Different poster. PP is correct. These schools are about average as compared to the rest of the nation.

Anonymous wrote:Those are not the "top Ivies" Harvard, Yale, Princeton. I counted 12 for each. That is for all of Bethesda and does not count students who were accepted at more than one Ivy. So from 100,000 students, 36. of those 6 from the magnet, Blair. very impressive. That's 0.036 %

Idiot. You think 100,000 seniors graduated from public high schools in Bethesda alone in 2013? No way. The list shows 7 high schools. Let's assume that each has an average class size of 600 kids (which is a huge overestimation for some of these 7 high schools, because Blair is the largest, and it has something like 650 kids in a class). So we're talking maybe 4,200 (max) graduating seniors from those 7 high schools in 2013.

Also, as I'm sure you know, lots of kids at these schools either aren't going to colleges, or they're going to the UMD because they're too middle class to get merit aid. So you'd need to adjust that 4,200 denominator downward for the kids who are actually applying to college, who either expect to get financial aid or can afford to be full pay at HYP. If this were Sidwell, and half the class was applying to HYP, then you might have a reasonable point.

Instead, it would be more reasonable to look at the acceptance rates of the kids we actually applied. Which, as it happens, we can do because the data are right there in the table.

For Yale: 24 BCC kids applied to Yale, 2 accepted, for an acceptance rate of 2/24 = 8% which is higher than the national average for acceptance at Yale. 17 Whitman kids applied to Yale and 1 was an accepted, for an acceptance rate 1/17 = 5.8%, probably slightly lower than the national average. Wooton and WJ had lower rates, Blair did better.

Eyeballing Harvard and Princeton, the acceptance rates from Whitman, BCC and Blair all look to be about the national average. You can do the math if you want, but I don't have the time.

Also, this is just for one year. These numbers bounce around a whole lot each year. So reading a whole lot into them would be silly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't find current stats, but when I attended Harvard some years back, fully 2/3 of the student body came from public high schools. And of the five of us who went to Harvard from my "big three" DC private, at least four were legacies. (The fifth might have been, too -- I just don't know.)

When I read comments like these, I always wonder how many of the public school students admitted to top colleges are legacies too.

It doesn't seem likely that Harvard would fill 2/3 of the student body with legacy public school kids. Last I heard, Harvard accepts maybe 1/3 of legacy applicants but together these constitute about 10-12% of any incoming class. Surely many of those kids (private as well as public) got in on their own smarts.

I'm sure many of them did get in on their own smarts -- I agree with you that it's easy (and foolish) to dismiss legacy applicants in general. Many people have an image of some idiot scion who can barely graduate high school, but nevertheless gets into Yale. But I'm betting most legacy applicants come from smart genes, have stable home lives, get good educations, face high parental expectations, have lots of advantages, etc. As a result, they're very smart and well qualified.

My slightly different point is that we can't praise the public school students admitted to Harvard, and simply dismiss all the private school kids attending Ivy colleges as "legacy admits," without acknowledging that public school applicants are just as likely to be legacy applicants (perhaps even more likely in light of the ratios).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't find current stats, but when I attended Harvard some years back, fully 2/3 of the student body came from public high schools. And of the five of us who went to Harvard from my "big three" DC private, at least four were legacies. (The fifth might have been, too -- I just don't know.)

When I read comments like these, I always wonder how many of the public school students admitted to top colleges are legacies too.

It doesn't seem likely that Harvard would fill 2/3 of the student body with legacy public school kids. Last I heard, Harvard accepts maybe 1/3 of legacy applicants but together these constitute about 10-12% of any incoming class. Surely many of those kids (private as well as public) got in on their own smarts.

Sorry, I wasn't suggesting the public school admissions were legacies -- on the contrary, I meant to suggest that the relatively high rate of Ivy acceptances at top privates might be attributable, in large part, to legacy status (which isn't information high schools include on their matriculation lists).

I'm no dunce -- I got into Columbia on my own merits -- but I'm sure my legacy status tipped the balance to get me into Harvard. (Certainly my college guidance counselor thought so!)

Those are not the "top Ivies" Harvard, Yale, Princeton. I counted 12 for each. That is for all of Bethesda and does not count students who were accepted at more than one Ivy. So from 100,000 students, 36. of those 6 from the magnet, Blair. very impressive. That's 0.036 %

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't find current stats, but when I attended Harvard some years back, fully 2/3 of the student body came from public high schools. And of the five of us who went to Harvard from my "big three" DC private, at least four were legacies. (The fifth might have been, too -- I just don't know.)

When I read comments like these, I always wonder how many of the public school students admitted to top colleges are legacies too.

It doesn't seem likely that Harvard would fill 2/3 of the student body with legacy public school kids. Last I heard, Harvard accepts maybe 1/3 of legacy applicants but together these constitute about 10-12% of any incoming class. Surely many of those kids (private as well as public) got in on their own smarts.

Anonymous wrote:I can't find current stats, but when I attended Harvard some years back, fully 2/3 of the student body came from public high schools. And of the five of us who went to Harvard from my "big three" DC private, at least four were legacies. (The fifth might have been, too -- I just don't know.)

When I read comments like these, I always wonder how many of the public school students admitted to top colleges are legacies too.

Anonymous wrote:...In DC's year, this single "top ivy" accepted a dozen+ kids from just my own DC's public high school. It's true about half the kids turned down the acceptance to go to non-Ivies that offered merit aid, so fewer actually matriculated, a few short of your guess of "8" for the whole DMV area.

New poster. I'm curious about this. Here are stats on how local MD public schools recently did on college admissions. http://bethesdamagazine.com/College_Chart.pdf Very few Ivy colleges accepted even an even dozen (much less a "dozen+") from local public high schools. I recognize this list is just for 2013, so maybe it's slightly different in other years (better or worse). But I see only one example here that fits ... 14 accepted from Blair to Columbia. The only other combo that's close is 12 accepted to Cornell from Whitman.

I can't find current stats, but when I attended Harvard some years back, fully 2/3 of the student body came from public high schools. And of the five of us who went to Harvard from my "big three" DC private, at least four were legacies. (The fifth might have been, too -- I just don't know.)

Private schools can offer a lot, don't get me wrong -- but they don't have a magic formula for getting your kid into an Ivy.

Anonymous wrote:So the publics average 2-3 per year at top Ivy? Lots of "potted Ivy" and almost like Ivy, though.

PP again. No, no, no, that poster was making stuff up. At the risk of causing that poster to derail into a thread war about acceptance rates in public vs. private, Bethesda Magazine in one of their issues from last spring gives some actual facts about much higher numbers from area public schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Though our public gets high marks for being the best, when I told my acquaintances that we were going to private, their frustrations with the public surfaced. Frankly, nothing like what they are describing happens at our private. I think they would all transfer if they could afford it. And I do think that they think you are aiming for an Ivy. It is a lot of work to make public school work for your kid -- volunteering, raise money ect ect

We volunteered very little at our public high school (we have many other volunteer commitments and we both work full time) and DC is now at a so-called "top" ivy.

The work for public school is in making sure your kids are in the best classes and/or applying to the magnets magnets, all of which takes research. If your kid needs to be pushed, this will be work for you because some of the teachers are on top of things, but not all of them are tracking your particular kid. There's also a lot of work in researching college options, because the public high school counselors are overworked and unfamiliar with top colleges.

I wonder how much of the frustration with public have to do with the interface. My kids both started out in private school and I agree, the private schools do a much better job of building community, letting you know what's going on in the class, dealing with your concerns (although I have to say, our private school was not very helpful with a bullying incident) and smoothing the way to college. The public schools just aren't set up for PR and customer service.

Have you ever noticed that the publics always say their kids are at a "top Ivy" when in reality in the DC area there are probably only 8 students per year altogether going to a "top Ivy" except for TJ?

PP here. That's just so wrong. In DC's year, this single "top ivy" accepted a dozen+ kids from just my own DC's public high school. It's true about half the kids turned down the acceptance to go to non-Ivies that offered merit aid, so fewer actually matriculated, a few short of your guess of "8" for the whole DMV area.

(And now I'm a "public"? I bet you'd also call me a "libtard." Hehe. Something about my public school kid getting into a top school really seems to bug you.)

So the publics average 2-3 per year at top Ivy? Lots of "potted Ivy" and almost like Ivy, though.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Though our public gets high marks for being the best, when I told my acquaintances that we were going to private, their frustrations with the public surfaced. Frankly, nothing like what they are describing happens at our private. I think they would all transfer if they could afford it. And I do think that they think you are aiming for an Ivy. It is a lot of work to make public school work for your kid -- volunteering, raise money ect ect

We volunteered very little at our public high school (we have many other volunteer commitments and we both work full time) and DC is now at a so-called "top" ivy.

The work for public school is in making sure your kids are in the best classes and/or applying to the magnets magnets, all of which takes research. If your kid needs to be pushed, this will be work for you because some of the teachers are on top of things, but not all of them are tracking your particular kid. There's also a lot of work in researching college options, because the public high school counselors are overworked and unfamiliar with top colleges.

I wonder how much of the frustration with public have to do with the interface. My kids both started out in private school and I agree, the private schools do a much better job of building community, letting you know what's going on in the class, dealing with your concerns (although I have to say, our private school was not very helpful with a bullying incident) and smoothing the way to college. The public schools just aren't set up for PR and customer service.

Have you ever noticed that the publics always say their kids are at a "top Ivy" when in reality in the DC area there are probably only 8 students per year altogether going to a "top Ivy" except for TJ?

+1. You nailed it with "the public schools just aren't set up for PR and customer service." In fact, the whole culture can really make many parents feel unwelcome and disengaged.

Anonymous wrote:Though our public gets high marks for being the best, when I told my acquaintances that we were going to private, their frustrations with the public surfaced. Frankly, nothing like what they are describing happens at our private. I think they would all transfer if they could afford it. And I do think that they think you are aiming for an Ivy. It is a lot of work to make public school work for your kid -- volunteering, raise money ect ect

We volunteered very little at our public high school (we have many other volunteer commitments and we both work full time) and DC is now at a so-called "top" ivy.

The work for public school is in making sure your kids are in the best classes and/or applying to the magnets magnets, all of which takes research. If your kid needs to be pushed, this will be work for you because some of the teachers are on top of things, but not all of them are tracking your particular kid. There's also a lot of work in researching college options, because the public high school counselors are overworked and unfamiliar with top colleges.

I wonder how much of the frustration with public have to do with the interface. My kids both started out in private school and I agree, the private schools do a much better job of building community, letting you know what's going on in the class, dealing with your concerns (although I have to say, our private school was not very helpful with a bullying incident) and smoothing the way to college. The public schools just aren't set up for PR and customer service.