Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a dumb thread. Yes, there are some schools that get some special attention because of their long history with certain schools (e.g. Exeter, Andover, St. Paul's, etc.)

But compared to a decade ago or much longer ago, there are no feeders anymore. The world is too big now and there are too many great candidates for any top school to have a handful of "go to" schools for applicants.

Some of that glow may be off St. Paul's now.

True. The kid wasn't a legacy at Harvard or St. Paul's and got into both on his own merit. Tragic.

Anonymous wrote:This is a dumb thread. Yes, there are some schools that get some special attention because of their long history with certain schools (e.g. Exeter, Andover, St. Paul's, etc.)

But compared to a decade ago or much longer ago, there are no feeders anymore. The world is too big now and there are too many great candidates for any top school to have a handful of "go to" schools for applicants.

Some of that glow may be off St. Paul's now.

This is a dumb thread. Yes, there are some schools that get some special attention because of their long history with certain schools (e.g. Exeter, Andover, St. Paul's, etc.)

But compared to a decade ago or much longer ago, there are no feeders anymore. The world is too big now and there are too many great candidates for any top school to have a handful of "go to" schools for applicants.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would wager that if Sidwell got 10 headed to Yale, then 7-8 of those have a reason more than academic record or Sidwell name for it happening. I give Sidwell or any fine DC prep 2-3 per year without the factors that have absolutely nothing to do with how great the prep school is attached to making the number higher. In reality Sidwell doesn't explain 10, something else that most students at Sidwell can't obtain does...well heeled multi generation and sibling legacy family is most prominent of these.

While we all hate for the facts to get in the way of a good story, I'm not sure your narrative checks out here. Some parents who know the 10 Yale kids posted in the spring in response to comments like yours that were discounting these kids. IIRC only a few had any legacy or athlete connections. My memory might be faulty, but I'm pretty sure I'm correct about this. I'm sure you can find those posts pretty easily if you search the archive.

Well, of course a personal attack was only minutes away. I'm sure you've vetted all ten kids and families and this is all my failed effort to undermine how fabulously feeder schools really work and that if you aren't in that system all is doomed. You sound like the guy at the reunion cocktail parties who is ready to correct me about where I went to school because he knows better.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can always move to Montana, Alaska, Mississippi, etc.

Or you could be less obnoxious based on what I wrote out of personal experience at one of these "feeder" boarding schools. Sorry if not welcomed. My point is if you are not a kid with family advantages, being a star student at a public may play better than being a star at a prep where a lot of these opportunities are crowded out because they are bespoke spots. Sounds like Sidwell had a lot of that to Yale this year. It's a hard deal for a kid who gets best grades and has a great application but impossible odds because a bunch of his classmates'd descendants came over on the Mayflower and went straight to Cambridge a generation since. Be realistic that this is a challenge and a big factor. It's a big mistake to point to how wonderful a prep is to get 8 or 10 to any Ivy without some restraint to remember there is a lot more going on there.

Not being obnoxious at all and I wasn't addressing you. It is true that it is easier to get into Ivies/MIT/Stanford if you are NOT from either coasts and attend a decent public high school in fly over country.

I guess the "test" to see if a legacy kid got into an Ivy on their own merits is if they get into multiple Ivies/Stanford/MIT even ones where they have no "hook".

Many of these legacies get into multiple top schools. Excellent candidates are excellent candidates.

Anonymous wrote:You can always move to Montana, Alaska, Mississippi, etc.

Or you could be less obnoxious based on what I wrote out of personal experience at one of these "feeder" boarding schools. Sorry if not welcomed. My point is if you are not a kid with family advantages, being a star student at a public may play better than being a star at a prep where a lot of these opportunities are crowded out because they are bespoke spots. Sounds like Sidwell had a lot of that to Yale this year. It's a hard deal for a kid who gets best grades and has a great application but impossible odds because a bunch of his classmates'd descendants came over on the Mayflower and went straight to Cambridge a generation since. Be realistic that this is a challenge and a big factor. It's a big mistake to point to how wonderful a prep is to get 8 or 10 to any Ivy without some restraint to remember there is a lot more going on there.

Anonymous wrote:I would wager that if Sidwell got 10 headed to Yale, then 7-8 of those have a reason more than academic record or Sidwell name for it happening. I give Sidwell or any fine DC prep 2-3 per year without the factors that have absolutely nothing to do with how great the prep school is attached to making the number higher. In reality Sidwell doesn't explain 10, something else that most students at Sidwell can't obtain does...well heeled multi generation and sibling legacy family is most prominent of these.

While we all hate for the facts to get in the way of a good story, I'm not sure your narrative checks out here. Some parents who know the 10 Yale kids posted in the spring in response to comments like yours that were discounting these kids. IIRC only a few had any legacy or athlete connections. My memory might be faulty, but I'm pretty sure I'm correct about this. I'm sure you can find those posts pretty easily if you search the archive.

Anonymous wrote:It varies year to year. This year Sidwell is sending 10 to Yale. Next year it may be one or two. All the top schools are like this. I really can't believe anyone thinks there is a feeder school anymore.

Same poster as the NE prep download above. I would wager that if Sidwell got 10 headed to Yale, then 7-8 of those have a reason more than academic record or Sidwell name for it happening. I give Sidwell or any fine DC prep 2-3 per year without the factors that have absolutely nothing to do with how great the prep school is attached to making the number higher. In reality Sidwell doesn't explain 10, something else that most students at Sidwell can't obtain does...well heeled multi generation and sibling legacy family is most prominent of these.

Anonymous wrote:The concept of feeders even at a NE prep like the ones noted is misleading. I went to one of the strong NE ones (not Exeter or Andover) and in my class of 180 there were 7 Harvards. 6 of them were wealthy same prep school and also Harvard legacies who were born into Harvard. Several more alpine but only one more really top kid in my class got in on plain merits. I went to a good selective college and was happy with how it worked out for me. That said, I do believe that without those connections and advantages its pretty rough sledding for a kid at even an Exeter or a Andover on merits because you have to compete with a lot of peers who have a lot of advantages. The Ivies are still much more stubbornly married to old money and legacies than say a Stanford or a MIT or a little Ivy NECSAC. If that reality is not clear, it leads to a lot of rage over thinking many kids are better off being exceptional at a public school, which is also true.

I agree with you except about Stanford, MIT and the little Ivies like Williams, Amherst, etc. not catering to their legacies like the Ivies and if you look at their admission rates for legacies they are the same if not MORE geared for legacies especially small elite liberal arts schools like Williams.

You can always move to Montana, Alaska, Mississippi, etc.

The concept of feeders even at a NE prep like the ones noted is misleading. I went to one of the strong NE ones (not Exeter or Andover) and in my class of 180 there were 7 Harvards. 6 of them were wealthy same prep school and also Harvard legacies who were born into Harvard. Several more alpine but only one more really top kid in my class got in on plain merits. I went to a good selective college and was happy with how it worked out for me. That said, I do believe that without those connections and advantages its pretty rough sledding for a kid at even an Exeter or a Andover on merits because you have to compete with a lot of peers who have a lot of advantages. The Ivies are still much more stubbornly married to old money and legacies than say a Stanford or a MIT or a little Ivy NECSAC. If that reality is not clear, it leads to a lot of rage over thinking many kids are better off being exceptional at a public school, which is also true.

It varies year to year. This year Sidwell is sending 10 to Yale. Next year it may be one or two. All the top schools are like this. I really can't believe anyone thinks there is a feeder school anymore.

ncrc and little folks

Anonymous wrote:The only feeders are Andover and Exeter.

If you look at the link above you, Trinity and Horace Mann both in NYC and Roxbury Latin, Boston, all send just as many if not more kids to Ivy+MIT+Stanford, all 1/3 + of their graduating class.