Reply to NCS college admissions if kid is not a legacy, URM, or athletic recruit

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The problem with private school and top college admissions is that colleges are going to take the top academic kids from each school. So if you are middle of the pack at private you are behind the top public school kids in the pecking order.  And by the time admissions goes through the top public school kids all of the seats are allocated. So the bottom 70% of private school kids are at a disadvantage. I think that is the issue in a nutshell.[/quote]

I have a kid in a Big 3, so I say this against interest, but the top kids at the top public high schools in this area (and there are at least a dozen), including the magnets like Blair/Poolesville SMCS/CAP, TJ, RMIB, etc., are going to be more than competitive against the  "middle of the pack at private."  Why people think it should be otherwise is beyond me.  Those top public school kids as a group (and it's a large group) are going to be competitive against the top kids at the top privates, including the one our kid attends.  And plenty of them have as many hooks.

I wish it were otherwise, but every year I interview for my HYP alma mater, and I am blown away by the qualifications of the kids who do not get in.  [/quote]

But but but what are we paying all this money for at NCS?[/quote]

Again, this post is not about middle-of-the-pack private v top public but rather about the top private kids getting shut out.  If DD has no Bs then she must be top 5 kids at NCS, presumably.  If those kids are getting shut out of top 50 schools - despite being truly top of class  - that is a problem for my kid.

Also, this is not meant to be a slight to athletes but rather ask a question about non-recruited athletes.  It is also not meant to debate the importance of diversity or denigrate lower ranked schools (where you can definitely get a fine education).

I also take exception with the idea that this pressure is coming from me.  If anything, I am trying to temper my child’s expectations with data that shows the admitted kids have a hook she doesn’t.  Because she looks at the list and sees schools she wants to attend and has an idea that her grades are higher than many so she thinks maybe there is a chance. Also, while college office is saying the landscape is difficult, they are also saying go ahead and apply.   But if you are telling me there isn’t a chance because we have no hook, we will try to get her to make a new plan.

Trying  to gather data.
[/quote]

When your DD is a Junior, college counseling will hold a session that answers some of the questions you have and provides more data about outcomes taking hooks into account. No one on this Board can answer the questions you are asking, and no one on this Board is qualified to tell you your daughter has no chance. None of us has the full picture of who applied where or what motivated those choices. I think for now you should take solace in the fact that if your DD continues to perform at the level she has so far, or even dips down a bit, she will likely have many options including some well within the top 40 or 50 if she is strategic about her applications. [/quote]

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