Reply to Any questions for someone who went through 12 years at a DC private school?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I did very well in college, and it was much easier for me than it appeared to be for probably 1/2 the people on my dorm floor freshman year.

I wouldn't have gotten into an Ivy League, but honestly, after 12 years at my school I needed a change and pretty much only applied to big state schools. I felt like most people at my school were pretty much the same and I just needed something different. I'm very glad I went to a big state school.

Academically, I feel like the education was very good. However, particularly by the time you get to high school, it seems like the school had essentially already determined who would go to a Ivy League school, and those were the kids worth helping. A few teachers were the exception, but I remember after getting As in 2 English classes with the same teacher, he said he couldn't write me a letter of recommendation because he already had too many to write. I then found out he was writing one for my friend (who got an A- in the one class she took with him) who ended up attending Harvard. I learned he only wrote letters of rec for kids going to Ivys/Stanford/a private "elite" school because they were more worthwhile.

I don't have kids yet, but my husband and I have already decided that we will likely send our kids to public school. My experience at private school factored into this decision, but was not the main factor. [/quote]

I don't understand what "more worthwhile" means.  Was it that he thought that no matter what he wrote, he didn't think you would get into the Ivy League school?[/quote]

He knew I wasn't applying to any Ivy League schools before I asked him to write a letter of rec (so obviously no matter what he put in the letter, I wouldn't have gotten in haha). I later learned that some teachers take pride in having writing recs where a high percentage then go on to Ivy Leagues. I'm not sure if there's any professional benefit to this (maybe publishing opportunities or seminars?), if they happen to know some people at Ivy Leagues, or if it's just general bragging rights. But there were definitely a few teachers who basically only wrote letters if the student was applying to at least a couple Ivys. [/quote]

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