Why am I paying for private when Wilson HS (DCPS) admits are this good?

[Anonymous]

Come on OP. Wilson has been called "Yale or jail" for at least the past 20 years. Certainly, you've heard that.

[Anonymous]

If college admissions are your end game, then I don't know why you would pay for private. I've found most of the other private parents I know to value MANY other things about their private school over college admits.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Yeah they learned garbage so they'll struggle in college

+1. Colleague brags about her daughter being at an Ivy then during happy hour always admits her kid is struggling academically. Her d’s instagram is open, she’s constantly partying and hanging with townies.

Do you really think that kids coming from private are less likely to party their way through college?

Kids who are serious in high school will be serious in college, regardless of the HS they go to.

I’d argue it takes a more serious student to succeed at Wilson and be admitted to a top college.

So much depends upon the kid. The reality is that at Wilson there are really only two tracks - standard and all advanced. Very few take a mix of APs and standard classes so by junior year the advanced kids are taking full AP loads and it’s extremely competitive while the standard classes have a very broad range of learners, without the teaching resources to address the needs of all, which quite honestly can hold a skilled but non Advanced student back. If your kid excels in the advanced environment they are set for the elite colleges. If they don’t and end up as B students with 3s they don’t place well my sense is at private’s a child has more variety in tracks in multiple subjects, but I don’t have direct experience with privates.

OP here. This is interesting. My kid was at the top of the Deal cohort—all As, top math track, 95%+ SSAT, takes studies very seriously, etc—which is why she/he was accepted by a Big3 high school to begin with. Ironic that this type of kid might have assured of better college outcomes from Wilson. Obviously it’s not just about college but it does factor in-as evidenced by the many threads on college acceptance on the private school board.

Why is it ironic? Smart, hardworking kids are still smart, hardworking kids.

Re Wilson specifically, many more affluent Wilson parents spend significant amounts of money on college counselors to help them with test strategies, framing extracurriculars, developing a list to apply to and essay topics. It is expensive but nothing compared to 4 years of private school tuition.

At some privates, that help comes from the school’s college counselor instead. At Wilson the counselors have huge caseloads and simply can’t personalize much of anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If college admissions are your end game, then I don't know why you would pay for private. I've found most of the other private parents I know to value MANY other things about their private school over college admits.

Exactly. I went to a NE prep school with an exceptional college placement record and the faculty used to tell new students, "If you're here because you expect admission to an Ivy League school, you're here for the wrong reasons."

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Yeah they learned garbage so they'll struggle in college

+1. Colleague brags about her daughter being at an Ivy then during happy hour always admits her kid is struggling academically. Her d’s instagram is open, she’s constantly partying and hanging with townies.

Do you really think that kids coming from private are less likely to party their way through college?

Kids who are serious in high school will be serious in college, regardless of the HS they go to.

I’d argue it takes a more serious student to succeed at Wilson and be admitted to a top college.

So much depends upon the kid. The reality is that at Wilson there are really only two tracks - standard and all advanced. Very few take a mix of APs and standard classes so by junior year the advanced kids are taking full AP loads and it’s extremely competitive while the standard classes have a very broad range of learners, without the teaching resources to address the needs of all, which quite honestly can hold a skilled but non Advanced student back. If your kid excels in the advanced environment they are set for the elite colleges. If they don’t and end up as B students with 3s they don’t place well my sense is at private’s a child has more variety in tracks in multiple subjects, but I don’t have direct experience with privates.

OP here. This is interesting. My kid was at the top of the Deal cohort—all As, top math track, 95%+ SSAT, takes studies very seriously, etc—which is why she/he was accepted by a Big3 high school to begin with. Ironic that this type of kid might have assured of better college outcomes from Wilson. Obviously it’s not just about college but it does factor in-as evidenced by the many threads on college acceptance on the private school board.

Why is it ironic? Smart, hardworking kids are still smart, hardworking kids.

Re Wilson specifically, many more affluent Wilson parents spend significant amounts of money on college counselors to help them with test strategies, framing extracurriculars, developing a list to apply to and essay topics. It is expensive but nothing compared to 4 years of private school tuition.

At some privates, that help comes from the school’s college counselor instead. At Wilson the counselors have huge caseloads and simply can’t personalize much of anything.

A smart, hardworking kid with great grades and extracurriculars will do well from most HS's. My good friend from college went to a horrific HS in central Phoenix, but took all APs and ended up doing well in college. She did say she felt less prepared than kids from better high schools, but she graduated all the same and is working in a field she enjoys.

OP, the school you pick for your kid--whether it's private, public, parochial, etc.--is about the journey and the education that kid receives, not about a college acceptance.

[Anonymous]

You will make this same question during the next four years. Especially if you DC is going to a cliquish school or if DC ends up with the wrong group of friends.

The college placements are great for Wilson top students and all Walls students. No doubt about it.

But, in our case, the teachers were much better in private schools, since the DCPS teachers were all overwhelmed by large classes and, in some cases, by disruptive students.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, we've heard all of this "journey" crap from so many other private school parents. Look, if you have the resources and can burn $50K a year on high school without blinking, who cares? But here's another thing to remember - so many PPers are trashing these so-called kids in the "bottom 75%" or whatever. Here's a news flash - not everyone is Ivy League bound. And, you should stop caring what your partners at the law firm think about where your kid goes to college. It just goes back to the same thing, it's all about the parents, and they suck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, we've heard all of this "journey" crap from so many other private school parents. Look, if you have the resources and can burn $50K a year on high school without blinking, who cares? But here's another thing to remember - so many PPers are trashing these so-called kids in the "bottom 75%" or whatever. Here's a news flash - not everyone is Ivy League bound. And, you should stop caring what your partners at the law firm think about where your kid goes to college. It just goes back to the same thing, it's all about the parents, and they suck.

No, just the ones that are imposing Ivy or bust. We have made it very clear to our children that they need to find the right fit for a college, and the academics are a small part of that. But what we are concerned about is the foundational needs around learning, writing and thinking. Many do fine at Wilson, but just like not everyone is bound for an Ivy, Wilson isn't the right place for everyone to thrive.

[Anonymous]

Is private school also about networking and parent socializing? Obviously, Wilson kids will be able to network with talented peers too - but isn't there still the 'old-boy' network in privates where that credential will open a lot of doors as an adult? Or no?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is private school also about networking and parent socializing? Obviously, Wilson kids will be able to network with talented peers too - but isn't there still the 'old-boy' network in privates where that credential will open a lot of doors as an adult? Or no?

Increasingly no. Not that it isn't there at all, but it's not nearly what it used to be.

I went to a NE boarding school. It used to be that kids would literally sign up for Princeton, Harvard, and Yale like it was intramural softball. There would be sign-up sheets in one of the buildings at the school.

The school still sends about 10 kids each to Harvard and Yale and maybe 6-7 to Princeton each year, but you're not getting into those schools without good grades and extracurriculars. I know a kid who was a double legacy at Harvard and didn't get in.

[Anonymous]

- Don't go to private because of networking.
- Don't go to private because of college outplacement.
- Don't go to private if you think your DC will be protected against drugs.
- Don't go to private if tuition is a big stretch to your family.

[Anonymous]

- Don't go to private because of networking.
- Don't go to private because of college outplacement.
- Don't go to private if you think your DC will be protected against drugs.
- Don't go to private if tuition is a big stretch for your family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah they learned garbage so they'll struggle in college

+1. Colleague brags about her daughter being at an Ivy then during happy hour always admits her kid is struggling academically. Her d’s instagram is open, she’s constantly partying and hanging with townies.

Do you really think that kids coming from private are less likely to party their way through college?

Kids who are serious in high school will be serious in college, regardless of the HS they go to.

Not true. We had plenty of high school kids who could do no wrong and completely went crazy partying in college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is at Deal and we’re about to pay $$ for a big3 school instead of Wilson. However, this week is DCPS spring break and many people I know are taking their kids around to accepted schools to make their college decisions. These kids from Wilson were accepted at Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern, Michigan, UCLA, NYU, Vassar, Pomona, Cornell, Brown, Oberlin and Swarthmore. Typical smart white kids. Nothing out of the ordinary. And this is just the handful of kids I know from my block and/or siblings of kids from our DCPS elementary. So why am I paying for private next year again? I’ve found Deal to be uneven at best but it doesn’t seem to make one bit of difference (if college admission is the end game).

This is why. Wilson is a huge school, and your sample size is teeny tiny.

I send my kids to a big-3 school because I want them to be surrounded by a peer group whose families care a lot about educational excellence. I don't want them to cruise through school, getting high marks and never writing an essay longer than 5 pages. I want them to be in classes that are small enough so that they won't easily fall through the cracks. I appreciate that teachers have curricular freedom not to teach to a test or to design tests meant for large classes. I like that the kids' school is small enough that they can't segregate into "Yale or Jail" cohorts. I like having teachers and an administration that responds to my inquiries quickly and sincerely. I consider required athletic participation a good life-skill. I believe--though there are no guarantees--that my kids will get into a decent college, but that is not the primary reason we send our kids to strong independent school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is at Deal and we’re about to pay $$ for a big3 school instead of Wilson. However, this week is DCPS spring break and many people I know are taking their kids around to accepted schools to make their college decisions. These kids from Wilson were accepted at Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern, Michigan, UCLA, NYU, Vassar, Pomona, Cornell, Brown, Oberlin and Swarthmore. Typical smart white kids. Nothing out of the ordinary. And this is just the handful of kids I know from my block and/or siblings of kids from our DCPS elementary. So why am I paying for private next year again? I’ve found Deal to be uneven at best but it doesn’t seem to make one bit of difference (if college admission is the end game).

Big fish, small pond. Much easier to get into college from Wilson than a big High School in Fairfax Co or Arlington Co. Less competition given the demographics/SES of the school. Less quotas.

We have property in DC and we've thought about sending kids to Wilson for HS after 8 years in strong Arlington publics. It's the opposite problem in APS and kids usually go private to have a better shot at college admissions. The sheer # of kids doing IB program and AP coupled with the few kids from each APS and FFX High school taken by VA public universities.