Anonymous
Post 01/04/2026 21:37     Subject: Re:2025 Privates College Decisions

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'd be pissed if I spent $50K a year on private school and my kid didnt get into Harvard or Yale.

Why? There are around 400K seniors in private school each year, and just over 4000 spots at Harvard and Yale.


I just find some of the snobbery on this thread a little perplexing. You spent $200,000 on a high school that got your kid into a university where most of the rest of the students attended their local public high schools at a cost to them of $0. Why is that an occasion for looking down your nose?


What’s it to you how someone else spent their money? There are families that have the funds so they use them for what they consider a better overall environment and experience. That’s the case for us where our barely accredited overcrowded public school has daily fights and many other severe problems (and, yes, even a murder a few years ago).


You're missing the point. No one cares about how you spend your money. All the sneering towards public schools and pretensions towards elitism seem a bit much though when your kids end up at the same (and sometimes worse) universities as public school kids. How elite can the education be if a kid in Sioux City got into the same university after attending the school down her street?


You have a chip on your shoulder and are missing the point.

Elites don't define themselves by their undergraduate education, in large part because of what you just stated. Anyone with an SAT prep book and a grinder mentality can get into an Ivy these days.

The "elite" part about a private school education has nothing to do with college placement


Omg. Not. It is so so so hard. You can be perfect and run 0-8. A lot is chance.
Anonymous
Post 01/04/2026 20:57     Subject: Re:2025 Privates College Decisions

Anonymous wrote:Can someone send this list for 2026?
Thank you if you do!

Already done in the college forum: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1304598.page
Anonymous
Post 01/04/2026 19:50     Subject: Re:2025 Privates College Decisions

Anonymous wrote:Can someone send this list for 2026?
Thank you if you do!

You can do it yourself, just copy these links and use a find and replace to change the year. Most sites should still work.
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2026 18:27     Subject: Re:2025 Privates College Decisions

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'd be pissed if I spent $50K a year on private school and my kid didnt get into Harvard or Yale.

Why? There are around 400K seniors in private school each year, and just over 4000 spots at Harvard and Yale.


I just find some of the snobbery on this thread a little perplexing. You spent $200,000 on a high school that got your kid into a university where most of the rest of the students attended their local public high schools at a cost to them of $0. Why is that an occasion for looking down your nose?


What’s it to you how someone else spent their money? There are families that have the funds so they use them for what they consider a better overall environment and experience. That’s the case for us where our barely accredited overcrowded public school has daily fights and many other severe problems (and, yes, even a murder a few years ago).


You're missing the point. No one cares about how you spend your money. All the sneering towards public schools and pretensions towards elitism seem a bit much though when your kids end up at the same (and sometimes worse) universities as public school kids. How elite can the education be if a kid in Sioux City got into the same university after attending the school down her street?


You have a chip on your shoulder and are missing the point.

Elites don't define themselves by their undergraduate education, in large part because of what you just stated. Anyone with an SAT prep book and a grinder mentality can get into an Ivy these days.

The "elite" part about a private school education has nothing to do with college placement


It’s definitely not true that anyone with a grinder mentality and an SAT prep book can get into an elite university. But it is true that the very wealthy don’t typically aim for the Ivy Leagues and their equivalents. That’s more of an upper middle class pursuit, and often the graduates of those universities end up working for the truly wealthy.

When I graduated from high school, I was one of the few to get into one of those schools. Basically none of the wealthy kids (think children of CEOs of major brands) in my school made it—or even tried to.
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2026 18:22     Subject: Re:2025 Privates College Decisions

Can someone send this list for 2026?
Thank you if you do!
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2026 12:58     Subject: 2025 Privates College Decisions

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My mcps public is sweeping up. My friend always said if you have a normal smart kid, they can thrive in public.


Dear PP,

It depends on the public schools that are available to you.

Sincerely,
Baltimore


Agree. But if you take a look at DC Privates (Sidwell, GDS etc ED vs. MCPS ED which can change during RD but wow.
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2026 12:35     Subject: Re:2025 Privates College Decisions

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'd be pissed if I spent $50K a year on private school and my kid didnt get into Harvard or Yale.

Why? There are around 400K seniors in private school each year, and just over 4000 spots at Harvard and Yale.


I just find some of the snobbery on this thread a little perplexing. You spent $200,000 on a high school that got your kid into a university where most of the rest of the students attended their local public high schools at a cost to them of $0. Why is that an occasion for looking down your nose?


What’s it to you how someone else spent their money? There are families that have the funds so they use them for what they consider a better overall environment and experience. That’s the case for us where our barely accredited overcrowded public school has daily fights and many other severe problems (and, yes, even a murder a few years ago).


You're missing the point. No one cares about how you spend your money. All the sneering towards public schools and pretensions towards elitism seem a bit much though when your kids end up at the same (and sometimes worse) universities as public school kids. How elite can the education be if a kid in Sioux City got into the same university after attending the school down her street?


You have a chip on your shoulder and are missing the point.

Elites don't define themselves by their undergraduate education, in large part because of what you just stated. Anyone with an SAT prep book and a grinder mentality can get into an Ivy these days.

The "elite" part about a private school education has nothing to do with college placement
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2026 12:28     Subject: 2025 Privates College Decisions

Anonymous wrote:My mcps public is sweeping up. My friend always said if you have a normal smart kid, they can thrive in public.


Dear PP,

It depends on the public schools that are available to you.

Sincerely,
Baltimore
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2026 10:31     Subject: 2025 Privates College Decisions

My mcps public is sweeping up. My friend always said if you have a normal smart kid, they can thrive in public.
Anonymous
Post 01/02/2026 17:16     Subject: Re:2025 Privates College Decisions

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'd be pissed if I spent $50K a year on private school and my kid didnt get into Harvard or Yale.

Why? There are around 400K seniors in private school each year, and just over 4000 spots at Harvard and Yale.


I just find some of the snobbery on this thread a little perplexing. You spent $200,000 on a high school that got your kid into a university where most of the rest of the students attended their local public high schools at a cost to them of $0. Why is that an occasion for looking down your nose?


What’s it to you how someone else spent their money? There are families that have the funds so they use them for what they consider a better overall environment and experience. That’s the case for us where our barely accredited overcrowded public school has daily fights and many other severe problems (and, yes, even a murder a few years ago).


You're missing the point. No one cares about how you spend your money. All the sneering towards public schools and pretensions towards elitism seem a bit much though when your kids end up at the same (and sometimes worse) universities as public school kids. How elite can the education be if a kid in Sioux City got into the same university after attending the school down her street?


I agree, re: the disdain being unpleasant and unhelpful. But I don't think using college as the defining metric makes sense either. We'd all consider Harvard undergrad "elite" even though their grads end up at Harvard Law alongside grads from U. Nebraska and Iowa.

(I googled to be sure that was accurate: https://hls.harvard.edu/jdadmissions/apply-to-harvard-law-school/jdapplicants/hls-profile-and-facts/undergraduate-institutions/)



Of course it’s 1 student from Nebraska the class and 30 from Harvard. But sure it’s exactly the same.


Law school admissions are based almost entirely on GPA and LSAT. My understanding is that you don’t get much of a boost from attending an elite university for undergrad. When I was at my top-5 law school I was one of a very few who went to elite undergrads (think top-3). Nearly everyone had gone to state school

Exactly. And I am sure the state school kids were very smart. Some of the very smart state school kids did not know any better, so did not attend a top law school. Their top 5% in their law school meant nothing, as it turns out, even though they were undoubtedly better than 25-50% of top law school grads. Big law is funny that way; no logic.


In a class of 550 at Harvard only 163 schools are represented. If you don’t think the most represented schools at HLS aren’t Harvard, Yale and Princeton you’re trying to wish something into existence.

And the rest of rant on smart state school kids sounds a lot the washed up high school athletes who swear they could’ve made the pros. At some point - college, law school, job- you are what your records say you are.


PP from two posts ago. Look: if you went to an elite law school you'd know that they admit a lot of students who went to state schools for undergrad--possibly the majority. If you're going around claiming that most students at HLS went to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, then the only thing you're proving is that you didn't go to an elite law school. Also, some of the state school kids do extremely well in law school, and I really don't think that going to an elite undergrad gives you a leg up over the competition once you're in law school. The students who get into the truly top law schools tend to be excellent no matter where they went to undergrad. Also, I'm not sure what you're proving in saying that only 163 schools are represented in a class of 550... There are maybe 10-15 schools I'd consider to be elite universities, and 10-15 is a much smaller number than 163.

As to whether some of the state school kids were very smart but didn't know any better and therefor didn't attend top law schools, that strains credibility. It's possible that there are some who are trying to save money and thus go for in-state tuition, or aspire to go into state or local government and don't need elite credentials for that. But the vast majority of people applying to law school know the rankings quite well and understand that for high-paying positions and clerkships, you're almost always better-off at an elite school.


This just reveals you don’t know state schools. The “vast majority” of the super smart state school kids who attend law school don’t attend an elite one. This is wholly consistent with the “majority” of elite law school kids coming from state schools. It’s called math.

Unless you have family in big law or come from a certain family SES background, it is hard to comprehend that continued excellence in law school (top 5% of class, say) would not pay dividends (as it did for undergrad). Instead, top law schools don’t rank.

If you really think the top 5% at any ole law school would not perform better than the bottom 25% at a top school (if those students were ranked), you are a naïf.

At my middlin’ law school, there were at least half a dozen kids in my year who could have gone to a top 14 but did not — because they did not know any better. And they were not even at the top of the class. Top third, yes, but not top 10%….
Anonymous
Post 01/01/2026 17:59     Subject: 2025 Privates College Decisions

Since this thread is about last year’s class, I’m not sure why someone bumped it.
Anonymous
Post 01/01/2026 17:44     Subject: 2025 Privates College Decisions

Anonymous wrote:Private Schools

D.C.

Burke: https://www.instagram.com/burkeseniors/
Field: https://www.instagram.com/fieldgrads25/
GDS: https://www.instagram.com/gdsseniors25/
Georgetown Visitation: https://www.instagram.com/visidcseniors_2025/
Maret: https://www.instagram.com/maret.frogs2025/
Sidwell: https://www.instagram.com/sidwellseniors2025/
SJC: https://www.instagram.com/sjc2025seniors/
WIS: https://www.instagram.com/wisclassof25/


Maryland

Academy of the Holy Cross: https://www.instagram.com/ahcseniors25/
Bryn Mawr: https://www.instagram.com/brynmawrclassof2025/
Bullis: https://www.instagram.com/bullis.seniors25/
Friends School of Baltimore: https://www.instagram.com/fsbclassof2025/
Gilman: https://www.instagram.com/gilman_2025/
Heights: https://www.instagram.com/heights25.seniors/
Holton: https://www.instagram.com/holtonarms2025/
Key: https://www.instagram.com/keyclassof2025/
Landon: https://www.instagram.com/landonseniors2025/
McDonogh: https://www.instagram.com/mcdclassof2025/
Sandy Spring Friends: https://www.instagram.com/ssfs2enior5/
Severn: https://www.instagram.com/severnclassof2025/
St. Andrews: https://www.instagram.com/saesdecisions2025/
St. Timothy's: https://www.instagram.com/sttclassof2025/
Stone Ridge: https://www.instagram.com/srseniors2025/


Virginia

Basis Independent Mclean: https://www.instagram.com/bimcommits2025/
Flint Hill: https://www.instagram.com/fh2enior5/
Madeira: https://www.instagram.com/madeiradecisions25/
Norfolk Academy: https://www.instagram.com/naseniors2025/
O'Connell: https://www.instagram.com/djodecision2025/
Potomac: http://www.instagram.com/potomacdecisions_2025/
St. Anne's - Belfield: https://www.instagram.com/saints.2025.sendoff/
St. Paul VI: https://www.instagram.com/pvi2025decisions/
St. Stephens and St. Agnes: https://www.instagram.com/sssas.decisions25/



Public Schools

D.C.

Banneker: https://www.instagram.com/bbahs2025decisions/
Jackson Reed: https://www.instagram.com/jacksonreed_2025/
School Without Walls: https://www.instagram.com/sww2025decisions/


Maryland

Bethesda-Chevy Chase: https://www.instagram.com/bccdecisions25/
Blake: https://www.instagram.com/wherethebengalsgo2025/
Clarksburg: https://www.instagram.com/coyotecommits2025/
Damascus: https://www.instagram.com/official.dmas2025commits/
Einstein: https://www.instagram.com/farewelltitans25/
Gaithersburg: https://www.instagram.com/gburgcommits25/
Kennedy: https://www.instagram.com/jfkcommits2025/
Magruder: https://www.instagram.com/whatcomingcolonels25/
Montgomery Blair: https://www.instagram.com/blaircommits25/
Northwest: https://www.instagram.com/nwhscommits25/
Northwood: https://www.instagram.com/gladiatorcommitments/
Poolesville: https://www.instagram.com/falconsflyhigh2025/
Quince Orchard: https://www.instagram.com/cougarcommits/
Richard Montgomery: https://www.instagram.com/blastoffrockets25/
River Hill: https://www.instagram.com/rhhs.25/
Rockville: https://www.instagram.com/rockvilleseniors25/
Seneca Valley: https://www.instagram.com/wheretheeaglessoar25/
Sherwood: https://www.instagram.com/sherwoodgrad25/
Springbrook: https://www.instagram.com/bluedevilsbound25/
Thomas S Wootton: https://www.instagram.com/peaceoutpatriots25/
Walt Whitman: https://www.instagram.com/vikingdestinations2025/
Winston Churchill: https://www.instagram.com/beyondthebulldog25/
Walter Johnson: https://www.instagram.com/wherethewildcatsgo2025/


Virginia

Academies of Loudoun: https://www.instagram.com/acldecisions2025/
Alexandria City: https://www.instagram.com/achsdecisions_25/
Annandale: https://www.instagram.com/ahs25decisions/
Bryant: https://www.instagram.com/brydecisions25/
Carter G. Woodson: https://www.instagram.com/cgw25decisions/
Centreville: https://www.instagram.com/cvhsdecisions2025/
Chantilly: https://www.instagram.com/chantillydecisions2025/
Edison: https://www.instagram.com/ehs.25decisions/
Fairfax: https://www.instagram.com/fairfaxseniors2025/
Falls Church: https://www.instagram.com/fchs_25decisions/
George C. Marshall: https://www.instagram.com/gcmdecisions25/
Hayfield: https://www.instagram.com/hayfielddecisions25/
Herndon: https://www.instagram.com/hhs25decisions/
James Madison: https://www.instagram.com/madisondecisions2025/
Justice: https://www.instagram.com/justice25decisions/
Lake Braddock: https://www.instagram.com/lb25decisions/
Langley: https://www.instagram.com/langleydecisions2025/
Lewis: https://www.instagram.com/lewis25decisions/
Marshall: https://www.instagram.com/gcmdecisions25/
McLean: https://www.instagram.com/mcleancommits2025/
Meridian: https://www.instagram.com/meridiancommits25/
Mount Vernon: https://www.instagram.com/mvhs.decisions.25/
Mountain View: https://www.instagram.com/mvhsdecisions/
Oakton: https://www.instagram.com/oaktondecisions2025/
Robinson: https://www.instagram.com/robo25decisions_/
South County: https://www.instagram.com/soco.decisions.2025/
Thomas Jefferson: https://www.instagram.com/tj2025destinations/
Wakefield: https://www.instagram.com/whsdecisions25/
Washington-Liberty: https://www.instagram.com/wldecisions25/
Westfield: https://www.instagram.com/whs_decisions25/
West Potomac: https://www.instagram.com/wphs2025decisions/
West Springfield: https://www.instagram.com/wspf2025decisions/
Woodson: https://www.instagram.com/cgw25decisions/
Yorktown: https://www.instagram.com/yhsdecisions2025/


Eyeballing these I don't see much difference between Big 3, other privates and public. A few more Ivies in Big 3 but kids from all these schools get into very good universities.

Between Big 3 and other privates, maybe a couple of less Harvard, but other privates also have princeton, Univ. Chicago, Upenn, and Brown.
Anonymous
Post 12/27/2025 14:25     Subject: Re:2025 Privates College Decisions

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'd be pissed if I spent $50K a year on private school and my kid didnt get into Harvard or Yale.

Why? There are around 400K seniors in private school each year, and just over 4000 spots at Harvard and Yale.


I just find some of the snobbery on this thread a little perplexing. You spent $200,000 on a high school that got your kid into a university where most of the rest of the students attended their local public high schools at a cost to them of $0. Why is that an occasion for looking down your nose?


What’s it to you how someone else spent their money? There are families that have the funds so they use them for what they consider a better overall environment and experience. That’s the case for us where our barely accredited overcrowded public school has daily fights and many other severe problems (and, yes, even a murder a few years ago).


You're missing the point. No one cares about how you spend your money. All the sneering towards public schools and pretensions towards elitism seem a bit much though when your kids end up at the same (and sometimes worse) universities as public school kids. How elite can the education be if a kid in Sioux City got into the same university after attending the school down her street?


I agree, re: the disdain being unpleasant and unhelpful. But I don't think using college as the defining metric makes sense either. We'd all consider Harvard undergrad "elite" even though their grads end up at Harvard Law alongside grads from U. Nebraska and Iowa.

(I googled to be sure that was accurate: https://hls.harvard.edu/jdadmissions/apply-to-harvard-law-school/jdapplicants/hls-profile-and-facts/undergraduate-institutions/)



Of course it’s 1 student from Nebraska the class and 30 from Harvard. But sure it’s exactly the same.


Law school admissions are based almost entirely on GPA and LSAT. My understanding is that you don’t get much of a boost from attending an elite university for undergrad. When I was at my top-5 law school I was one of a very few who went to elite undergrads (think top-3). Nearly everyone had gone to state school

Exactly. And I am sure the state school kids were very smart. Some of the very smart state school kids did not know any better, so did not attend a top law school. Their top 5% in their law school meant nothing, as it turns out, even though they were undoubtedly better than 25-50% of top law school grads. Big law is funny that way; no logic.


In a class of 550 at Harvard only 163 schools are represented. If you don’t think the most represented schools at HLS aren’t Harvard, Yale and Princeton you’re trying to wish something into existence.

And the rest of rant on smart state school kids sounds a lot the washed up high school athletes who swear they could’ve made the pros. At some point - college, law school, job- you are what your records say you are.


PP from two posts ago. Look: if you went to an elite law school you'd know that they admit a lot of students who went to state schools for undergrad--possibly the majority. If you're going around claiming that most students at HLS went to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, then the only thing you're proving is that you didn't go to an elite law school. Also, some of the state school kids do extremely well in law school, and I really don't think that going to an elite undergrad gives you a leg up over the competition once you're in law school. The students who get into the truly top law schools tend to be excellent no matter where they went to undergrad. Also, I'm not sure what you're proving in saying that only 163 schools are represented in a class of 550... There are maybe 10-15 schools I'd consider to be elite universities, and 10-15 is a much smaller number than 163.

As to whether some of the state school kids were very smart but didn't know any better and therefor didn't attend top law schools, that strains credibility. It's possible that there are some who are trying to save money and thus go for in-state tuition, or aspire to go into state or local government and don't need elite credentials for that. But the vast majority of people applying to law school know the rankings quite well and understand that for high-paying positions and clerkships, you're almost always better-off at an elite school.


So you’ve never been outside of the Northeast?
Anonymous
Post 12/17/2025 11:44     Subject: 2025 Privates College Decisions

I know this is DCUM, but how the hell did this thread become an argument over who attends HLS?
Anonymous
Post 12/17/2025 09:33     Subject: Re:2025 Privates College Decisions

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'd be pissed if I spent $50K a year on private school and my kid didnt get into Harvard or Yale.

Why? There are around 400K seniors in private school each year, and just over 4000 spots at Harvard and Yale.


I just find some of the snobbery on this thread a little perplexing. You spent $200,000 on a high school that got your kid into a university where most of the rest of the students attended their local public high schools at a cost to them of $0. Why is that an occasion for looking down your nose?


What’s it to you how someone else spent their money? There are families that have the funds so they use them for what they consider a better overall environment and experience. That’s the case for us where our barely accredited overcrowded public school has daily fights and many other severe problems (and, yes, even a murder a few years ago).


You're missing the point. No one cares about how you spend your money. All the sneering towards public schools and pretensions towards elitism seem a bit much though when your kids end up at the same (and sometimes worse) universities as public school kids. How elite can the education be if a kid in Sioux City got into the same university after attending the school down her street?


I agree, re: the disdain being unpleasant and unhelpful. But I don't think using college as the defining metric makes sense either. We'd all consider Harvard undergrad "elite" even though their grads end up at Harvard Law alongside grads from U. Nebraska and Iowa.

(I googled to be sure that was accurate: https://hls.harvard.edu/jdadmissions/apply-to-harvard-law-school/jdapplicants/hls-profile-and-facts/undergraduate-institutions/)



Of course it’s 1 student from Nebraska the class and 30 from Harvard. But sure it’s exactly the same.


Law school admissions are based almost entirely on GPA and LSAT. My understanding is that you don’t get much of a boost from attending an elite university for undergrad. When I was at my top-5 law school I was one of a very few who went to elite undergrads (think top-3). Nearly everyone had gone to state school

Exactly. And I am sure the state school kids were very smart. Some of the very smart state school kids did not know any better, so did not attend a top law school. Their top 5% in their law school meant nothing, as it turns out, even though they were undoubtedly better than 25-50% of top law school grads. Big law is funny that way; no logic.


In a class of 550 at Harvard only 163 schools are represented. If you don’t think the most represented schools at HLS aren’t Harvard, Yale and Princeton you’re trying to wish something into existence.

And the rest of rant on smart state school kids sounds a lot the washed up high school athletes who swear they could’ve made the pros. At some point - college, law school, job- you are what your records say you are.


PP from two posts ago. Look: if you went to an elite law school you'd know that they admit a lot of students who went to state schools for undergrad--possibly the majority. If you're going around claiming that most students at HLS went to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, then the only thing you're proving is that you didn't go to an elite law school. Also, some of the state school kids do extremely well in law school, and I really don't think that going to an elite undergrad gives you a leg up over the competition once you're in law school. The students who get into the truly top law schools tend to be excellent no matter where they went to undergrad. Also, I'm not sure what you're proving in saying that only 163 schools are represented in a class of 550... There are maybe 10-15 schools I'd consider to be elite universities, and 10-15 is a much smaller number than 163.

As to whether some of the state school kids were very smart but didn't know any better and therefor didn't attend top law schools, that strains credibility. It's possible that there are some who are trying to save money and thus go for in-state tuition, or aspire to go into state or local government and don't need elite credentials for that. But the vast majority of people applying to law school know the rankings quite well and understand that for high-paying positions and clerkships, you're almost always better-off at an elite school.


If you went to a top 5 law school and think these two statements are the same - I fear for your clients:

“ If you don’t think the most represented schools at HLS aren’t Harvard, Yale and Princeton”

“ If you're going around claiming that most students at HLS went to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton”

And I’ll do the math for you: 550 students from 163 schools means some of those schools had more than one student attending. And my point is that the schools with most students attending are the Harvard, Yale and Princetons not whatever state school you want to propose. Having 1 student from Indiana U and 25 students from Harvard doesn’t make them equal in representation