Class of '26 Instagram College Decisions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 70/120 at Trinity is excluding those going to very strong but not top schools like Bowdoin, Claremont McKenna, Emory, Georgetown, Haverford, U Michigan, NYU, UVA, etc. If you add those schools, that gets you to 95 of the 110 students that have declared college destinations. The bottom 15 of the class are going to schools including Colby, Lehigh, McGill, Middlebury, Northeastern, Pitzer, St. Andrews, Tufts, Tulane, UT-Austin, and Wesleyan.

Sorry, but that's not the "bottom" 15. I see Syracuse, Colgate, U of Miami, SMU, UMD, Mississippi, Colorado State, Trinity College, and Hamilton, many of which are below your bottom 15 schools. And Haverford, Emory, Michigan, NYU, and UVA are at least on par with, if not below, Tufts, Wesleyan, and Middlebury.

of the schools i have glanced at - The Trinity results are the most below my expectations of what i would have expected. out of the 105 or so kids, at least 25% are going to what i would consider "subpar" schools relative to the Trinity reputation.

anyone have thoughts on why that would be the case?

It’s very weird that a bunch of adults are stalking high school instagram pages for college decisions. The quality of these institutions doesn’t change from year to year. Just because Brearley sent more kids to Harvard this year does not make it objectively better than another school. Next year they will have a different class profile and may get fewer acceptances. Not every kid at Trinity is going to get into an Ivy. Not every kid is going to stand out in a very competitive field. there are also lots of reasons why a kid may choose one school over another. Some kids are looking for fit and some may be going where they get the most money. Also, many of these “lesser than” schools are much more competitive than they were a generation ago and, as a result, I think teenagers today have a more expansive view of what a “good college” is. If you’re sending your kid to one of these schools you should think about whether you’ll think it’s a waste if they end up at Emory or Wake Forest.

I think looking at public instagrams is fine (they are public for a reason), but a better indicia would be the school websites that list 5-year matriculations (and without naming specific students for those who don't like that aspect of the instagram posts, a pov I can understand even if I don't agree).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Finally, for the last three graduating classes at Trinity (354 students in total over 2024, 2025 and 2026), 54 have attended Harvard, Stanford, Princeton or Yale (HYPS), or just over 15% of the class (it has ranged from 12%-18% each year). I didn't include MIT as it's not a popular destination for the NYC privates (Trinity has only sent 2 kids to MIT over the past 4-5 years).

I think that's telling b/c MIT arguably has the most meritocratic admissions policies - no legacy, no donor, and limited recruited athletes, etc.

It's just not that desirable for a lot of private school kids. My kids are at a private, and MIT is never discussed. Most don't even apply. It has very little to do with legacy or donor or whatever. It's just not the fit many are looking for (in contrast, perhaps, to the specialized high schools).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 70/120 at Trinity is excluding those going to very strong but not top schools like Bowdoin, Claremont McKenna, Emory, Georgetown, Haverford, U Michigan, NYU, UVA, etc. If you add those schools, that gets you to 95 of the 110 students that have declared college destinations. The bottom 15 of the class are going to schools including Colby, Lehigh, McGill, Middlebury, Northeastern, Pitzer, St. Andrews, Tufts, Tulane, UT-Austin, and Wesleyan.

Sorry, but that's not the "bottom" 15. I see Syracuse, Colgate, U of Miami, SMU, UMD, Mississippi, Colorado State, Trinity College, and Hamilton, many of which are below your bottom 15 schools. And Haverford, Emory, Michigan, NYU, and UVA are at least on par with, if not below, Tufts, Wesleyan, and Middlebury.

of the schools i have glanced at - The Trinity results are the most below my expectations of what i would have expected. out of the 105 or so kids, at least 25% are going to what i would consider "subpar" schools relative to the Trinity reputation.

anyone have thoughts on why that would be the case?

It’s very weird that a bunch of adults are stalking high school instagram pages for college decisions. The quality of these institutions doesn’t change from year to year. Just because Brearley sent more kids to Harvard this year does not make it objectively better than another school. Next year they will have a different class profile and may get fewer acceptances. Not every kid at Trinity is going to get into an Ivy. Not every kid is going to stand out in a very competitive field. there are also lots of reasons why a kid may choose one school over another. Some kids are looking for fit and some may be going where they get the most money. Also, many of these “lesser than” schools are much more competitive than they were a generation ago and, as a result, I think teenagers today have a more expansive view of what a “good college” is. If you’re sending your kid to one of these schools you should think about whether you’ll think it’s a waste if they end up at Emory or Wake Forest.

I think that’s all that needs to be said. creepiest thread ever.

Agreed. Can this be taken down or at least have the links with instagram pages containing the names of minors removed?

This site is a great resource. Too bad about the weird obsessives.

[Anonymous]

Looking at the public Instagram pages posted here, it's clear that the kids at the TT private schools who get into HYPS are either: (1) Top 20% of their class; (2) legacies; (3) first-generation, low-income prep-for-prep type kids; and (4) Asian - a disproportionate number of south Asian and east Asian students!

[Anonymous]

AGREED! Along with a few recruited athletes at these TT privates in preppy sports like rowing, squash, fencing and lacrosse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Looking at the public Instagram pages posted here, it's clear that the kids at the TT private schools who get into HYPS are either: (1) Top 20% of their class; (2) legacies; (3) first-generation, low-income prep-for-prep type kids; and (4) Asian - a disproportionate number of south Asian and east Asian students!

The fact that Asians are disproportionately represented is honestly amazing given how much of a structural bias there is against them (especially males) in college admissions. Every year there appear to be multiple headlines of valedictorian + perfect SAT + Regeneron Finalist getting denied from every single Ivy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 70/120 at Trinity is excluding those going to very strong but not top schools like Bowdoin, Claremont McKenna, Emory, Georgetown, Haverford, U Michigan, NYU, UVA, etc. If you add those schools, that gets you to 95 of the 110 students that have declared college destinations. The bottom 15 of the class are going to schools including Colby, Lehigh, McGill, Middlebury, Northeastern, Pitzer, St. Andrews, Tufts, Tulane, UT-Austin, and Wesleyan.

Sorry, but that's not the "bottom" 15. I see Syracuse, Colgate, U of Miami, SMU, UMD, Mississippi, Colorado State, Trinity College, and Hamilton, many of which are below your bottom 15 schools. And Haverford, Emory, Michigan, NYU, and UVA are at least on par with, if not below, Tufts, Wesleyan, and Middlebury.

of the schools i have glanced at - The Trinity results are the most below my expectations of what i would have expected. out of the 105 or so kids, at least 25% are going to what i would consider "subpar" schools relative to the Trinity reputation.

anyone have thoughts on why that would be the case?

It’s very weird that a bunch of adults are stalking high school instagram pages for college decisions. The quality of these institutions doesn’t change from year to year. Just because Brearley sent more kids to Harvard this year does not make it objectively better than another school. Next year they will have a different class profile and may get fewer acceptances. Not every kid at Trinity is going to get into an Ivy. Not every kid is going to stand out in a very competitive field. there are also lots of reasons why a kid may choose one school over another. Some kids are looking for fit and some may be going where they get the most money. Also, many of these “lesser than” schools are much more competitive than they were a generation ago and, as a result, I think teenagers today have a more expansive view of what a “good college” is. If you’re sending your kid to one of these schools you should think about whether you’ll think it’s a waste if they end up at Emory or Wake Forest.

i think if you are a parent and thinking about spending $$ to go to private school, knowing the outcomes is important. some schools provide the 5 year information and that's much better way of looking at it. but the kids DO share this in public forums so its okay to discuss. i don't believe anyone has made a comment about a specific child (which would be a bad look).

i do strongly agree with you on what is a good school. that's why when we looked at it - we focused on the percentage of kids that got into a t 25/30 and a top 50 school. that's a good barometer of the quality of the school and it dilutes out the few uber rich or uber connected families.

at the end of the day all these schools do really well - and it's important to find a good FIT for your kids in ES/MS/HS. dont send them somewhere where they will be miserable or be way too stressed due ot the workload


I think that’s all that needs to be said. creepiest thread ever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Looking at the public Instagram pages posted here, it's clear that the kids at the TT private schools who get into HYPS are either: (1) Top 20% of their class; (2) legacies; (3) first-generation, low-income prep-for-prep type kids; and (4) Asian - a disproportionate number of south Asian and east Asian students!

How can you tell from the insta page that someone is from the top 20%of their class?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking at the public Instagram pages posted here, it's clear that the kids at the TT private schools who get into HYPS are either: (1) Top 20% of their class; (2) legacies; (3) first-generation, low-income prep-for-prep type kids; and (4) Asian - a disproportionate number of south Asian and east Asian students!

How can you tell from the insta page that someone is from the top 20%of their class?!

You can't. That may have been the dumbest post I've seen on here. Nor do you know legacies (unless you spend tons of time trying to figure out their parents, which is even creepier than just looking at the instagram pages), nor who's low income. What silly conjecture.

[Anonymous]

Top 20% of the class are still unlikely to get into HYPS without any other hooks. DC is one of the top students in her grade but I am under no illusion that going for HYP would be a colossal waste of energy. We are still a few years away from college applications but it is already obvious final outcomes are not determined by meritocracy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking at the public Instagram pages posted here, it's clear that the kids at the TT private schools who get into HYPS are either: (1) Top 20% of their class; (2) legacies; (3) first-generation, low-income prep-for-prep type kids; and (4) Asian - a disproportionate number of south Asian and east Asian students!

How can you tell from the insta page that someone is from the top 20%of their class?!

You can't. That may have been the dumbest post I've seen on here. Nor do you know legacies (unless you spend tons of time trying to figure out their parents, which is even creepier than just looking at the instagram pages), nor who's low income. What silly conjecture.

Easy. They are white or Asian. They aren’t an athlete. And their parents didn’t attend that school and/or aren’t rich enough to buy their way in. Process of elimination.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Looking at the public Instagram pages posted here, it's clear that the kids at the TT private schools who get into HYPS are either: (1) Top 20% of their class; (2) legacies; (3) first-generation, low-income prep-for-prep type kids; and (4) Asian - a disproportionate number of south Asian and east Asian students!

Lol, cope. There is no way at all you could know this. None. Just stop. These are kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Top 20% of the class are still unlikely to get into HYPS without any other hooks. DC is one of the top students in her grade but I am under no illusion that going for HYP would be a colossal waste of energy. We are still a few years away from college applications but it is already obvious final outcomes are not determined by meritocracy.

Can you say more as to why you feel like it's not meritocratic?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top 20% of the class are still unlikely to get into HYPS without any other hooks. DC is one of the top students in her grade but I am under no illusion that going for HYP would be a colossal waste of energy. We are still a few years away from college applications but it is already obvious final outcomes are not determined by meritocracy.

Can you say more as to why you feel like it's not meritocratic?

Here are recommendations from the recent Yale report. Most parents helping their unhooked kids with college application decision making will agree with these conclusions:

“Reform undergraduate admissions. Building greater trust in this area must begin with a thoughtful, accurate, and robust accounting of how undergraduate admissions actually works. The university also bears an obligation to articulate a clear set of goals and priorities in admissions, and to conduct the process with as much fairness and respect for the aspirations of young people as it can muster. We recommend that the university embrace a standard of candor: It should only use criteria for admission that it is willing to describe publicly and defend openly. The top priority in admissions decisions should be academic achievement.

The current system of preferences for certain groups of applicants (including varsity athletes, legacies, and children of faculty, staff, and donors) distorts the admissions process by reducing the number of slots available to high-achieving applicants who do not fit into one of the favored categories. We recommend that Yale reduce preferences for special classes of applicants.”

https://president.yale.edu/sites/default/files/2026-04/Report-of-the-Committee-on-Trust-in-Higher-Education.pdf

[Anonymous]

At some level, if paying $70k/year to send your kid to private school gives your kid a leg up in college admissions - whether through connections/name recognition or even through a legitimately better education - then that reflects an unfairness in society that we ought to be pushing back against, since it's not something most people can afford.

So if you assume (naively?) that post-Trump we're going to be back in the mindset of trying to make the world at least a little bit better bit by bit, one can expect the marginal benefit of sending your kid to Trinity on their college admissions prospects will be substantially lower in 13 years than it is now.