private.

Doesn’t it depend on where you fall in the class? Kids profile is what determines it. If it’s top 10% at both (prob little difference) versus in the top 25 to 35% at a private versus same at public?

The outcomes are not the same for that cohort. Obviously assuming full pay you have much better outcomes at a private.

So if your kid is a superstar and an amazing tester, and will always be at the top of the pack, go public.

If kid possibly not in the top 10% of class, you will definitely have more options - including top 25 private universities - from a rigorous private high school.

OP here. My oldest is a superstar and would always be at the top. He is at the top at public and would probably have been top at private. He is also a very strong athlete and may or may not be a college recruit.

My middle kid will not be at the top at public or private. This is the kid I think may benefit most from private. He is just as smart as his older brother but not hard working at all. He is super social and I guess what you would call popular. I worry about this kid the most.

My youngest is smart and not so athletic. I’m afraid she will get lost in large class sizes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are considering switching our kids from public to private. I know some people don’t care about college outcomes from private but our family absolutely does care. I have been looking at the Instagram pages of colleges from both public and private schools in the DMV and the private schools seem to have done significantly better. I currently have 1 kid in high school (freshman at local well regarded public) and two kids in elementary. We applied to a few privates last year for oldest and he decided to stay at his public. I also looked at the college instagrams last year and it didn’t seem like a large difference but the difference this year seems more significant.

No and no

Private never ever does better.

I don't know what you are looking at but any W school, Magnet school etc does better than any private.

Doesn’t it depend on where you fall in the class? Kids profile is what determines it. If it’s top 10% at both (prob little difference) versus in the top 25 to 35% at a private versus same at public?

The outcomes are not the same for that cohort. Obviously assuming full pay you have much better outcomes at a private.

So if your kid is a superstar and an amazing tester, and will always be at the top of the pack, go public.

If kid possibly not in the top 10% of class, you will definitely have more options - including top 25 private universities - from a rigorous private high school.

OP here. My oldest is a superstar and would always be at the top. He is at the top at public and would probably have been top at private. He is also a very strong athlete and may or may not be a college recruit.

My middle kid will not be at the top at public or private. This is the kid I think may benefit most from private. He is just as smart as his older brother but not hard working at all. He is super social and I guess what you would call popular. I worry about this kid the most.

My youngest is smart and not so athletic. I’m afraid she will get lost in large class sizes.

We were in a similar position and will be entering 9th at a private this year. We value the small class sizes that will give DS the 1 on 1 guidance he needs to succeed. While I didn't attend a top private or a top university, I grew up with alumni from the top private our DS will be attending. We spoke at length with these families before we made the transition. What stood out to us was that everyone we spoke to said they were overly prepared for college and that allowed them to enjoy their four years and explore other interests and internships.

While matriculation is important to us, we can't afford 90k in tuition and wouldn't want to even if we had it because there are so many other great options out there. Even though DS is at the top of his class, we are realistic about college placement and put value on scholarships over prestige. I rather pay now and save later when I have two in college.


Side note** If you are looking at the IGs, pay attention to the dates they are posted. The starkest difference is that there are far more ED/EA postings on the private IGs compared to public. March-May is mostly the RDs, anything Nov-Feb is pay to play.

[Anonymous]

For those checking IG, we are at big FCPS public and there are about 10 kids I know of going to HYPS and other top schools and they are not posted on the IG page. Our FCPS did great with ivies and top privates and publics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are considering switching our kids from public to private. I know some people don’t care about college outcomes from private but our family absolutely does care. I have been looking at the instagram pages of colleges from both public and private schools in the DMV and the private schools seem to have done significantly better. I currently have 1 kid in high school (freshman at local well regarded public) and two kids in elementary. We applied to a few privates last year for oldest and he decided to stay at his public. I also looked at the college instagrams last year and it didn’t seem like a large difference but the difference this year seems more significant.

Yes they get a bump comparatively and percentage wise of kids going to top schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those checking IG, we are at big FCPS public and there are about 10 kids I know of going to HYPS and other top schools and they are not posted on the IG page. Our FCPS did great with ivies and top privates and publics.

Do you mind sharing the school? Langley? McLean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah I wouldn't decide based on insta pages. My kid goes to a dcum unregarded public and has friends going to Harvard, mit, BU, Dartmouth, Middlebury etc. they do not allow post on the insta pages.

Kids who aren't recruited athletes or URMs? Name the school or it didn't happen.

Yes neither. Meh, you don't have to believe it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those checking IG, we are at big FCPS public and there are about 10 kids I know of going to HYPS and other top schools and they are not posted on the IG page. Our FCPS did great with ivies and top privates and publics.

Do you mind sharing the school? Langley? McLean?

Yes. Really to both since we know so many kids at both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hard no. Publics have it easier because its easier to get the stats needed to succeed. A 3.9 might be top 10 at a public but not even top 25 at a private.

How would you know this? Some private to public GPA conversion chart posted somewhere?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hard no. Publics have it easier because its easier to get the stats needed to succeed. A 3.9 might be top 10 at a public but not even top 25 at a private.

How would you know this? Some private to public GPA conversion chart posted somewhere?

If you are new to this process or a junior parent, it might be hard to believe - but there is a lot of information out there especially if you’ve gone through this a few times, and/or use college counselors in the area who know regional high schools very well.

This applies to any and every region - there’s so much standardization that goes in to this and you start to see what a circular world it is from these assistant directors of admissions at all of these private universities, who then go on to work as private college college counselors for hire. They are able to tell you the difference between a 3.9 from one school to another very very easily.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Private school helps if you want to end up at private college , esp mid range (eg Tulane, BU, Emory etc)
Private school does not help if you want to get into tippy top (unless your kid is #1-#5 at the school). If your kid is #20, they will discourage you from applying to HYPSM because it might hurt the top kids chances.

Public school is great if your kid would otherwise be upper middle of the road at private but can be the top in the public.

Yes but much much much easier to get into these schools from a private HS if full pay:
Cornell, U Chicago, Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, Wash u, Emory, Georgetown, Rice, CMU, USC, NYU, BC, Tufts,

These are the schools.
Plus some lower ranked ones (Tulane; Wake; etc) and SLACs

...for kids in which grade distribution? top 20%? 3.7+?