Reply to "Not a Meritocracy"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The flippant comments of the HOS are all the more infuriating when the fact is that most of the Big3 parents I know are not wringing their hands because their kid isn't getting into Harvard or Duke or Stanford.  They are worried because their child, who has good grades, test scores, ECs, recs, etc., and who is busted their butt in school for the last four years, is getting deferred from Wisconsin, Tufts, Emory and Georgia.  These are all good schools and 2-3 years ago, a strong (but not superstar) student at a Big 3 would have been an auto admit.  But now these kids are being deferred. We'll see what happens in the next few weeks, but many families are really questioning whether the slog of a Big 3 high school is worth it.[/quote]

Tufts acceptance rate is 13% and Emory is 14%. Why would anyone be an auto-admit?[/quote]

Ok, "auto admit" was a poor choice of words and is obviously rankling some people.  My point was just that good, but not tippy top, schools that strong Big 3 students were accepted at regularly a few years ago are now seeing many, many deferrals.  These threads always imply that Big 3 parents have their panties in a bunch because their special snowflake is not getting into Yale.  That is absolutely not what's happening, by and large.  Most Big 3 parents send their kids to these schools because they believe in the education.  But is it hard to see your kid work herself to the bone for four years and get deferred from Wisconsin when her neighbor down the street -- an equally smart, engaging and accomplished kid -- who did minimal work at Wilson gets in.

By the way, my kids are in early HS and MS, so I'm just sharing experiences of friends and am looking ahead for my own kids.  [/quote]

Ah, so my guess at what I thought you were implying (that somebody is taking your kid’s spot and displacing them) is correct. Those darn lazy public school kids.[/quote]

Nope, completely missed my point entirely. I’m saying the grind of a Big 3 HS may not be worth it if the college outcomes for public school kids are as good or better. I never said public school kids are lazy. That’s absurd. However, most of the kids I know at JR do not have to work nearly as hard for As and A minuses as kids at Big 3 high schools. Will a Big 3 kid be more prepared for the rigors of college? On balance, perhaps. But is it worth the stress and intensity we put these kids under for four years? Not sure.

Also not sure why other posters are calling me gross when I’m saying the public school kids may be doing it right![/quote]

Sorry but public school students that are successful at accessing top colleges are putting themselves through high levels of stress and intensity and are very well prepared for college.  To imply they are slackers relative to private school students is insulting.   Even the lowly public schoolers would understand that.[/quote]

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