Where to go from Big3

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your example - UCLA - is random and specific. I would love to know how many kids from this entire area, not just Big 3, went to UCLA last year and I am guessing it’s not a lot?? Maybe see which school sent the most there and then reassess. I have literally no idea even what type of school here sends kids to UCLA so if you do find this out, let us know.

The UC system makes this information publicly available, you can see exactly which schools in the DMV send kids to UCLA, and any other UC campus -- how many kids applied, were admitted, and enrolled. You're welcome. https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/about-us/information-center/admissions-source-school


And FWIW, I wouldn't move a happy/thriving kid because you think they will have "better" college admissions coming from a different school. That status can be too tenuous or fleeting to mess around with. They will go to college.

[Anonymous]

The Ohio State University is a great school. I don't understand why people would be so negative here. From politics to business to the arts, OSU has prominent alumni who have done just about everything. There is even an especially prominent politician from OSU who went to Yale for law school, and people tend to love YLS on this board!

[Anonymous]

I wish our big3 would move to a 5.0 GPA scale and bring back APs.

Those “Michigan, NYU, Tufts, Wesleyan” kids who are just “UMC child of a dentist and attorney” without a hook, would benefit.

[Anonymous]

I suspect that the typical 3.6-3.7 GPA kid at a Big 3 would have a 4.4+ GPA if they were at Jackson-Reed. No matter what anyone says, the reality is that the inflated public school GPA will yield much better college admissions results than the GPA at the median of an elite high school.

If your kid wants top grades, I would recommend a decently rigorous, but not overwhelming high school. Schools like Bullis, St. Andrews, Gonzaga, St. John's, etc. all fit this description well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Huh? Have you seem the instagrams for the Big3 and compared them to other schools adjusted for numbers?

UC's are an exception, I will grant you that, but state schools in the other 49 states, and private schools in all 50 states, take kids from Big3's all the time.

I personally know kids at these schools that ended up at places like Michigan, NYU, Tufts, Wesleyan, etc. (all amazing colleges). But, these same kids were definitely Ivy material if they weren't applying from within the cutthroat applicant pool of these prep schools.

It's not uncommon at all to see kids in their senior year openly say "I would have a better shot at an Ivy if I weren't applying from Sidwell/NCS/STA, etc." The competition to get into an Ivy from these schools is extremely fierce because applicants are compared to others from their same school.

It cracks me up that so many people on DCUM think they just know people who are "Ivy material." If you really do, there is a lot of money available in consulting as a side hustle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I suspect that the typical 3.6-3.7 GPA kid at a Big 3 would have a 4.4+ GPA if they were at Jackson-Reed. No matter what anyone says, the reality is that the inflated public school GPA will yield much better college admissions results than the GPA at the median of an elite high school.

If your kid wants top grades, I would recommend a decently rigorous, but not overwhelming high school. Schools like Bullis, St. Andrews, Gonzaga, St. John's, etc. all fit this description well.

What leads you to believe this? It strikes me as one person's opinion (without any info as to why they believe these things). This person took a hop on the old jump to conclusions mat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I suspect that the typical 3.6-3.7 GPA kid at a Big 3 would have a 4.4+ GPA if they were at Jackson-Reed. No matter what anyone says, the reality is that the inflated public school GPA will yield much better college admissions results than the GPA at the median of an elite high school.

If your kid wants top grades, I would recommend a decently rigorous, but not overwhelming high school. Schools like Bullis, St. Andrews, Gonzaga, St. John's, etc. all fit this description well.

What leads you to believe this? It strikes me as one person's opinion (without any info as to why they believe these things). This person took a hop on the old jump to conclusions mat.

Because I've seen the level of work that gets a B+ at Sidwell and the level of work that gets an A/A+ at Jackson-Reed. Many families have one kid at both and will outright admit that the public schools hand out A's like candy, especially post-COVID.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I suspect that the typical 3.6-3.7 GPA kid at a Big 3 would have a 4.4+ GPA if they were at Jackson-Reed. No matter what anyone says, the reality is that the inflated public school GPA will yield much better college admissions results than the GPA at the median of an elite high school.

If your kid wants top grades, I would recommend a decently rigorous, but not overwhelming high school. Schools like Bullis, St. Andrews, Gonzaga, St. John's, etc. all fit this description well.

What leads you to believe this? It strikes me as one person's opinion (without any info as to why they believe these things). This person took a hop on the old jump to conclusions mat.

Because I've seen the level of work that gets a B+ at Sidwell and the level of work that gets an A/A+ at Jackson-Reed. Many families have one kid at both and will outright admit that the public schools hand out A's like candy, especially post-COVID.

Same experience. The fact our complacent big3 hasn’t responded to this inflation, choosing instead to just gaslight parents, is what is making us reconsider our investment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I suspect that the typical 3.6-3.7 GPA kid at a Big 3 would have a 4.4+ GPA if they were at Jackson-Reed. No matter what anyone says, the reality is that the inflated public school GPA will yield much better college admissions results than the GPA at the median of an elite high school.

If your kid wants top grades, I would recommend a decently rigorous, but not overwhelming high school. Schools like Bullis, St. Andrews, Gonzaga, St. John's, etc. all fit this description well.

What leads you to believe this? It strikes me as one person's opinion (without any info as to why they believe these things). This person took a hop on the old jump to conclusions mat.

Because I've seen the level of work that gets a B+ at Sidwell and the level of work that gets an A/A+ at Jackson-Reed. Many families have one kid at both and will outright admit that the public schools hand out A's like candy, especially post-COVID.

Same experience. The fact our complacent big3 hasn’t responded to this inflation, choosing instead to just gaslight parents, is what is making us reconsider our investment.

And they won’t respond because you won’t leave and neither will any of the other parents who complain about grade deflation/inflation.

[Anonymous]

For the example given - UCLA - Gonzaga had the best result - 3 students admitted out of 17 applicants. Sidwell had 3 admitted out of 27 and School Without Walls had 5 out of 27.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the example given - UCLA - Gonzaga had the best result - 3 students admitted out of 17 applicants. Sidwell had 3 admitted out of 27 and School Without Walls had 5 out of 27.

Thanks for posting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the example given - UCLA - Gonzaga had the best result - 3 students admitted out of 17 applicants. Sidwell had 3 admitted out of 27 and School Without Walls had 5 out of 27.

These numbers suggest that competitive privates and magnet schools are harder to get admitted from because of the number of applicants trying to get in. SWW probably has better odds than Sidwell because it has huge grade inflation in their school. I'd much rather have to compete with 9 applicants for 3 spots than 27 applicants for the same amount of spots.

[Anonymous]

It cracks me up that so many people on this forum point at the public schools whenever this sort of question comes up. OP isn’t interested in public. It’s like people are looking to blame someone else when their kid and their kid’s classmates don’t get into the college of their choice.

[Anonymous]

This is just another reason to ask yourself if it’s all around worth it to spend 50k a year for your child to go to Sidwell or STA or Visitation and do hours upon hours of soul crushing school work when for the most part, these kids go onto generally the same places. And by these kids I mean kids who go to private schools here.

[Anonymous]

This is a fair thought.