Do you think it is easier to get into a top college from private or public?
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Anonymous
| At private you are competing with more truly hooked kids than in public, even a high performing public will not have the same connections, donors and athletes. |
Anonymous
Sorry, I meant you will be eclipsed at most public schools. They have a QuestBridge pipeline, and your UMC kid is out of the running |
Anonymous
I agree. Know your kids well and where they will thrive. I stressed over this when my kids were in middle school, and due to a big move, they didn't get into any of the private schools in the area. The local public ended up being an amazing fit with balanced kids and curriculum. The social and emotional aspect is huge in high school as the kids need to be physically and mentally strong all four years. Our oldest was just accepted SCEA to his top choice so of course I am very pleased with his public education. We have many friends in the private schools, and some regret the move. But the private schools do have great Top 10/Ivy matriculation, but not so much in our circle of friends in private schools (all unhooked). |
Anonymous
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Our public school goes years without an Ivy admit and when it gets them it’s the Dartmouth/Cornell variety. Not too many WASP admits either. Some of this may be self selective by the applicants since I don’t think many families at our public want to pay $90k a year for college. It’s a donut hole type of school - not likely to get much need-based either.
Lots of UVA/UNC/UMD, the occasional Michigan, etc. |
Anonymous
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Depends on major and narrative.
If non-Stem and humanities or social sciences with strong app narrative, private school gets you there much easier. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
Why don’t people here understand this? |
Anonymous
| Whatever you choose, try to choose a smaller, less rigorous school. It’s easier to shine and rise to the top there, and stand out as “one of the best” in the teacher rec forms. Do not seek out the most prestigious, rigorous high schools!!! |
Anonymous
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Easiest is from a lower ranked, high FARMS, public HS - but only if in the top 5-10% of the graduating class.
Admissions from a low FARMS, higher ranked public HS ("W" HS) is a whole different animal. |
Anonymous
I am applying to privates for my younger child (my older is in public school) and one is smaller less rigorous, hoping they can stand out more. But my concern is the college matriculation list looks weaker and its hard to know if that is bc teacher recs aren't great or the counseling advice or kids are weaker? |
Anonymous
I am not sure I understand this - is it bc privates can help to create a narrative better for humanities kids? |
Anonymous
I am in the same boat. My child is excelling at a good but not great private. They send their share to Ivy+ but most of those have hooks (we have some good legacy hooks but aren't big donors so not sure how far those will go, plus they might be a little too hard to get into - wish we had gone to slightly less competitive colleges!). But there are a lot of very average schools on the list. We did not target TT private high schools as we wanted a sane HS experience, but at times I wonder if we should have pushed harder. |
Anonymous
I think it’s because practical people don’t want to pay $90k a year for a humanities major at a private college. |
Anonymous
Have you not read up on the process? Listened to podcasts? If you are applying to most T25, it's fairly easy to move around and switch. You are applying as a major, based on evidence (ECs, transcripts, LOR, essays), not committing to a major. AO "read" an application with a major in mind (the one you list), but of course aren't admitting you to that major (with a few known exceptions for Wharton/Dyson, and CS/engineering at certain schools where it's hard to switch). For the most part, private high schools encourage you to dig into the writing/creativity that humanities majors are known to have. Very easy to create that narrative. Now its way too late to do this in 11th grade, but for kids at private schools with strong humanities, easy to get into Brown as a classics major from a top private with Latin, an independent research project in Classics, a summer internship in antiquities, and 1 summer program (with one of 2 companies in the space). In fact, our non-DMV private CCO recommends it often. When you get to Brown, if you have non-Classics interests, great. That's the entire point of the OC. |
Anonymous
And people with a brain and/or who have money can exercise second order thinking and get beyond the obsession with ROI. Because a) you can still get plenty of jobs with a humanities degree. Great for getting into law school. b) you can apply as a humanities major and change the day you get to school. Most schools don't hold you to a major. Humanities often makes it easier to get in. c) Those with resources send their kids to private colleges to minimize exposure to the "who the heck would spend that much money - you must be an engineer or pre-med because those are the only meaningful jobs" crowd, who tend to be insufferable. But you go around telling us how smart you are. I'm sure you think I'm an idiot. You go to your schools. I'll send my kids to mine. We will never socialize. I will not be worse for it. |