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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]The schools out west won't be able to distinguish the top privates, from the lesser privates or top publics. To the average college counselor out West, Whitman looks the same or better than HOLTON, Sidwell or NCS. [/quote]

I don't know that this is true.  I went to one of those SLACs "out west" and while the bay area, Seattle, and the LA are were definitely overrepresented relative to an east coast SLAC, people were from all over the place.  There were plenty of people from NYC, Chicago, Boston, DC, and other large non-west Coast cities.  I grew up in the Chicago area and attended a well regarded suburban high school, and the admissions dean said that he was aware of my school, in part because there are several schools from each major metropolitan area that almost every year have several applicants and are known for having rigorous curriculums.  It is a relatively small, privileged pool of people who have the financial means and academic preparation/guidance to apply to small private liberal arts schools all over the country.  Of course, not everyone comes from that background, and I also had friends from college who came from working class backgrounds, or went to non top-notch schools, but I would say privilege is certainly over-represented.  A far larger portion of people at any reasonably selective SLAC are going to come from top suburban districts, top magnets (especially NYC magnets like Styvusant and so on), top prep day schools (Dalton and the like at NYC, GDS or Sidwell in DC, University of Chicago lab in Chicago, etc.), and NE boarding schools (Choate, Exeter, etc.) than the general population (or even the population of a state school).  The point is--they are pretty familiar with this relatively tiny pool of schools that continually have students applying year after year, especially when the school is located far away.

The world of people who attend small, well regarded SLACs and other private colleges (even "out west") is an insular bubble.  For example, one of my best friends from college has a twin sister.  My friend went to a SLAC on the west coast and her twin sister went to a SLAC on the east coast.  Her sister dated a guy in high school who went at MIT.  My best friend from high school went to MIT, and ended up dating my college friend's sister's ex.  Also, she became really good friends with a high school friend of mine, who went to a different east coast SLAC through a mutual friend from high school.  We're not even talking about ivy networks--just your average SLAC.

So if you're looking at Reed, Occidental, Pomona, Colorado College, or Claremont McKenna, and you think that college admissions people are oblivious to the reputations of Sidwell or Holton or whatever, think again.  Same goes for Carleton, Oberlin, Macalester, and Kenyon.  [b]The landscape of high quality colleges and universities is not nearly as regional or provincial as people on DCUM seem to think.[/b][/quote]

This. Indeed, these colleges and universities have a much better idea of the relative quality of education at Sidwell or Holton than Sidwell/Holton parents do.[/quote]

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