Private School College admissions - 2024 Deferrals

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nope this is what we have seen so far. The schools that have done well for non legacy or donor or athletes so far have been the less recognized privates. I think those schools have a different attitude for admissions because they have always had to market their kids and their school.

You know the legacy and donor status for kids at all these schools? Amazing talent.

I'm not the PP - but kids talk and so do parents. I learned far more about the make up our our DC's Big3 class between Dec-June of Senior year than I did between 9th grade and Fall of 12th. I am not one to care about who is a VIP or a legacy etc. But when admissions start to come out - it becomes very clear.

Yep. 95% of the senior kids know each other very well and they figure these things out when admissions start cranking out. Maybe 5% of the class rides under the radar and it's less clear but in general these aren't the kids going to top schools anyway (because the kids going to top schools are usually the ones who do a lot of activities at school.) Remember, these classes are small--at some schools they're 70 kids and many have been in class together since they were 4 years old!
My son is only a junior but goes to school sports practice every day for 2 hours. He knows who is going where next year and why they got admitted--because the seniors on his team all chat while working out. My son knows who is considered to be super smart, who is legacy, etc. He's not even on social media and isn't even friends with these kids but it swirls around him daily.

Maybe you know who gets in where at your school. But to know their legacy status? And then to know this not just about your school but another half dozen schools in DC? Like I said, just an amazing talent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nope this is what we have seen so far. The schools that have done well for non legacy or donor or athletes so far have been the less recognized privates. I think those schools have a different attitude for admissions because they have always had to market their kids and their school.

You know the legacy and donor status for kids at all these schools? Amazing talent.

I'm not the PP - but kids talk and so do parents. I learned far more about the make up our our DC's Big3 class between Dec-June of Senior year than I did between 9th grade and Fall of 12th. I am not one to care about who is a VIP or a legacy etc. But when admissions start to come out - it becomes very clear.

Yep. 95% of the senior kids know each other very well and they figure these things out when admissions start cranking out. Maybe 5% of the class rides under the radar and it's less clear but in general these aren't the kids going to top schools anyway (because the kids going to top schools are usually the ones who do a lot of activities at school.) Remember, these classes are small--at some schools they're 70 kids and many have been in class together since they were 4 years old!
My son is only a junior but goes to school sports practice every day for 2 hours. He knows who is going where next year and why they got admitted--because the seniors on his team all chat while working out. My son knows who is considered to be super smart, who is legacy, etc. He's not even on social media and isn't even friends with these kids but it swirls around him daily.

Maybe you know who gets in where at your school. But to know their legacy status? And then to know this not just about your school but another half dozen schools in DC? Like I said, just an amazing talent.

oh, i don't know anything about kids at any other schools. Never claimed to. At our school the kids generally know if top admits are legacy or not. They weren't born yesterday-they know how the game is played.
As soon as you meet with college counseling, the first question on the forms is "what schools did your parents attend and what are their degrees.". The kids learn quickly that this is a super important factor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That really stinks. Sorry to hear that. They are being punished for being wealthy. But the education they received will make it ok in the long run. Plus they can still get into a prestigious graduate school

I agree. The private school kids in this area have very high SAT and ACT scores and colleges are not even taking that into account. I think there will be backlash when they start to see a difference in the kind of work the kids they are admitting are tuning in. There is a distinct difference in writing and other skills.

This doesn't quite make sense. Submit that high scores, that is great.

But your private school kid likely has a lower GPA than others with weighted scores based on 12 plus APs, etc. And then these kids do NOT submit test scores.

So the lower GPAs are killing the private school kids, esp with so many applications. If your school says "well they know our school is more rigorous," you should laugh in their faces.

But the private school SAT and ACT averages are out of the park high. Cathedral school averages are close to 1500 and I am sure same for GDS and Sidwell. Why shouldn't this be a factor in admissions? It should.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nope this is what we have seen so far. The schools that have done well for non legacy or donor or athletes so far have been the less recognized privates. I think those schools have a different attitude for admissions because they have always had to market their kids and their school.

You know the legacy and donor status for kids at all these schools? Amazing talent.

I'm not the PP - but kids talk and so do parents. I learned far more about the make up our our DC's Big3 class between Dec-June of Senior year than I did between 9th grade and Fall of 12th. I am not one to care about who is a VIP or a legacy etc. But when admissions start to come out - it becomes very clear.

Yep. 95% of the senior kids know each other very well and they figure these things out when admissions start cranking out. Maybe 5% of the class rides under the radar and it's less clear but in general these aren't the kids going to top schools anyway (because the kids going to top schools are usually the ones who do a lot of activities at school.) Remember, these classes are small--at some schools they're 70 kids and many have been in class together since they were 4 years old!
My son is only a junior but goes to school sports practice every day for 2 hours. He knows who is going where next year and why they got admitted--because the seniors on his team all chat while working out. My son knows who is considered to be super smart, who is legacy, etc. He's not even on social media and isn't even friends with these kids but it swirls around him daily.

Maybe you know who gets in where at your school. But to know their legacy status? And then to know this not just about your school but another half dozen schools in DC? Like I said, just an amazing talent.

DP. Its called being a busy body or gossip....

[Anonymous]

Yes tons of deferrals. They suck...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you seeing a ton - more than usual - deferrals if top/competitive candidates in ED/EA than in the past year or two?

What are the private CCO advising as to strategy?

I honestly think there is more consoling going on then strategy. Students are applying to way more schools now (15-20 is common) so applications overlap more than ever. Private school CCO's have 25-30 students dealing with deferrals to the same school versus a handful who really want to attend and everyone is growing panicked about all the deferrals so they are all asking for help. Its a mess.

Parents complain about GDS limiting applications to 10-12 schools, but it may not necessarily be a bad thing as applications sky-rocket. It makes it clear to colleges and GDS CCO's who really wants what college.

[Anonymous]

Sorry. GDS limiting kids to 12 applications, 4-5 of which need to be the safeties, is just royally screwing their students. Not their top students or their connected students. But screwing the vast majority. The CCO also seems to have a habit of recommending the same safeties to a massive number of kids. Not sure how else to explain the insane number applying to a school like Boulder. The advice is not nuanced for the specific kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That really stinks. Sorry to hear that. They are being punished for being wealthy. But the education they received will make it ok in the long run. Plus they can still get into a prestigious graduate school

I agree. The private school kids in this area have very high SAT and ACT scores and colleges are not even taking that into account. I think there will be backlash when they start to see a difference in the kind of work the kids they are admitting are tuning in. There is a distinct difference in writing and other skills.

This doesn't quite make sense. Submit that high scores, that is great.

But your private school kid likely has a lower GPA than others with weighted scores based on 12 plus APs, etc. And then these kids do NOT submit test scores.

So the lower GPAs are killing the private school kids, esp with so many applications. If your school says "well they know our school is more rigorous," you should laugh in their faces.

But the private school SAT and ACT averages are out of the park high. Cathedral school averages are close to 1500 and I am sure same for GDS and Sidwell. Why shouldn't this be a factor in admissions? It should.

Because those scores should be that high for those schools.

The fact is that, at the top-ranked colleges, white, private school kids with great scores and ECs far outnumber kids who come from less privilege. They are not disadvantaged.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most legacies nowadays are also top students-so you can’t write their admit off just because they are legacy.

Sure - but being a top student isn't enough these days - so it's the legacy that's pushing them over the line. There are far more qualified students than there are spots. I wish legacy families wouldn't push back on this constantly. Just own the fact that they had a hook. It doesn't make them less qualified (same with URM) - it just means it helped them rise to the top of a huge pile of "top students".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nope this is what we have seen so far. The schools that have done well for non legacy or donor or athletes so far have been the less recognized privates. I think those schools have a different attitude for admissions because they have always had to market their kids and their school.

You know the legacy and donor status for kids at all these schools? Amazing talent.

I'm not the PP - but kids talk and so do parents. I learned far more about the make up our our DC's Big3 class between Dec-June of Senior year than I did between 9th grade and Fall of 12th. I am not one to care about who is a VIP or a legacy etc. But when admissions start to come out - it becomes very clear.

Yep. 95% of the senior kids know each other very well and they figure these things out when admissions start cranking out. Maybe 5% of the class rides under the radar and it's less clear but in general these aren't the kids going to top schools anyway (because the kids going to top schools are usually the ones who do a lot of activities at school.) Remember, these classes are small--at some schools they're 70 kids and many have been in class together since they were 4 years old!
My son is only a junior but goes to school sports practice every day for 2 hours. He knows who is going where next year and why they got admitted--because the seniors on his team all chat while working out. My son knows who is considered to be super smart, who is legacy, etc. He's not even on social media and isn't even friends with these kids but it swirls around him daily.

Maybe you know who gets in where at your school. But to know their legacy status? And then to know this not just about your school but another half dozen schools in DC? Like I said, just an amazing talent.

I'm not the PP you are replying to (but the one before that)

Adults know this information because kids talk about it. Kids within the current senior class ALL know in the end which kids are going to their parents' legacy. They also know which kids have hooks. And they have friends at all the other top DMV privates who share similar information about their own school.

It's not being nosy - this is the fishbowl they live in and they talk. As I noted in my first post - we knew NONE of this detail until senior year. It makes no difference to me "who's who" in the class - but I now know it made a huge difference in college admissions. We have a younger child - it'll be the same - but this time I know I'll soon be learning much more about families senior year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sure - but being a top student isn't enough these days - so it's the legacy that's pushing them over the line. There are far more qualified students than there are spots. I wish legacy families wouldn't push back on this constantly. Just own the fact that they had a hook. It doesn't make them less qualified (same with URM) - it just means it helped them rise to the top of a huge pile of "top students".

But that's not what many DCUMers think. They're whining all the time about how those who got in with hooks are less qualified or undeserving. Hence the pushback.

[Anonymous]

Actually, admitted legacies don’t have to put as much on the scale as admitted non-legacies because their legacy status is that extra thumb. Non-legacies have to be better to overcome the legacy preference. That’s what preference means.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have kids at two Big3 schools and what I've been hearing is that the kids getting in are the top kids 3.95+ and the kids aiming outright for less competitive schools (say, Syracuse, South Carolina, Colorado, second tier liberal arts colleges etc).
The instagrams look great but what you're seeing are the athletic recruits, 3.95+ kids, and some legacies (mostly VIP legacies).
It's the middle (say 3.6 to 3.9) that are just getting deferred or denied. This is worrisome because this is a big part of each class.

Lots of deferrals from 3.75-3.9
That in previous years would have been admits.

My kid was deferred with a 4.0UW, 35 ACT

[Anonymous]

Folks need to reevaluate what's considered a good university.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you seeing a ton - more than usual - deferrals if top/competitive candidates in ED/EA than in the past year or two?

What are the private CCO advising as to strategy?

What kinds of classes do colleges take out of GPA's?