Anonymous
Post 07/31/2014 21:32     Subject: what do you say to neighbors about why you are choosing private vs the local public?
Anonymous wrote:The only schools that have 20% acceptance rates to Ivies are the elite boarding schools in the NE (Andover, Choate...). Maybe some big city magnets.

Not really. Here is one example -- http://matriculationstats.org/day-schools-outside-of-nyc NCS and STA both top 20% for Ivy colleges. No data for Sidwell, but I'm betting it's well north of 20% too.
Anonymous
Post 07/31/2014 17:51     Subject: what do you say to neighbors about why you are choosing private vs the local public?
Anonymous wrote:17:22 again.

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote: ... I actually suspect private school Ivy acceptances are MORE likely to be legacies. Like I said, the year I graduated, at least 80% of the Harvard admissions from my private school were legacies. That's WAY more than 10-12% of each class they say are legacies.

I don't have any data on how many Ivy alums choose private vs. public for their kids, but it seems plausible to me that Ivy alums might be more likely to be financially in a position to send their kids to private schools.


I agree with you, that private school Ivy acceptances are more likely to be legacies. ...

I'm not so sure I agree. Here's how I think through the math ...

If a private school has 100 seniors, maybe 25% might get an Ivy legacy connection from at least one parent (25 students). If 20% of the 100 seniors are admitted to Ivy colleges (20 students), what % of those are likely to be legacies? Based on what PP wrote, let's assume 80%, or 16 students.

At one of the W public schools with 400 seniors, how many will have one Ivy educated parent? Let's assume 40 of 400 (10%). You might have 10 students admitted to Ivy colleges. How many of those 10 students will come from one of the 40 Ivy educated families? I'd be willing to bet it's close to 80% too.

We obviously can bicker about the numbers, and these are just my rough guesses. But my underlying point is that many of the public school Ivy admits are likely legacies too. It's disingenuous to pretend Ivy parents don't send their children to public schools, and that those legacies don't seek admission to the Ivy colleges.


The only schools that have 20% acceptance rates to Ivies are the elite boarding schools in the NE (Andover, Choate...). Maybe some big city magnets.
Anonymous
Post 07/31/2014 17:34     Subject: what do you say to neighbors about why you are choosing private vs the local public?
17:22 again.

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote: ... I actually suspect private school Ivy acceptances are MORE likely to be legacies. Like I said, the year I graduated, at least 80% of the Harvard admissions from my private school were legacies. That's WAY more than 10-12% of each class they say are legacies.

I don't have any data on how many Ivy alums choose private vs. public for their kids, but it seems plausible to me that Ivy alums might be more likely to be financially in a position to send their kids to private schools.


I agree with you, that private school Ivy acceptances are more likely to be legacies. ...

I'm not so sure I agree. Here's how I think through the math ...

If a private school has 100 seniors, maybe 25% might get an Ivy legacy connection from at least one parent (25 students). If 20% of the 100 seniors are admitted to Ivy colleges (20 students), what % of those are likely to be legacies? Based on what PP wrote, let's assume 80%, or 16 students.

At one of the W public schools with 400 seniors, how many will have one Ivy educated parent? Let's assume 40 of 400 (10%). You might have 10 students admitted to Ivy colleges. How many of those 10 students will come from one of the 40 Ivy educated families? I'd be willing to bet it's close to 80% too.

We obviously can bicker about the numbers, and these are just my rough guesses. But my underlying point is that many of the public school Ivy admits are likely legacies too. It's disingenuous to pretend Ivy parents don't send their children to public schools, and that those legacies don't seek admission to the Ivy colleges.
Anonymous
Post 07/31/2014 17:22     Subject: Re:what do you say to neighbors about why you are choosing private vs the local public?
I'd also guess that the % of children from Ivy-educated parents is higher in private school than in public school. However, there are also many kids at public schools with Ivy-educated parents. There was a long thread about this in one of the other education forums a few months ago, with many Ivy-educated parents talking about how they send children to local public schools. Indeed, on a raw numbers basis, I'd even bet there are more legacy children in local public schools than in local privates. So when we evaluate the impact of legacy status on college admissions among private and public students, we need to acknowledge that some of the public school students admitted to top colleges are likely getting a legacy bump as well.
Anonymous
Post 07/31/2014 16:49     Subject: what do you say to neighbors about why you are choosing private vs the local public?
Anonymous wrote:[
The email trail is confusing, but I did say that I applied from a private school -- the bolded parts are all one poster (me).

I actually suspect private school Ivy acceptances are MORE likely to be legacies. Like I said, the year I graduated, at least 80% of the Harvard admissions from my private school were legacies. That's WAY more than 10-12% of each class they say are legacies.

I don't have any data on how many Ivy alums choose private vs. public for their kids, but it seems plausible to me that Ivy alums might be more likely to be financially in a position to send their kids to private schools.


I agree with you, that private school Ivy acceptances are more likely to be legacies. I agree with your suggestion that Ivy alumns would be more likely to be financially able to send their kids to a private school. I also get the feeling that Ivies go to the public schools for SES diversity and athletic recruitment in certain sports (I think they can probably get racial diversity equally well in public or private these days).

Sidwell used to ask where the parents went to college, not sure if they still do, but you have to assume this was to determine legacy status. I'm more understanding when schools make you tick off boxes for the parents' highest levels of education, because this speaks to SES without prying into whether that was an Ivy or two.
Anonymous
Post 07/31/2014 16:43     Subject: what do you say to neighbors about why you are choosing private vs the local public?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Op been there...a simple answer without too many reasons (made that mistake and the more reasons I gave it seems the more I offended them - understandably). If the private is religious at all you can say "we wanted the religious aspect incorporated into school," as I have had others say to me. Could also say "My child does better in smaller classrooms."


You don't need to play the religion card. You and the person asking know the private school is the better school all things considered (just look at the abysmal numbers for DC public and public charter schools on the National Center for Education Statistics website). You chose to make the enormous sacrifices you had to in order to send your kid private or you were one of the lucky few who got financial aid. What it shows is where your priorities lie.


No, not really. It depends on the specific publics and privates that you are comparing. And the snooty remark about "where your priorities lie" is beneath you. At least I hope it's beneath you.
Anonymous
Post 07/31/2014 16:40     Subject: what do you say to neighbors about why you are choosing private vs the local public?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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!)


Perfect example: Poster is one person, accepted at 2 Ivies. So that means that even less than the 30 or so listed are actual different students. Of course, to combat the "legacy" at private you have the URM at public.


Wow. Dog with a bone. Too bad PP didn't identify whether she was applying from public vs. private herself -- that would have given your paranoid innumeracy a little more legitimacy, no?

(And PP obviously didn't graduate in 2013 like the rest of those 36 kids, but clearly you're pretty much beyond hope when it comes to thinking about numbers like this.)


The email trail is confusing, but I did say that I applied from a private school -- the bolded parts are all one poster (me).

I actually suspect private school Ivy acceptances are MORE likely to be legacies. Like I said, the year I graduated, at least 80% of the Harvard admissions from my private school were legacies. That's WAY more than 10-12% of each class they say are legacies.

I don't have any data on how many Ivy alums choose private vs. public for their kids, but it seems plausible to me that Ivy alums might be more likely to be financially in a position to send their kids to private schools.
Anonymous
Post 07/31/2014 16:35     Subject: Re:what do you say to neighbors about why you are choosing private vs the local public?
When you say you're sending your kid to private school what you're saying, whether you like it or not, is the local public school isn't good enough. And if you chose one of the better ones, you're right. If they hold that against you then that's their insecurity and doubt about their decision coming through. If they're confident that their school is truly the best place for their child out of all of the options in the area then they won't bat an eye at your decision.
Anonymous
Post 07/31/2014 16:17     Subject: what do you say to neighbors about why you are choosing private vs the local public?
Anonymous wrote:Op been there...a simple answer without too many reasons (made that mistake and the more reasons I gave it seems the more I offended them - understandably). If the private is religious at all you can say "we wanted the religious aspect incorporated into school," as I have had others say to me. Could also say "My child does better in smaller classrooms."


You don't need to play the religion card. You and the person asking know the private school is the better school all things considered (just look at the abysmal numbers for DC public and public charter schools on the National Center for Education Statistics website). You chose to make the enormous sacrifices you had to in order to send your kid private or you were one of the lucky few who got financial aid. What it shows is where your priorities lie.
Anonymous
Post 07/31/2014 09:30     Subject: what do you say to neighbors about why you are choosing private vs the local public?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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!)


Perfect example: Poster is one person, accepted at 2 Ivies. So that means that even less than the 30 or so listed are actual different students. Of course, to combat the "legacy" at private you have the URM at public.


Wow. Dog with a bone. Too bad PP didn't identify whether she was applying from public vs. private herself -- that would have given your paranoid innumeracy a little more legitimacy, no?

(And PP obviously didn't graduate in 2013 like the rest of those 36 kids, but clearly you're pretty much beyond hope when it comes to thinking about numbers like this.)
Anonymous
Post 07/31/2014 06:46     Subject: what do you say to neighbors about why you are choosing private vs the local public?
Anonymous wrote:
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!)


Perfect example: Poster is one person, accepted at 2 Ivies. So that means that even less than the 30 or so listed are actual different students. Of course, to combat the "legacy" at private you have the URM at public.
Anonymous
Post 07/31/2014 01:53     Subject: what do you say to neighbors about why you are choosing private vs the local public?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:+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.


That was my post. I don't agree that the public school culture makes parents feel disengaged. We don't feel this way, and we don't know any parents who do, although obviously it's easy enough to not participate at all in the school life. We actually feel more loyal to the public school than to our kids' previous private school -- I'm not sure why, perhaps because the public school feels more "real" or maybe because we're receiving instead of buying. I guess I can't explain it. But "so-so customer service" =/= disengaged parents.


You do realize that your taxes go towards school. Middle class taxes. It isn't "free" most people wealthy enough to send to private barely pay taxes themselves.
Anonymous
Post 07/30/2014 22:22     Subject: Re:what do you say to neighbors about why you are choosing private vs the local public?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'm honest about it and say, "because the local school we're assigned to is complete shit." My tax dollars don't pay for what I want, so I have to come out of pocket.


How many times have you posted this same thing on this thread so far? Curious.


Once. Why?
Anonymous
Post 07/30/2014 22:21     Subject: Re:what do you say to neighbors about why you are choosing private vs the local public?
You may have one in private and one in public, but you are the exception. Most posters on this thread say they are public school parents who think private school parents are stupid, or social climbers, or whatever.


Nope. Another over here. I have one in private. One in public. I'd never send my public kid to the private my other kid goes to. For us it is 100% about FIT.
Anonymous
Post 07/30/2014 21:24     Subject: what do you say to neighbors about why you are choosing private vs the local public?
Anonymous wrote:+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.


That was my post. I don't agree that the public school culture makes parents feel disengaged. We don't feel this way, and we don't know any parents who do, although obviously it's easy enough to not participate at all in the school life. We actually feel more loyal to the public school than to our kids' previous private school -- I'm not sure why, perhaps because the public school feels more "real" or maybe because we're receiving instead of buying. I guess I can't explain it. But "so-so customer service" =/= disengaged parents.