The perils of going to a hyper competitive HS. Unless your kid can seriously be in the top 1-5%, it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD is glad she didn't get into TJ. The friends she knows there are struggling to make Bs while she has an unweighted 4.27 at her local HS.

How is unweighted 4.27 possible on a 4.0 scale?

In Loudoun, an A+ is worth 4.3.

Interesting. We don’t have A+. What % do you have to get to earn an A+? Our school won’t allow anything over 100, which is still an A. Taking AP tests is the only way to compare apples and oranges in some of these cases

In LCPS, 98-100 is an A+.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top colleges know which are the ultra competitive private and public schools. They know what Andover, Exeter, Trinity, Stuyvesant or Brooklyn Tech means and they consistently target these schools more heavily than the mediocre privates or publics.

+1 At most of these ultra-elite schools the top 30%-50% enrolls at at ivy or ivy equivalent.

This is completely insane to think about but it is true. I know Trinity and Andover send something like 40%+ to the ivies + Stanford, MIT, Duke, Chicago.

While I believe that magnets do send a big number to Ivies every year, let’s get real: many of these kids are legacies or have lots of $$$ for donations. Public magnets are more of a meritocracy in admissions to attend them in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top colleges know which are the ultra competitive private and public schools. They know what Andover, Exeter, Trinity, Stuyvesant or Brooklyn Tech means and they consistently target these schools more heavily than the mediocre privates or publics.

+1 At most of these ultra-elite schools the top 30%-50% enrolls at at ivy or ivy equivalent.

This is completely insane to think about but it is true. I know Trinity and Andover send something like 40%+ to the ivies + Stanford, MIT, Duke, Chicago.

Many of the kids from these schools (private) have wealthy parents and that is why they get into top schools in higher numbers compared to other schools. I know of 2 NYC families that fit this profile. Attended 2 of the schools mentioned and both students are mediocre academically and their parents know it. However, they are wealthy and able to not just pay tuition but donate millions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:can work against you. Too many type A parents think if they buy a house in "the Best" district, their kid will be at an advantage. Same goes for Specializes HSs, the pool of kids is very hard to compete against, and you may or may not know, top colleges evaluate apps BY SCHOOL. So if 30 kids from the same HS apply to Harvard, they are all compared against each other. The same kid who did extremely well, but not tops, could have lived 10 miles away in a "mediocre" SD, and had much better odds.

You poor baby. Either you keep starting the same thread every few weeks or you are awfully late the party.

Parents are always going to prefer high school with strong peer groups over the alternative, and the top high schools, public and private, send a lot more kids to good schools than the lower tier schools.

Enjoy Montgomery College. You are about as far removed from giving meaningful advice about Ivy admissions as one could be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top colleges know which are the ultra competitive private and public schools. They know what Andover, Exeter, Trinity, Stuyvesant or Brooklyn Tech means and they consistently target these schools more heavily than the mediocre privates or publics.

+1 At most of these ultra-elite schools the top 30%-50% enrolls at at ivy or ivy equivalent.

This is completely insane to think about but it is true. I know Trinity and Andover send something like 40%+ to the ivies + Stanford, MIT, Duke, Chicago.

While I believe that magnets do send a big number to Ivies every year, let’s get real: many of these kids are legacies or have lots of $$$ for donations. Public magnets are more of a meritocracy in admissions to attend them in the first place.

There are actually not too many families that have the kind of dough that really moves the needle for admissions to an ivy. If your kid is very competitive and thus already well within the admissible range, then a 7-figure donation might suffice but in most cases and especially if your kid is more mediocre you need mid 8 figures or more. Very few families have this kind of money lying around ready to be spent to send junior to college. Also the elite private HS in the US are very rigorous, there are not many unqualified rich kids around. Most lazy/not very bright rich kids go so to some shitty private - there are plenty of those. Also it is wrong to assume that all scions of major families are unqualified or mediocre. I went to Lawrenceville and had a quite a few classmates from major families. Many of them are some of the most hardworking, smart and sophisticated kids out there, having been groomed since infancy to follow the family tradition of achieving greatness.

[Anonymous]

Send your kid to private school in Baltimore. Not nearly as competitive as the DC metro and better college placement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We joke that we should've moved to a podunk small town USA. But seriously, I tend to agree about the big fish/little pond theory, but part of the issue is that if your DC does get into an elite university, you also want your DC to be well prepared and not behind, and I feel like the "lower" tier HSs wouldn't prepare a student as well as a competitive and/or magnet type HS. We are trying to find the right balance, but we are also not hankering on having our kids go to Ivy leagues. If they get in, wonderful but that's not what we're shooting for.

Even if you did there would still be bunches of kids who are better than your kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yup it’s called special snowflake syndrome.

It also explains why people continue to go to law school and grad school for the humanities even though it’s been a long time since those paths led to material success for other than the top 1-5% of applicants.

Everyone thinks they’ll be the one.

However, going to a “bad” school with truly poor teachers isn’t a great alternative either unless you have the time and energy to teach your kid everything yourself. Most don’t.

I graduated from an Ivy League law school many years ago, and I do lots of hiring duties for my organization. When I meet young people considering law school, I tell them not to bother right now, unless they can get into a top school. Some think I am a snobbish ogre, but I am just being honest. They will graduate with a mound of debt, and dim employment prospects. It is just not worth it.

That’s still true for law but other fields are realizing that their most creative employees, the ones who are open to others’ ideas and willing to take risks—didn’t go to Ivy League schools or play it safe and get all As all the way through. Tons of articles about this places like google, mckinsey etc. —there are places for everyone, just help your kid figure out what they’re good at and what they like and where those two things meet. The world is changing and all of you worrying about Ivy League etc. still won’t be able to predict what’s going to happen. But your kid will be successful if they’re passionate about what they do and are able to leverage it into a career of some sort. I say this as someone with three Ivy League or “top” school credentials who could care less if my kids go that route. I didn’t follow a traditional path post school and it wouldn’t have mattered for me either had I got to East Nothing U. Lots of ways to get a good education, and not all of them are even in traditional school. And by the way, my kids really believe that I believe this, and so when they work hard, it’s becaude they’re motivated. They’re not doing anything to please me academically, they hustle for themselves. That will pay off more than riding your kid about homework and grades.

[Anonymous]

I went to a top high school and a good but not excellent college. Haven’t you realized yet that was matters is being well educated. I am a good writer with critical thinking skills. I excelled in college and went to a top law school. I moved to a great public school system because I care about the education my kids get not how game the college application system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top colleges know which are the ultra competitive private and public schools. They know what Andover, Exeter, Trinity, Stuyvesant or Brooklyn Tech means and they consistently target these schools more heavily than the mediocre privates or publics.

+1 At most of these ultra-elite schools the top 30%-50% enrolls at at ivy or ivy equivalent.

This is completely insane to think about but it is true. I know Trinity and Andover send something like 40%+ to the ivies + Stanford, MIT, Duke, Chicago.

I'm a Trinity grad and from my graduating class in the 90's about one-third went to ivies (all ivies) and Stanford. I get the alumni magazine and it's about the same now. Impressive since it's so much harder to get into these schools but they are not sending 50% to ivies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is posted on here every couple of weeks.

Going to a strong HS is not about getting into a selective college, it is about getting out of whatever college they go to with a high GPA.

Yeah but why go to a strong HS when it actually decreases your chances of getting into a selective college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On the flip side, if your kid's pluses are not their grades but their test scores/extracurriculars/intangibles, then going to a very competitive HS is likely the right approach... At a mediocre public, not being in the top 5% of the class is going to rule you out at HYPS (except for folks with hooks); whereas being in the top 25% at a super-selective school won't.

Being below the 10% will rule you out of hyps even at the most selective privates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top colleges know which are the ultra competitive private and public schools. They know what Andover, Exeter, Trinity, Stuyvesant or Brooklyn Tech means and they consistently target these schools more heavily than the mediocre privates or publics.

+1 At most of these ultra-elite schools the top 30%-50% enrolls at at ivy or ivy equivalent.

I don't suppose legacy status and being full pay factors into this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We joke that we should've moved to a podunk small town USA. But seriously, I tend to agree about the big fish/little pond theory, but part of the issue is that if your DC does get into an elite university, you also want your DC to be well prepared and not behind, and I feel like the "lower" tier HSs wouldn't prepare a student as well as a competitive and/or magnet type HS. We are trying to find the right balance, but we are also not hankering on having our kids go to Ivy leagues. If they get in, wonderful but that's not what we're shooting for.

You sound terribly conflicted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top colleges know which are the ultra competitive private and public schools. They know what Andover, Exeter, Trinity, Stuyvesant or Brooklyn Tech means and they consistently target these schools more heavily than the mediocre privates or publics.

+1 At most of these ultra-elite schools the top 30%-50% enrolls at at ivy or ivy equivalent.

This is completely insane to think about but it is true. I know Trinity and Andover send something like 40%+ to the ivies + Stanford, MIT, Duke, Chicago.

While I believe that magnets do send a big number to Ivies every year, let’s get real: many of these kids are legacies or have lots of $$$ for donations. Public magnets are more of a meritocracy in admissions to attend them in the first place.

There are actually not too many families that have the kind of dough that really moves the needle for admissions to an ivy. If your kid is very competitive and thus already well within the admissible range, then a 7-figure donation might suffice but in most cases and especially if your kid is more mediocre you need mid 8 figures or more. Very few families have this kind of money lying around ready to be spent to send junior to college. Also the elite private HS in the US are very rigorous, there are not many unqualified rich kids around. Most lazy/not very bright rich kids go so to some shitty private - there are plenty of those. Also it is wrong to assume that all scions of major families are unqualified or mediocre. I went to Lawrenceville and had a quite a few classmates from major families. Many of them are some of the most hardworking, smart and sophisticated kids out there, having been groomed since infancy to follow the family tradition of achieving greatness.

I'd love to hear some examples of what you consider "shitty privates"