do college admissions get ugly at the Big3 when all the parents are Ivy grads?

[Anonymous]

Penn Charter also provides real aggregate data. They also make available their profile, which includes the actual grade distributions for all junior year classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I don’t have a dog in this anymore (my kids have graduated), but your dogged defense of Sidwell’s position is curious. For reasons of its own, Sidwell doesn’t produce such lists. As you probably know, Sidwell doesn’t even allow you to keep or record the Naviance data (you can only view it on screen with the admissions staff). No one but Sidwell needs to defend its decisions; and it doesn’t seem to be hurting Sidwell at all in the market for students. So be it. Still, you choose to make post after post saying that this decision is not only defensible, but correct, based on the view that more data is meaningless and even harmful. That position seems untenable.

For example, suppose you had matriculation lists for, say, the past 5 years. You could test the assumption that Sidwell seems to place well with Harvard, Yale and Penn, but not so well with Princeton and Brown. Correlation is not causation and exceptions abound, but it is relevant data to see whether some schools consistently admit a relatively large number of Sidwell grads each year.

Anyone who goes to the school knows which colleges it does well with, and which ones it does (hint, if your kid wants to go to MIT, SFS is likely not the best place to go to high school) and also knows that the school sends a ton of kids each year to Penn and Chicago with a healthy smattering of other Ivys and Nescac schools.

But I will again ask, what difference does it make. If you are an alum of X school and your kid loves that school and wants to ED there, then that will top your kids list. It won't matter how many other kids have gone to that school in past years. You also know that the school will not restrict applications like other schools. If 30 kids want to apply to Yale ED, so be it. If another 15 want to apply to Northwestern, so be it. They do not throttle it the way other schools do.

So at the end of the day, a senior will develop their list and make their choices. It really doesn't matter what happened in previous years. Except for the MIT thing, I suppose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I don’t have a dog in this anymore (my kids have graduated), but your dogged defense of Sidwell’s position is curious. For reasons of its own, Sidwell doesn’t produce such lists. As you probably know, Sidwell doesn’t even allow you to keep or record the Naviance data (you can only view it on screen with the admissions staff). No one but Sidwell needs to defend its decisions; and it doesn’t seem to be hurting Sidwell at all in the market for students. So be it. Still, you choose to make post after post saying that this decision is not only defensible, but correct, based on the view that more data is meaningless and even harmful. That position seems untenable.

For example, suppose you had matriculation lists for, say, the past 5 years. You could test the assumption that Sidwell seems to place well with Harvard, Yale and Penn, but not so well with Princeton and Brown. Correlation is not causation and exceptions abound, but it is relevant data to see whether some schools consistently admit a relatively large number of Sidwell grads each year.

Anyone who goes to the school knows which colleges it does well with, and which ones it does (hint, if your kid wants to go to MIT, SFS is likely not the best place to go to high school) and also knows that the school sends a ton of kids each year to Penn and Chicago with a healthy smattering of other Ivys and Nescac schools.

But I will again ask, what difference does it make. If you are an alum of X school and your kid loves that school and wants to ED there, then that will top your kids list. It won't matter how many other kids have gone to that school in past years. You also know that the school will not restrict applications like other schools. If 30 kids want to apply to Yale ED, so be it. If another 15 want to apply to Northwestern, so be it. They do not throttle it the way other schools do.

So at the end of the day, a senior will develop their list and make their choices. It really doesn't matter what happened in previous years. Except for the MIT thing, I suppose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I don’t have a dog in this anymore (my kids have graduated), but your dogged defense of Sidwell’s position is curious. For reasons of its own, Sidwell doesn’t produce such lists. As you probably know, Sidwell doesn’t even allow you to keep or record the Naviance data (you can only view it on screen with the admissions staff). No one but Sidwell needs to defend its decisions; and it doesn’t seem to be hurting Sidwell at all in the market for students. So be it. Still, you choose to make post after post saying that this decision is not only defensible, but correct, based on the view that more data is meaningless and even harmful. That position seems untenable.

For example, suppose you had matriculation lists for, say, the past 5 years. You could test the assumption that Sidwell seems to place well with Harvard, Yale and Penn, but not so well with Princeton and Brown. Correlation is not causation and exceptions abound, but it is relevant data to see whether some schools consistently admit a relatively large number of Sidwell grads each year.

Anyone who goes to the school knows which colleges it does well with, and which ones it does (hint, if your kid wants to go to MIT, SFS is likely not the best place to go to high school) and also knows that the school sends a ton of kids each year to Penn and Chicago with a healthy smattering of other Ivys and Nescac schools.

But I will again ask, what difference does it make. If you are an alum of X school and your kid loves that school and wants to ED there, then that will top your kids list. It won't matter how many other kids have gone to that school in past years. You also know that the school will not restrict applications like other schools. If 30 kids want to apply to Yale ED, so be it. If another 15 want to apply to Northwestern, so be it. They do not throttle it the way other schools do.

So at the end of the day, a senior will develop their list and make their choices. It really doesn't matter what happened in previous years. Except for the MIT thing, I suppose.

So now you’re making a different point: Sidwell doesn’t need to publish lists because “everyone knows.” Not everyone knows. Most seem to have educated guesses of the last 1-2 years. It may not make a difference to you or your kids; fair enough. But it does to others, as many posters have already made clear. With respect, you can’t just dismiss their points by waving your hands and saying it doesn’t matter and they should know better than to ask or care. Nobody appreciates that kind of paternalism.

[Anonymous]

"everyone knows" = did you see MIT on the aggregate list? No? Then your question is answered.

[Anonymous]

Man, you sidwell folks really pick some interesting hills to die very slow and painful deaths on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"everyone knows" = did you see MIT on the aggregate list? No? Then your question is answered.

Another commenter doing cartwheels while bending over backwards to try to justify why providing less information is the correct approach.

[Anonymous]

Which DC *privates* send kids to MIT? (not an argument just honestly a question).

[Anonymous]

The reason Sidwell isn't sharing this data openly is because they'd lose a ton of students who think the school actually helps you get into a top school instead of hinders you. For example, if all the kids are URMs or recruits who get into HYP, and my kid is not athletic or URM, I'm not going to waste my money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: The reason Sidwell isn't sharing this data openly is because they'd lose a ton of students who think the school actually helps you get into a top school instead of hinders you. For example, if all the kids are URMs or recruits who get into HYP, and my kid is not athletic or URM, I'm not going to waste my money.

If your goal is HYP, then your best option is to move to idaho and be a stellar student applying from there.

Most people understand that independent schools don't "get you in" at places like HYP. That isn't their mission and never has been.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: The reason Sidwell isn't sharing this data openly is because they'd lose a ton of students who think the school actually helps you get into a top school instead of hinders you. For example, if all the kids are URMs or recruits who get into HYP, and my kid is not athletic or URM, I'm not going to waste my money.

If your goal is HYP, then your best option is to move to idaho and be a stellar student applying from there.

Most people understand that independent schools don't "get you in" at places like HYP. That isn't their mission and never has been.

Don’t have to go way out to Idaho. They can go to West Virginia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: The reason Sidwell isn't sharing this data openly is because they'd lose a ton of students who think the school actually helps you get into a top school instead of hinders you. For example, if all the kids are URMs or recruits who get into HYP, and my kid is not athletic or URM, I'm not going to waste my money.

If your goal is HYP, then your best option is to move to idaho and be a stellar student applying from there.

Most people understand that independent schools don't "get you in" at places like HYP. That isn't their mission and never has been.

Don’t have to go way out to Idaho. They can go to West Virginia.

True.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: The reason Sidwell isn't sharing this data openly is because they'd lose a ton of students who think the school actually helps you get into a top school instead of hinders you. For example, if all the kids are URMs or recruits who get into HYP, and my kid is not athletic or URM, I'm not going to waste my money.

If your goal is HYP, then your best option is to move to idaho and be a stellar student applying from there.

Most people understand that independent schools don't "get you in" at places like HYP. That isn't their mission and never has been.

Don’t have to go way out to Idaho. They can go to West Virginia.

True.

PP here. I entirely agree (and frankly as an HYP grad married to another will push my kid to go to top-ranked state school, skate and get a 4.0 plus a high MCAT/LSAT and then go to YLS or a top 5 med school). Or trade school.

That being said, you’re all wasting your money and time going to T3 high schools. You’re actually hampering your kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: The reason Sidwell isn't sharing this data openly is because they'd lose a ton of students who think the school actually helps you get into a top school instead of hinders you. For example, if all the kids are URMs or recruits who get into HYP, and my kid is not athletic or URM, I'm not going to waste my money.

If your goal is HYP, then your best option is to move to idaho and be a stellar student applying from there.

Most people understand that independent schools don't "get you in" at places like HYP. That isn't their mission and never has been.

This thread proves that most people do not understand this. Also lol I don’t think these schools offer any more than most other than access to better drugs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: The reason Sidwell isn't sharing this data openly is because they'd lose a ton of students who think the school actually helps you get into a top school instead of hinders you. For example, if all the kids are URMs or recruits who get into HYP, and my kid is not athletic or URM, I'm not going to waste my money.

If your goal is HYP, then your best option is to move to idaho and be a stellar student applying from there.

Most people understand that independent schools don't "get you in" at places like HYP. That isn't their mission and never has been.

This thread proves that most people do not understand this. Also lol I don’t think these schools offer any more than most other than access to better drugs.

I think it actually proves the opposite. Parents understand that the landscape on college admissions has changed and they are frustrated with the school for not giving them information and advice that will help them and their kids navigate this new world as best as possible.