Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you think everyone got where they really wanted you are wrong. There’s a lot of very disappointed family with awesome high achieving kids who were not urm or hooked that are sorely disappointed.

Welcome to 2023. It is what it is. The priorities given to UMC white kids that has permeated for the past two centuries is no longer. The sooner people adapt to that fact, the better.

NYC parent here. Not sure what’s going on but I was stunned to see that a top private girls school did not do so great based upon my anecdotal conversations. Like shockingly not great. Including URM’s.

Middle school parent here. When did college become so hard to get into?

It has become increasingly hard for upper middle class "regular" white kids because of the proliferation of international, first generation and under represented minority applicants.

Also, the Common Application and Test Optional has lowered barriers for applicants to toss in submissions to many more schools with the push of a button and no additional effort.

The general barriers to entry, writ large, is a good thing, but is an eye-opener for parents who went through the process before 2015 or so, and particularly since COVID.

The landscape has been changing all along, not just now. It's not just about the "hooks" or going test-optional. Admissions to US universities is a global market now, and because Covid caused a massive disruption, there is probably a "bump" of foreign applicants that probably made it even more difficult for everyone this year. Good news is that this bump is likely to be temporary, but the trend is toward more internationalization of education, esp US colleges that are coveted worldwide, in a large part because of their holistic admission standards that ensure that people's life choices aren't entirely shaped by 3 high-stakes exams taken at age 17.

As far as local privates are concerned, let's look at some nos. Picking GDS because of the large share of the graduating class who have posted on the Insta page (nearly 100), and the general vibe on DCUM about this school's college outcomes not being as good as previous year's (Sidwell and Maret's have arguably been better than in 2022).
61 of 98 GDS kids on this page are going to either a top-50 college, top-20 Liberal arts college, or their foreign equivalents (global top 20). That is 62% of the graduating class who have posted so far. The rest are going to a mix of large universities with great resources and opportunities (e.g. Indiana, Vermont, Colorado), nice liberal arts colleges (e.g. Oberlin, Scripps), colleges with special history or appeal (HBCUs), or foreign unis popular with local students (e.g. St Andrews). 21% is going to a T20 ranked school, including 12 to Ivies.
Whatever the landscape is, these are objectively good outcomes. As a parent of a younger high schooler, I would take the odds of a fifth of the class going to a T20 school (some of the best unis in the world), another 14% going to a great liberal arts college, a total of more than 60% going to colleges that are highly selective, and the rest going to places that can all provide a great education. Sidwell, NCS/STA, Potomac, Maret outcomes are probably comparable or better.

You are completely ignoring the fact that the majority of T20 admits you are quoting have a hook of some kind. The problem with looking at these lists from the outside (and as someone with NO knowledge of the specific graduating class) is that you see this large amount of great outcomes as an attainable set. But if you don't have the hook (or often - multiple hooks) that those students had, your chances of admittance to these schools is MUCH lower. You need to remember that LOTS of kids at GDS (and Sidwell) have hooks. (This is not meant as a "woe is me", "its not fair" or any negativity at all....just the facts...) if you have a high achieving white child without hooks in these schools, you are likely to be set aside because there are MANY other strong students applying from your school that can provide ALL of the following - full pay, very strong gpa/testscores, AND an institutional priority.

Also warning - for those of you Ivy degree folks - this might help but it might not if you don't ALSO have a second hook to add to the equation. And if you have just the legacy hook, your kid will ALSO need to be a stellar stats/ec kid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you think everyone got where they really wanted you are wrong. There’s a lot of very disappointed family with awesome high achieving kids who were not urm or hooked that are sorely disappointed.

Welcome to 2023. It is what it is. The priorities given to UMC white kids that has permeated for the past two centuries is no longer. The sooner people adapt to that fact, the better.

NYC parent here. Not sure what’s going on but I was stunned to see that a top private girls school did not do so great based upon my anecdotal conversations. Like shockingly not great. Including URM’s.

Middle school parent here. When did college become so hard to get into?

It has become increasingly hard for upper middle class "regular" white kids because of the proliferation of international, first generation and under represented minority applicants.

Also, the Common Application and Test Optional has lowered barriers for applicants to toss in submissions to many more schools with the push of a button and no additional effort.

The general barriers to entry, writ large, is a good thing, but is an eye-opener for parents who went through the process before 2015 or so, and particularly since COVID.

The landscape has been changing all along, not just now. It's not just about the "hooks" or going test-optional. Admissions to US universities is a global market now, and because Covid caused a massive disruption, there is probably a "bump" of foreign applicants that probably made it even more difficult for everyone this year. Good news is that this bump is likely to be temporary, but the trend is toward more internationalization of education, esp US colleges that are coveted worldwide, in a large part because of their holistic admission standards that ensure that people's life choices aren't entirely shaped by 3 high-stakes exams taken at age 17.

As far as local privates are concerned, let's look at some nos. Picking GDS because of the large share of the graduating class who have posted on the Insta page (nearly 100), and the general vibe on DCUM about this school's college outcomes not being as good as previous year's (Sidwell and Maret's have arguably been better than in 2022).
61 of 98 GDS kids on this page are going to either a top-50 college, top-20 Liberal arts college, or their foreign equivalents (global top 20). That is 62% of the graduating class who have posted so far. The rest are going to a mix of large universities with great resources and opportunities (e.g. Indiana, Vermont, Colorado), nice liberal arts colleges (e.g. Oberlin, Scripps), colleges with special history or appeal (HBCUs), or foreign unis popular with local students (e.g. St Andrews). 21% is going to a T20 ranked school, including 12 to Ivies.
Whatever the landscape is, these are objectively good outcomes. As a parent of a younger high schooler, I would take the odds of a fifth of the class going to a T20 school (some of the best unis in the world), another 14% going to a great liberal arts college, a total of more than 60% going to colleges that are highly selective, and the rest going to places that can all provide a great education. Sidwell, NCS/STA, Potomac, Maret outcomes are probably comparable or better.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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. 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. Again, just a different view that I wanted to share.

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.

Maybe those friends had the same scores or better and didn't end up in private because their parents couldn't afford it. Kids make up reasons to save face.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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. 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. Again, just a different view that I wanted to share.

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.

Oh, that is too bad. After all your posts the last few years, we were all really hoping your DS and his high-achieving friends got the college spots that are rightfully theirs. Those public school low achievers only got in because it’s on trend.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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. 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. Again, just a different view that I wanted to share.

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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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. 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. Again, just a different view that I wanted to share.

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.

Anonymous wrote: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. 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. Again, just a different view that I wanted to share.

Anonymous wrote: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. 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. Again, just a different view that I wanted to share.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you think everyone got where they really wanted you are wrong. There’s a lot of very disappointed family with awesome high achieving kids who were not urm or hooked that are sorely disappointed.

Welcome to 2023. It is what it is. The priorities given to UMC white kids that has permeated for the past two centuries is no longer. The sooner people adapt to that fact, the better.

NYC parent here. Not sure what’s going on but I was stunned to see that a top private girls school did not do so great based upon my anecdotal conversations. Like shockingly not great. Including URM’s.

Middle school parent here. When did college become so hard to get into?

It has become increasingly hard for upper middle class "regular" white kids because of the proliferation of international, first generation and under represented minority applicants.

Also, the Common Application and Test Optional has lowered barriers for applicants to toss in submissions to many more schools with the push of a button and no additional effort.

The general barriers to entry, writ large, is a good thing, but is an eye-opener for parents who went through the process before 2015 or so, and particularly since COVID.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you think everyone got where they really wanted you are wrong. There’s a lot of very disappointed family with awesome high achieving kids who were not urm or hooked that are sorely disappointed.

Welcome to 2023. It is what it is. The priorities given to UMC white kids that has permeated for the past two centuries is no longer. The sooner people adapt to that fact, the better.

NYC parent here. Not sure what’s going on but I was stunned to see that a top private girls school did not do so great based upon my anecdotal conversations. Like shockingly not great. Including URM’s.

Middle school parent here. When did college become so hard to get into?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you think everyone got where they really wanted you are wrong. There’s a lot of very disappointed family with awesome high achieving kids who were not urm or hooked that are sorely disappointed.

Welcome to 2023. It is what it is. The priorities given to UMC white kids that has permeated for the past two centuries is no longer. The sooner people adapt to that fact, the better.

NYC parent here. Not sure what’s going on but I was stunned to see that a top private girls school did not do so great based upon my anecdotal conversations. Like shockingly not great. Including URM’s.

Middle school parent here. When did college become so hard to get into?

Well, by “college,” you mean top colleges that have always been very selective. Out of the thousands of colleges in the US.