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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Public school parent of a pretty average white boy with fun ECs ping pong, ultimate, student govt, fundraisers all mid-level leadership roles, straight A's MCPS style, who paid zero for a very good education. Sure occasionally bathroom doors were locked, and he didn't make his school soccer team. His one plus is he got to apply as Princeton's legacy thanks to his dad.   He is not a "remarkable" kid compared to some of his private school friends - one in particular who comes to mind is a great kid whose son did outward bound summers, volunteering in South America during breaks, and accomplished musician who will NOT be joining him in an Ivy league this year.  I feel like we made a great choice and wanted to add this as a perspective.  It's been tough for ALL kids with covid and for those of you on the fence about continuing private, I promise it is not so bad. He also has a friend group going to very similar schools as the private lists. And many will go to community college.  [b]We applied him for private in 9th and he got all waitlists for the top 3 he wanted. He did get into Field, Landon, and Bullis but we decided to "try" his public.[/b] Again, just a different view that I wanted to share. [/quote]

Yep, my son was in a pool of about 4 kids who were the top kids in his public middle school (all As, 98%+ SSAT scores, etc) who applied and got into top privates for 9th.  He has about a half dozen friends who applied and were not accepted to private because their scores and grades were lower. 
Well, fast forward 4 years and the lower achieving kids who were shut out from private high school are going to BETTER colleges from DCPS.  My son and the high achievers (who continue to high achieve) are going to notably worse colleges from private. 
And they did about 4 times the work during the past 4 years.

It's wild and it's so out of my control that it's hard to even be upset because I am 100% confident that we made the right choice for my kid's academic growth.  It's also what the system wants at this point in time (2023).  Kids who attend a large urban public (regardless of what they are actually learning) is what is in vogue. 
But I think its something that everyone should be aware of who is making this decision. 
[/quote]

Same, although I hesitate to add to the anecdotes. DC, after doing private for elementary, applied to Big 3 privates for middle school. DC was shut out at places like Sidwell while a friend with lesser grades, but with what I now recognize is a huge college hook, got into Sidwell. Instead DC went to the big local public (although DC did get off the wait list at a Big 3, but by that time we were already committed to the public).

Fast forward and DC is in a USNWR top five university. DC had national recognition in an EC, but also didn't have to compete for college slots against Sidwell's recruitable athletes, development cases, kids of the great and the good, etc. I do take issue with pp's comment that public school kids aiming for the top schools don't work hard, because that's simply false. It sounds like I'm bragging, but really I just want to underscore that big publics may be where unhooked kids like mine have their best options for college. [/quote]

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