School advising kids to "try again next year" regarding college applications

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I heard from my kid that results are so bad this year at our (Big3) school that the college counseling office is now telling kids
to either take a gap year OR matriculate at a lower tier school and "try again next year".

Have you heard this? It is worrisome or typical advice?

What years would this not be valid advice? I mean, if students at a school are having a "good year" for admission into highly selective colleges, it doesn't mean that there aren't some kids who would be better off trying again next year. Same for "middling" and "bad" years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that advising kids to matriculate to one of the schools that accepted them is hardly alarming advice, and that, if they are opposed to that then advising them that their other options are to take a gap year or go to a school that accepted them and try to transfer in a year is just speaking truth.

What else would you want them to say to a kid who chose their matches and safeties badly and is now upset at their options? Is there some other option missing?

OP.
The problem (as I hear it) is that what can be considered a safety has shifted. What was a safety even last year is no longer a safety.
The kids in the lower 50% of the class are getting shut out or close to shut out.

This May be true in another few weeks….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is my yearly reminder that if you choose private school for your child it should be because the school's mission an experience are true to your deeply embedded values. Like learning how to think in a critical and artful way, or because you like to be surrounded mostly by entitled privileged people. But definitely not for the guaranteed college admissions results, because these are never guaranteed.

Is this a reminder to yourself?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard from my kid that results are so bad this year at our (Big3) school that the college counseling office is now telling kids
to either take a gap year OR matriculate at a lower tier school and "try again next year".

Have you heard this? It is worrisome or typical advice?

If I spent 200k on a high school and that was the outcome, I'd want a refund

Yah, nope. Money is well spent regardless. To each their own.

One more time for the cheap seats: you do not send a kid to a private school, Big 3 or whatever, solely because you think it will increase their chances to get into an Ivy or the cream of the crop schools. If this is your attitude, you deserve to be disappointed.

One more time for the cheaper seats: we are not talking about "Ivy or cream of the crop schools". We are talking about kids getting rejected from all their picks ranked 75+.

Yes, kids are getting rejected at schools like Boulder, Auburn, Indiana, Penn State, etc. This was not happening even 2 years ago.

And Indiana and Wisconsin - No deferrals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard from my kid that results are so bad this year at our (Big3) school that the college counseling office is now telling kids
to either take a gap year OR matriculate at a lower tier school and "try again next year".

Have you heard this? It is worrisome or typical advice?

If I spent 200k on a high school and that was the outcome, I'd want a refund

Yah, nope. Money is well spent regardless. To each their own.

One more time for the cheap seats: you do not send a kid to a private school, Big 3 or whatever, solely because you think it will increase their chances to get into an Ivy or the cream of the crop schools. If this is your attitude, you deserve to be disappointed.

One more time for the cheaper seats: we are not talking about "Ivy or cream of the crop schools". We are talking about kids getting rejected from all their picks ranked 75+.

Yes, kids are getting rejected at schools like Boulder, Auburn, Indiana, Penn State, etc. This was not happening even 2 years ago.

I think these are the types of schools where being in private can actually hurt you. These large state schools don’t necessarily have the time to understand all the different grading schemes at different high schools. They just see the relatively low gpas from private school kids and, when compared to the 4.6 plus from MCPS, look weak. I say this as someone who has kids in both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard from my kid that results are so bad this year at our (Big3) school that the college counseling office is now telling kids
to either take a gap year OR matriculate at a lower tier school and "try again next year".

Have you heard this? It is worrisome or typical advice?

If I spent 200k on a high school and that was the outcome, I'd want a refund

Hmmm. So it is the school's job to place your child in their dream school for college, or the experience wasn't worth anything? I disagree completely. I have a child at NCS/STA and I know my child will be beyond well prepared for college. They will start to visit schools next year or this summer and we will look at many different sorts of schools, not just those everyone else will apply to. If they are applying to "lower tier" schools they will be schools that are great fits with excellent programs that fit my child's personal goals and interests. Then no matter which application leads to an acceptance letter things will be okay. Will the option to transfer if need be be open, of course. A gap year, yes if there is a solid plan to make it worthwhile. But to say that four years of solid curriculum, athletics, arts and hard studying which led to great amounts of learning are meaningless if they don't get into Yale,etc? Well that, madam, is ridiculous and beside to point.

I feel bad for kids who aren't counseled to only to apply to schools they are excited to go to (in a variety of acceptance ranges). They can be found.

Maybe folks can perhaps explain the dichotomy between selecting a top private school for HS, but then in the same breath justifying a "lower tier" college.

There are tons of private schools in the DC area, and yet STA/NCS, Sidwell & (what is #3...GDS? Potomac?) are the equivalent of HYP in terms of how they are viewed on DCUM.

It just doesn't make a ton of sense that parents specifically sought out the HYP of private DC schools, and then claim it had nothing to do with where they went to college. It just feels like parents are trying to rationalize their kids' college results coming in below expectations based on attending the HYP or private DC schools.

Well, for one....my DC was not interested in applying to HYP. So there's that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that advising kids to matriculate to one of the schools that accepted them is hardly alarming advice, and that, if they are opposed to that then advising them that their other options are to take a gap year or go to a school that accepted them and try to transfer in a year is just speaking truth.

What else would you want them to say to a kid who chose their matches and safeties badly and is now upset at their options? Is there some other option missing?

OP.
The problem (as I hear it) is that what can be considered a safety has shifted. What was a safety even last year is no longer a safety.
The kids in the lower 50% of the class are getting shut out or close to shut out.

This May be true in another few weeks….

Do you know this to be true (kids in the lower 50% getting all rejections so far?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard from my kid that results are so bad this year at our (Big3) school that the college counseling office is now telling kids
to either take a gap year OR matriculate at a lower tier school and "try again next year".

Have you heard this? It is worrisome or typical advice?

If I spent 200k on a high school and that was the outcome, I'd want a refund

Yah, nope. Money is well spent regardless. To each their own.

One more time for the cheap seats: you do not send a kid to a private school, Big 3 or whatever, solely because you think it will increase their chances to get into an Ivy or the cream of the crop schools. If this is your attitude, you deserve to be disappointed.

One more time for the cheaper seats: we are not talking about "Ivy or cream of the crop schools". We are talking about kids getting rejected from all their picks ranked 75+.

Yes, kids are getting rejected at schools like Boulder, Auburn, Indiana, Penn State, etc. This was not happening even 2 years ago.

This area really screwed teens’ applications by shutting down everything for two years.

Oh please, knock it off. Are you the same person trying to tell us that TX students are taking all the spots in these college because they were back to in person learning sooner?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I heard that applications for top tier schools have doubled since kids no longer have to submit test scores. The kid who never thought they could get into Harvard before now thinks he has a shot if he writes a really good essay and has good grades. The kids who didn't get in early may still get in down the road this year, but these colleges don't have the man power to consider the increase in applications for ED/EA. A lot had a strict grade cut-off and if you didn't have that, you got deferred.

This +100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think colleges should review dcum postings and reject anyone whose parents have ever used the term “big 3” in case it’s hereditary.

Did we agree what are the big 3 schools are?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard from my kid that results are so bad this year at our (Big3) school that the college counseling office is now telling kids
to either take a gap year OR matriculate at a lower tier school and "try again next year".

Have you heard this? It is worrisome or typical advice?

If I spent 200k on a high school and that was the outcome, I'd want a refund

Hmmm. So it is the school's job to place your child in their dream school for college, or the experience wasn't worth anything? I disagree completely. I have a child at NCS/STA and I know my child will be beyond well prepared for college. They will start to visit schools next year or this summer and we will look at many different sorts of schools, not just those everyone else will apply to. If they are applying to "lower tier" schools they will be schools that are great fits with excellent programs that fit my child's personal goals and interests. Then no matter which application leads to an acceptance letter things will be okay. Will the option to transfer if need be be open, of course. A gap year, yes if there is a solid plan to make it worthwhile. But to say that four years of solid curriculum, athletics, arts and hard studying which led to great amounts of learning are meaningless if they don't get into Yale,etc? Well that, madam, is ridiculous and beside to point.

I feel bad for kids who aren't counseled to only to apply to schools they are excited to go to (in a variety of acceptance ranges). They can be found.

Maybe folks can perhaps explain the dichotomy between selecting a top private school for HS, but then in the same breath justifying a "lower tier" college.

There are tons of private schools in the DC area, and yet STA/NCS, Sidwell & (what is #3...GDS? Potomac?) are the equivalent of HYP in terms of how they are viewed on DCUM.

It just doesn't make a ton of sense that parents specifically sought out the HYP of private DC schools, and then claim it had nothing to do with where they went to college. It just feels like parents are trying to rationalize their kids' college results coming in below expectations based on attending the HYP or private DC schools.

Well, for one....my DC was not interested in applying to HYP. So there's that.

Great non-answer...any other useless commentary to add?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard from my kid that results are so bad this year at our (Big3) school that the college counseling office is now telling kids
to either take a gap year OR matriculate at a lower tier school and "try again next year".

Have you heard this? It is worrisome or typical advice?

If I spent 200k on a high school and that was the outcome, I'd want a refund

If you are spending 200,000 dollars on a private school and are expecting the school to achieve better results for your kid prima facia, and aren't facotring other benefits of said school, then the fault doesn't lay with the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think colleges should review dcum postings and reject anyone whose parents have ever used the term “big 3” in case it’s hereditary.

Did we agree what are the big 3 schools are?

Just stop already. Nobody cares. The top 3 are what you think they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First of all "Big 3" does not guarantee admission anywhere.

Publics always do better in this area.

Parents need to do their jobs and have their kids target safeties as well.

OP here.
These are kids who applied only to schools 50-125 and are not getting in. They thought they had safeties.

The RD round of decisions hasn't even happened yet, so this is complete BS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First of all "Big 3" does not guarantee admission anywhere.

Publics always do better in this area.

Parents need to do their jobs and have their kids target safeties as well.

OP here.
These are kids who applied only to schools 50-125 and are not getting in. They thought they had safeties.

The RD round of decisions hasn't even happened yet, so this is complete BS.

yes.
But the kids that the college advising office is talking about have been rejected from all (or all but one) of their EA options and applied to 20+ schools.
This is what is being talked about: kids who applied to places like Auburn, Wisconsin, Indiana, Clemson, Wake Forest, Penn State etc---all ED and EA and all outright rejections (not deferrals).