After all the drama, Big3 college admissions are really as strong as ever this year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you realize that some of this is due to the fact that wealthy parents can afford to send the kids to those schools, so they ED. And your money can buy your kids incredible extra curricular activities.

And how much of it is due to recruited athletes?


Yes, privilege buys you better outcomes. News at 11.

oh, and of course, money pays for private lessons and coaches for these recruited athletes.

Money from mom and dad both being first time, high performing human beings? I am all for it. We need more. Moms who went to MIT and dads to Stanford should be commended, especially when they themselves were not hooked. Anyone who goes after those kinds of people are disgusting.

Yikes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you realize that some of this is due to the fact that wealthy parents can afford to send the kids to those schools, so they ED. And your money can buy your kids incredible extra curricular activities.

And how much of it is due to recruited athletes?


Yes, privilege buys you better outcomes. News at 11.

oh, and of course, money pays for private lessons and coaches for these recruited athletes.

Money from mom and dad both being first time, high performing human beings? I am all for it. We need more. Moms who went to MIT and dads to Stanford should be commended, especially when they themselves were not hooked. Anyone who goes after those kinds of people are disgusting.

A kid who has parents who went to Stanford & MIT is very privileged.

[Anonymous]

The lesson I’m learning from all of this is that there’s no readily apparent edge for college admissions by sending your kids to a top private school in the DMV if you live in a good public school district. I don’t know why people spend all that money for private other than to make themselves feel special I guess.

Is that really the only reason you can imagine sending a kid to private? That doesn’t ideal well to your intelligence. We did it because our kid loves to learn and wanted to be in small classes that were not lecturing-based with other students who were similarly curious and hard-working. Plus, they have substantive relationships with faculty and an emphasis on writing. We did public school, too, and absolutely believe our money on private was very well spent.

[Anonymous]

I believe Holton had better results than NCS and is a happier place

[Anonymous]

College will be easier. My dd went to NCS, and was an average student there. She is now in college, and she and her friends from NCS all say college is so much easier.

Why do you want college to be easier than high school? More time to party?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I believe Holton had better results than NCS and is a happier place

No, they are the same on both metrics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

College will be easier. My dd went to NCS, and was an average student there. She is now in college, and she and her friends from NCS all say college is so much easier.

Why do you want college to be easier than high school? More time to party?

Not PP but the stakes of college are much higher. For grad school admissions you need to be getting straight As starting freshman fall. You’re also spending a ton of money (probably more than private HS). If you fail you don’t get a refund. The kids at the top of the class in college get picked for paid research experience, funded study abroad, could potentially graduate a semester or a year early and are great candidates for law & med school or a PhD program. Jobs like investment banking screen on GPA & recruit 15+ months before you’d begin your internship at a particular bank. It’s best to enter college immediately ready to excel with confidence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

College will be easier. My dd went to NCS, and was an average student there. She is now in college, and she and her friends from NCS all say college is so much easier.

Why do you want college to be easier than high school? More time to party?

Are you serious?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

College will be easier. My dd went to NCS, and was an average student there. She is now in college, and she and her friends from NCS all say college is so much easier.

Why do you want college to be easier than high school? More time to party?

Who the heck wants their kid to struggle & get crappy grades?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op seems to be exaggerating a bit as Sidwell list looks good but definitely has schools outside T50.

Much of the impressive Sidwell list is hooked.

You have no firsthand knowledge to back up this claim. There’s no way in the world you know where all of their parents attended college. None…so stop it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op seems to be exaggerating a bit as Sidwell list looks good but definitely has schools outside T50.

Much of the impressive Sidwell list is hooked.

You have no firsthand knowledge to back up this claim. There’s no way in the world you know where all of their parents attended college. None…so stop it.

LinkedIn & the internet in general exist. You search the last name & “DC” and, say, Dartmouth alumni dinner attendance lists come up.

[Anonymous]

Hooked includes other factors beyond legacy. Athletic recruit, URM and sometimes their parents were high up in various presidential administrations or well known journalists, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

College will be easier. My dd went to NCS, and was an average student there. She is now in college, and she and her friends from NCS all say college is so much easier.

Why do you want college to be easier than high school? More time to party?

Are you serious?

I think the kids who think college is easier are picking the easy majors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

College will be easier. My dd went to NCS, and was an average student there. She is now in college, and she and her friends from NCS all say college is so much easier.

Why do you want college to be easier than high school? More time to party?

Not PP but the stakes of college are much higher. For grad school admissions you need to be getting straight As starting freshman fall. You’re also spending a ton of money (probably more than private HS). If you fail you don’t get a refund. The kids at the top of the class in college get picked for paid research experience, funded study abroad, could potentially graduate a semester or a year early and are great candidates for law & med school or a PhD program. Jobs like investment banking screen on GPA & recruit 15+ months before you’d begin your internship at a particular bank. It’s best to enter college immediately ready to excel with confidence.

You are overthinking it. Most jobs are not looking at your gpa. And if you work for 2-3 years before grad school, grades become less important any way. And the kids who do struggle a bit when they get to ivy level schools, usually catch up by sophomore or junior year so even if grades are uneven the first year, they even out over time. No one is failing out except kids with severe mental health issues or other difficult situations. Kids who come from poverty or have parents who are not college educated are at higher risk of dropping out. Most kids do just fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s pretty interesting. I was just looking at a lot of the Instagram pages for the local publics and privates where the kids are posting where they’re going and, yea, you see more Ivy admits from the top privates but beyond that by and large the kids from the better publics are doing just as well as the top privates. And as others have noted, the top privates likely have a lot more Ivy legacy kids and that skews the numbers.

The lesson I’m learning from all of this is that there’s no readily apparent edge for college admissions by sending your kids to a top private school in the DMV if you live in a good public school district. I don’t know why people spend all that money for private other than to make themselves feel special I guess.

I don't understand your response. Yes, kids in private schools get into Ivys and T-25 schools. So do public school kids. All good.

Are you wondering about college admissions? I am not sure where you are going with this. I have a kid that applied to one Ivy and one T10 school and was accepted to both. My kid didn't want to go to a small school or IVY and opted for a big state school (a school many would scoff at). You should not base your thoughts on where these kids have chosen to attend. Not all private school kids want to go to IVys or top rated SLACS or other small T-20 schools. The kids you see from your Insta pages obsession have decided on a school of their choice - the kids decision.

We spent a lot of money on private schooling and I strongly believe it was money well spent. We never thought about college admissions in the process. I do know, without question, that our kids are getting a better education than they would ever had at a public school in the DMV. To each their own. Do you "feel special I guess" for not investing in your kids future?

And, NO, we don't "feel special".