Reply to Walls vs Private- How Would You Compare

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Not sure I'm buying the above, not here in the Information Age.  These days, a really determined, super hard-working, bright kid from a middle-class family can learn a great deal from the Internet, on-line libraries, and enrichment camps during school breaks.  I've done a lot of volunteer interviewing for my Ivy in the DC area in the last 20 years, interviewed many applicants from DC's most expensive private schools, WIS, Sidwell, Maret, NCS, St. Albans, GDS etc. Few of these applicants blew me away, or got stellar write-ups from me, but some of the applicants I've interviewed from Walls, BASIS, Wilson/JR and Latin did. When a kid is spoon fed excellent academics at a tony private from a young age, chances are good that said applicant is only so thoughtful, interesting and resourceful by senior year in HS. Hint: colleges admitting in the single digits in this country are seeking the intellectually entrepreneurial.[/quote]

Real question - do you think perhaps, you might be biased towards public schools?  We are considering switching from BASIS to private for various reasons.  [/quote]

Yes, no question that I'm biased toward public school applicants. But that's my prerogative as a public high school and Ivy League grad who interviews applicants to be of service to my alma mater.

When I attended my Ivy, in the late 80s, graduates of ordinary public schools (vs. Stuyvesant, Boston Latin etc.) on a great deal of fi aid like me were just starting to become a force on Ivy campuses. We were Pell Grant recipients, not legacies. Now we're in our 50s, and we get a little bit of say in who's admitted.

My particular Ivy seems to rely on interview reports in making admissions decisions to a greater extent than some of our sister schools.  Of the roughly DC 150 applicants I've interviewed over a 25-year period, I can't think of an applicant who has been admitted after I urged admissions officers not to admit him or her in no uncertain terms.  That said, I used to work at BASIS and do not send my children there.  I don't care for their one-size fits all approach to education, their top down management, the way they hit parents up to finance teachers' bonuses, or their aversion to PTAs/PTOs and parental involvement in the school in general.[/quote]

Being biased is not your prerogative as an Ivy League alumni interviewer.  Worse, it is a violation of the rules and guidelines governing such interviews.

Shame on you.

-Long-time Ivy interviewer

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