Did private schools get a bump in elite college admissions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:no but attending a private school is a nicer experience! like flying business or first class versus coach. you still get to the same destination, but the ride is more enjoyable.

Exactly. People don't like to admit this.

[Anonymous]

A B+ student from a private school does not equal a B+ from a public. I have 3 kids and 2 are at privates and 1 chose a public. The private curriculums are more demanding. A public student may get into the same school, but the private student is more prepared. At least that's what we are starting to see. Obviously not the case for all students and schools. Just our opinion.

[Anonymous]

Oh, and neither private school seems to have grade inflation while the public school is ridiculously overflated. everyone has an A+ in public. I'm not sure my public school student will be as prepared for the volume of homework/studying a top college will dish out. Again, in my personal experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:no but attending a private school is a nicer experience! like flying business or first class versus coach. you still get to the same destination, but the ride is more enjoyable.

Exactly. People don't like to admit this.

Wow. I should hope so. $240k vs. free? Esp those schools with no lunch.

[Anonymous]

Private school has taught my DCs how to study efficiently, how to prepare and present materials effectively, how to problem solve and so much more. I also like that there are no AP classes and they are not swamped with busy work at their private. We didn’t send them to private for college admissions but my oldest with a 3.5 UW GPA got into 3 top 50 schools. I don’t think that would have happened from a public school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Private school has taught my DCs how to study efficiently, how to prepare and present materials effectively, how to problem solve and so much more. I also like that there are no AP classes and they are not swamped with busy work at their private. We didn’t send them to private for college admissions but my oldest with a 3.5 UW GPA got into 3 top 50 schools. I don’t think that would have happened from a public school.

There are quite a few very high acceptance rate colleges in the Top 50. Not sure why public students you refer would struggle with Top 50 admissions if ranking is literally all that matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:no but attending a private school is a nicer experience! like flying business or first class versus coach. you still get to the same destination, but the ride is more enjoyable.

Exactly. People don't like to admit this.

The ride isn’t necessarily more enjoyable-smaller classes=more cliques and exclusive behavior. Plus, a lot of the kids are hyper competitive with each other. We’ve stayed for the academics but can’t wait to move on!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:no but attending a private school is a nicer experience! like flying business or first class versus coach. you still get to the same destination, but the ride is more enjoyable.

Exactly. People don't like to admit this.

Actually most people fully admit this. Plus for us, it's not the college outcomes. It's like having steak vs a hamburger

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:no but attending a private school is a nicer experience! like flying business or first class versus coach. you still get to the same destination, but the ride is more enjoyable.

Exactly. People don't like to admit this.

The ride isn’t necessarily more enjoyable-smaller classes=more cliques and exclusive behavior. Plus, a lot of the kids are hyper competitive with each other. We’ve stayed for the academics but can’t wait to move on!

Your kid would have been like that in public because they are seeking that behavior. My kid is in a well regarded public and she nor her friends are like this, so it depends on the kid. I see this in public school kids too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:no but attending a private school is a nicer experience! like flying business or first class versus coach. you still get to the same destination, but the ride is more enjoyable.

Exactly. People don't like to admit this.

Actually most people fully admit this. Plus for us, it's not the college outcomes. It's like having steak vs a hamburger

By most people…do you mean the parents or the kids? There are plenty of miserable kids at private schools, but they would admit that they have nice facilities and creature comforts. Yes, the parents are generally happier that they don’t have to be as involved in the process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are considering switching our kids from public to private. I know some people don’t care about college outcomes from private but our family absolutely does care. I have been looking at the instagram pages of colleges from both public and private schools in the DMV and the private schools seem to have done significantly better. I currently have 1 kid in high school (freshman at local well regarded public) and two kids in elementary. We applied to a few privates last year for oldest and he decided to stay at his public. I also looked at the college instagrams last year and it didn’t seem like a large difference but the difference this year seems more significant.

No and no

Private never ever does better.

I don't know what you are looking at but any W school, Magnet school etc does better than any private.

I just switched my kid from top tier private to a Title 1 gifted magnet because I think the college placements will be better. Not as many kids will be applying to competitive colleges to begin with, so just by numbers she has a better shot. Of the kids who do apply most will not be legacy or be able to afford the sticker price - so we're ahead of the pack there. At private it's more likely there will be legacies, more applicants, and no need for financial aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh, and neither private school seems to have grade inflation while the public school is ridiculously overflated. everyone has an A+ in public. I'm not sure my public school student will be as prepared for the volume of homework/studying a top college will dish out. Again, in my personal experience.

Smart kids fairly easily adapt to the level of work they are given.

That said, people dramatically overstate the amount of work college kids actually have. Also, there is more flexibility in what classes a kid can choose and the Internet offers nearly full transparency in terms of how much work a professor/class entails.

My public school kid is at a Top 5 and doing quite well (3.8) in a STEM major while involved in numerous clubs and other social activities.

Perhaps the differences are more pronounced with humanities majors…don’t know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, and neither private school seems to have grade inflation while the public school is ridiculously overflated. everyone has an A+ in public. I'm not sure my public school student will be as prepared for the volume of homework/studying a top college will dish out. Again, in my personal experience.

Smart kids fairly easily adapt to the level of work they are given.

That said, people dramatically overstate the amount of work college kids actually have. Also, there is more flexibility in what classes a kid can choose and the Internet offers nearly full transparency in terms of how much work a professor/class entails.

My public school kid is at a Top 5 and doing quite well (3.8) in a STEM major while involved in numerous clubs and other social activities.

Perhaps the differences are more pronounced with humanities majors…don’t know.

OP here. My oldest is STEM oriented and will major in STEM. He also likes art and political science. For him, I did not think the privates were stronger in math and science.

My younger kids are not STEM oriented and not especially good or even like math. They are in the advanced track. In public, many families do outside enrichment so kids come to school already knowing the material. It is unfair to say my kids are not strong in math even though they are in advanced math and have As. There are just so many other kids who are above them in math if that makes sense.

[Anonymous]

As always, it depends on what your private option is and what your public options is. The vast majority of people are not at W schools or magnets.

[Anonymous]

3.82 private. In at an ivy in RD.
Would not have happened at public.