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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My DD is at top private school. She is an average student and works hard. Her grades (and those of many of her friends) are lower than their public school counterparts.  [b]I hear anecdotes from parents at our public school talk about how kids have no homework now and they don't even have to turn in assignments in a timely manner. These kids are getting straight As.[/b]  Will college admissions people recognize this?

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OP: The question in your topic is totally reasonable. And the answer is affirmative: AOs at elite private schools will be aware of your top private school's curriculum and will assess applicants accordingly.

As for the boldfaced portion above, it's hyperbolic nonsense and it's kind of embarrassing that you'd entertain it. [/quote]

It's not nonsense. Some public schools truly are like this.[/quote]

Can confirm. Many high schools have little to no homework and have retakes on the same test. It is supposedly for “mental health “. It does not usually apply to AP classes though. 93% of the local public high school that sends 60%at to 4yr college has A-B honor roll. 40% have straight As. 40%. Let that sink in. Less than 5% get into UVA every yr: this is not a top public high school. Yet. So many the A’s. The local top private has 21-23% of the graduating class get accepted to UVa, yet less than 15% of the class has all As(inclusive of A-), though some of the all A kids have no advanced or AP so are not near the top15% when weighted/rigor is accounted for in relative rank.
The median SAT is 200 points different at these schools. The colleges know all of this. [/quote]

It really depends on the public high school. There is enormous variation. I can assure you that students at schools like Whitman and Langley are grinding. No student is floating through Multivariable Calculus and AP Physics and AP Lit while working at the school paper and practicing their sport. And schools like that have hundreds of very driven, very smart students. As a parent of a couple of them, from my perspective it's the private school kids that are coasting. Their math and science classes are at a much lower level. They receive a lot more individual attention. They are more coddled. And less is expected of them. I don't think there's any comparison between the AP level students at the top public high schools and the more pampered private school students. It's no wonder selective colleges tend to favor public school students these days. They work harder. They're more self-driven. And they're more prepared for college. [/quote]

This is a really weird take.  And shows you see only one side.  Private school kids are not coasting.  It is true some do not have MV Calculus but so what?  Colleges do not care.  It may be a lower level but that is not important to colleges or we would not have MIT and CalTech admits.  They are not at all coddled.  More is expected of them to tell the truth.  Colleges are not favoring publics if anything it is the other way around but really they look at the differently.  Most colleges would rather have the kid that worked on the school paper, played a sport and took the highest rigor classes they could.  That would get their attention.  There is no one way.  If public was superior no one would go to provate.  If private was vastly superior even more would get out of public and there would be new privates popping up.  It is really student by student as to which is better for them -- some of course have no choice.  But simply not true to make a general statement that one works harder or one is more ready for college.  Also not true that colelges have a preference.  What they want are students that fit what they are looking for.[/quote]

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