A prime example of college counseling steering

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Weirder means what? Less white?

Good catch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the above poster:

Do you think that everyone knows this going in? But each thinks they will still be at the top?

My child attends a peer school. We always knew they could not compete with the very tippy top at his school, but he could get an outstanding education and still be top 1-3% nationally, even if not highly ranked in the class. As the Ivies get weirder, we think the best future network is in a fantastic boarding school with wide representation. Most importantly, the rigor and small class sizes provide the best education.

Different way of looking at it?

I think a lot of families without experience at Exeter and the other top boarding schools (Andover, Choate, St.Paul's, Lawrenceville, etc.) have a hard time conceptualizing how competitive they are internally. They understand their kid might not be the very top student. But almost everyone seems to assume their kid will be in the top 20% Almost no one thinks their kid will be in the bottom half of the class.

Again, I've witnessed students with sterling 4.5+ GPAs at their public school transfer into Exeter and immediately fall to a 9-9.5 GPA (B+) They're stunned to see the same quality of essay that easily netted an "A" at public school receive a "B" or worse at Exeter. These students would've received better grades and be better positioned for college admissions had they just remained in public school.

Is a 9-9.5 still in the top quarter? The middle 50% SAT range of Exeter is surprisingly low (1360-1550), considering it’s pretty competitive to get into the school!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Weirder means what? Less white?

Actually, I was alluding to the absurd pointiness and sense of competition so intense that kids do not collaborate or help each other out. My kid enjoys healthy competition and a bit of collaboration. He just doesn’t love boring asses (of any race).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the above poster:

Do you think that everyone knows this going in? But each thinks they will still be at the top?

My child attends a peer school. We always knew they could not compete with the very tippy top at his school, but he could get an outstanding education and still be top 1-3% nationally, even if not highly ranked in the class. As the Ivies get weirder, we think the best future network is in a fantastic boarding school with wide representation. Most importantly, the rigor and small class sizes provide the best education.

Different way of looking at it?

I think a lot of families without experience at Exeter and the other top boarding schools (Andover, Choate, St.Paul's, Lawrenceville, etc.) have a hard time conceptualizing how competitive they are internally. They understand their kid might not be the very top student. But almost everyone seems to assume their kid will be in the top 20% Almost no one thinks their kid will be in the bottom half of the class.

Again, I've witnessed students with sterling 4.5+ GPAs at their public school transfer into Exeter and immediately fall to a 9-9.5 GPA (B+) They're stunned to see the same quality of essay that easily netted an "A" at public school receive a "B" or worse at Exeter. These students would've received better grades and be better positioned for college admissions had they just remained in public school.

We know Lville students, not that impressive except they play more than 1 sport and/or have wealthy parents, typically non-wealthy local kids get in for playing multiple sports. They DO NOT want interesting kids, prefer vanilla, schmoozy, mainstream not that compelling of a kid imo

[Anonymous]

Agree. Prefer St. Paul’s, Deerfield and Hotchkiss. The right size to attract broadly yet stay uber selective. Also more remote locations creates a more dynamic energy as everyone stays on campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the above poster:

Do you think that everyone knows this going in? But each thinks they will still be at the top?

My child attends a peer school. We always knew they could not compete with the very tippy top at his school, but he could get an outstanding education and still be top 1-3% nationally, even if not highly ranked in the class. As the Ivies get weirder, we think the best future network is in a fantastic boarding school with wide representation. Most importantly, the rigor and small class sizes provide the best education.

Different way of looking at it?

I think a lot of families without experience at Exeter and the other top boarding schools (Andover, Choate, St.Paul's, Lawrenceville, etc.) have a hard time conceptualizing how competitive they are internally. They understand their kid might not be the very top student. But almost everyone seems to assume their kid will be in the top 20% Almost no one thinks their kid will be in the bottom half of the class.

Again, I've witnessed students with sterling 4.5+ GPAs at their public school transfer into Exeter and immediately fall to a 9-9.5 GPA (B+) They're stunned to see the same quality of essay that easily netted an "A" at public school receive a "B" or worse at Exeter. These students would've received better grades and be better positioned for college admissions had they just remained in public school.

We know Lville students, not that impressive except they play more than 1 sport and/or have wealthy parents, typically non-wealthy local kids get in for playing multiple sports. They DO NOT want interesting kids, prefer vanilla, schmoozy, mainstream not that compelling of a kid imo

Lawrenceville isn't particularly compelling to any school other than Princeton and a lot of them are hooked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.instagram.com/phillipsexeter26decisions/?g=5
You won't find a cluster of more than 2, 3 kids for a same school. They are steered to a WIDE range of ivy league and plus and top lac schools.
No rat race, everyone finds somewhere they are happy.
Well done!

We know the Exeter college process well. this isn't true whatsoever. About 50 kids apply for Harvard each year. About 10 will be admitted, but it's not the best 10 applicants. Usually, it is a combination of legacies, athletes, URMs, FGLI, etc. Exeter is wealthier than most colleges, so they have many scholarship students with great personal stories. During college admissions season, they are heavily encouraged to lean on these stories in their applications.

The counseling process looks very different for hooked and unhooked kids. A low-income black student with a B+ average could be encouraged to ED to Penn. I've seen Exeter black kids with C's or worse in math class get into Yale over the years. Meanwhile, an unhooked kid with a 10/11 GPA (very strong at Exeter) will be encouraged to shoot for Cornell or Dartmouth ED.

I guarantee you that many of these kid admitted to places like Colby, Tufts, or Wesleyan had Ivy ambitions which were shot down by their college counseling office and they were encouraged to aim lower. Most of the kids are not happy with their outcomes, and many kids feel like they would've had better odds applying from their local public school because the pool is much less competitive. Instead of competing against 50 driven Exonians, they might be competing against 4 kids that aren't that impressive.

Don’t be so sure. Two of my friends went to Exeter, one of them went on to Stanford, the other to Duke. Both told me they wished they had gone to my SLAC as they think they would have been happier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the above poster:

Do you think that everyone knows this going in? But each thinks they will still be at the top?

My child attends a peer school. We always knew they could not compete with the very tippy top at his school, but he could get an outstanding education and still be top 1-3% nationally, even if not highly ranked in the class. As the Ivies get weirder, we think the best future network is in a fantastic boarding school with wide representation. Most importantly, the rigor and small class sizes provide the best education.

Different way of looking at it?

I think a lot of families without experience at Exeter and the other top boarding schools (Andover, Choate, St.Paul's, Lawrenceville, etc.) have a hard time conceptualizing how competitive they are internally. They understand their kid might not be the very top student. But almost everyone seems to assume their kid will be in the top 20% Almost no one thinks their kid will be in the bottom half of the class.

Again, I've witnessed students with sterling 4.5+ GPAs at their public school transfer into Exeter and immediately fall to a 9-9.5 GPA (B+) They're stunned to see the same quality of essay that easily netted an "A" at public school receive a "B" or worse at Exeter. These students would've received better grades and be better positioned for college admissions had they just remained in public school.

We know Lville students, not that impressive except they play more than 1 sport and/or have wealthy parents, typically non-wealthy local kids get in for playing multiple sports. They DO NOT want interesting kids, prefer vanilla, schmoozy, mainstream not that compelling of a kid imo

Lawrenceville isn't particularly compelling to any school other than Princeton and a lot of them are hooked.

Lawrenceville is universally considered like a top 5 boarding school. This is such a nuts comment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Weirder means what? Less white?

Actually, I was alluding to the absurd pointiness and sense of competition so intense that kids do not collaborate or help each other out. My kid enjoys healthy competition and a bit of collaboration. He just doesn’t love boring asses (of any race).

this is in your head. in our school with plenty of pointy high flyers (who get into HYP), they're funny and collaborate and help each other out. They go skiing, do service, and can dance on the beat.

Really, they're fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the above poster:

Do you think that everyone knows this going in? But each thinks they will still be at the top?

My child attends a peer school. We always knew they could not compete with the very tippy top at his school, but he could get an outstanding education and still be top 1-3% nationally, even if not highly ranked in the class. As the Ivies get weirder, we think the best future network is in a fantastic boarding school with wide representation. Most importantly, the rigor and small class sizes provide the best education.

Different way of looking at it?

I think a lot of families without experience at Exeter and the other top boarding schools (Andover, Choate, St.Paul's, Lawrenceville, etc.) have a hard time conceptualizing how competitive they are internally. They understand their kid might not be the very top student. But almost everyone seems to assume their kid will be in the top 20% Almost no one thinks their kid will be in the bottom half of the class.

Again, I've witnessed students with sterling 4.5+ GPAs at their public school transfer into Exeter and immediately fall to a 9-9.5 GPA (B+) They're stunned to see the same quality of essay that easily netted an "A" at public school receive a "B" or worse at Exeter. These students would've received better grades and be better positioned for college admissions had they just remained in public school.

We know Lville students, not that impressive except they play more than 1 sport and/or have wealthy parents, typically non-wealthy local kids get in for playing multiple sports. They DO NOT want interesting kids, prefer vanilla, schmoozy, mainstream not that compelling of a kid imo

Lawrenceville isn't particularly compelling to any school other than Princeton and a lot of them are hooked.

which explains their crazy good college placement? not sure your math is matching

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the above poster:

Do you think that everyone knows this going in? But each thinks they will still be at the top?

My child attends a peer school. We always knew they could not compete with the very tippy top at his school, but he could get an outstanding education and still be top 1-3% nationally, even if not highly ranked in the class. As the Ivies get weirder, we think the best future network is in a fantastic boarding school with wide representation. Most importantly, the rigor and small class sizes provide the best education.

Different way of looking at it?

I think a lot of families without experience at Exeter and the other top boarding schools (Andover, Choate, St.Paul's, Lawrenceville, etc.) have a hard time conceptualizing how competitive they are internally. They understand their kid might not be the very top student. But almost everyone seems to assume their kid will be in the top 20% Almost no one thinks their kid will be in the bottom half of the class.

Again, I've witnessed students with sterling 4.5+ GPAs at their public school transfer into Exeter and immediately fall to a 9-9.5 GPA (B+) They're stunned to see the same quality of essay that easily netted an "A" at public school receive a "B" or worse at Exeter. These students would've received better grades and be better positioned for college admissions had they just remained in public school.

It really depends on the kid. Some kids are discouraged by the intense competition, whereas others are energized by it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the above poster:

Do you think that everyone knows this going in? But each thinks they will still be at the top?

My child attends a peer school. We always knew they could not compete with the very tippy top at his school, but he could get an outstanding education and still be top 1-3% nationally, even if not highly ranked in the class. As the Ivies get weirder, we think the best future network is in a fantastic boarding school with wide representation. Most importantly, the rigor and small class sizes provide the best education.

Different way of looking at it?

I think a lot of families without experience at Exeter and the other top boarding schools (Andover, Choate, St.Paul's, Lawrenceville, etc.) have a hard time conceptualizing how competitive they are internally. They understand their kid might not be the very top student. But almost everyone seems to assume their kid will be in the top 20% Almost no one thinks their kid will be in the bottom half of the class.

Again, I've witnessed students with sterling 4.5+ GPAs at their public school transfer into Exeter and immediately fall to a 9-9.5 GPA (B+) They're stunned to see the same quality of essay that easily netted an "A" at public school receive a "B" or worse at Exeter. These students would've received better grades and be better positioned for college admissions had they just remained in public school.

Is a 9-9.5 still in the top quarter? The middle 50% SAT range of Exeter is surprisingly low (1360-1550), considering it’s pretty competitive to get into the school!

I don't think Extere admissions staff are stupid. Like Harvard, they target half the admitted class to be people (rich kids, athletes) who are content to be in the bottom half of the class

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.instagram.com/phillipsexeter26decisions/?g=5
You won't find a cluster of more than 2, 3 kids for a same school. They are steered to a WIDE range of ivy league and plus and top lac schools.
No rat race, everyone finds somewhere they are happy.
Well done!

It's a rat race to be one of the kids "steered" to the school you want to go to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the above poster:

Do you think that everyone knows this going in? But each thinks they will still be at the top?

My child attends a peer school. We always knew they could not compete with the very tippy top at his school, but he could get an outstanding education and still be top 1-3% nationally, even if not highly ranked in the class. As the Ivies get weirder, we think the best future network is in a fantastic boarding school with wide representation. Most importantly, the rigor and small class sizes provide the best education.

Different way of looking at it?

I think a lot of families without experience at Exeter and the other top boarding schools (Andover, Choate, St.Paul's, Lawrenceville, etc.) have a hard time conceptualizing how competitive they are internally. They understand their kid might not be the very top student. But almost everyone seems to assume their kid will be in the top 20% Almost no one thinks their kid will be in the bottom half of the class.

Again, I've witnessed students with sterling 4.5+ GPAs at their public school transfer into Exeter and immediately fall to a 9-9.5 GPA (B+) They're stunned to see the same quality of essay that easily netted an "A" at public school receive a "B" or worse at Exeter. These students would've received better grades and be better positioned for college admissions had they just remained in public school.

We know Lville students, not that impressive except they play more than 1 sport and/or have wealthy parents, typically non-wealthy local kids get in for playing multiple sports. They DO NOT want interesting kids, prefer vanilla, schmoozy, mainstream not that compelling of a kid imo

Lawrenceville isn't particularly compelling to any school other than Princeton and a lot of them are hooked.

Lawrenceville is universally considered like a top 5 boarding school. This is such a nuts comment.

There's one this year, hooked to Princeton

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the above poster:

Do you think that everyone knows this going in? But each thinks they will still be at the top?

My child attends a peer school. We always knew they could not compete with the very tippy top at his school, but he could get an outstanding education and still be top 1-3% nationally, even if not highly ranked in the class. As the Ivies get weirder, we think the best future network is in a fantastic boarding school with wide representation. Most importantly, the rigor and small class sizes provide the best education.

Different way of looking at it?

I think a lot of families without experience at Exeter and the other top boarding schools (Andover, Choate, St.Paul's, Lawrenceville, etc.) have a hard time conceptualizing how competitive they are internally. They understand their kid might not be the very top student. But almost everyone seems to assume their kid will be in the top 20% Almost no one thinks their kid will be in the bottom half of the class.

Again, I've witnessed students with sterling 4.5+ GPAs at their public school transfer into Exeter and immediately fall to a 9-9.5 GPA (B+) They're stunned to see the same quality of essay that easily netted an "A" at public school receive a "B" or worse at Exeter. These students would've received better grades and be better positioned for college admissions had they just remained in public school.

We know Lville students, not that impressive except they play more than 1 sport and/or have wealthy parents, typically non-wealthy local kids get in for playing multiple sports. They DO NOT want interesting kids, prefer vanilla, schmoozy, mainstream not that compelling of a kid imo

Lawrenceville isn't particularly compelling to any school other than Princeton and a lot of them are hooked.

which explains their crazy good college placement? not sure your math is matching

Only eh this year.