Anonymous
05/14/2026 14:01
Subject: Class of '26 Instagram College Decisions
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The view of all these private schools filled with hooked kids is flawed. Some rich families, FGLI, POC, definitely there. But our experience leads us to believe that the number is much lower that the inflated percentage mentioned.
Looking at Spence for this year - 54 girls have public posts - my guess is that's around 85% of the class give or take.
The list is below. Taking out the HYP or bust mentality (which is silly) - it appears to me that 48/54 girls are going to a pretty decent school.
You are very generous with your views of a decent school. The discussion should also consider the alternative of attending a top public school instead. If Cornell and Columbia are easily achievable from public, why would anyone be impressed with Spence’s results.
PP here - you are very generous with you comment of "easily achievable" regarding Columbia and Cornell. I believe Columbia has a sub 5% acceptance rate.
what are some top public schools you are speaking about? The suburban schools like Manhasset, Summit, Rye? Or top city schools like BS, Stuy?
Stuy/BS are excellent free top public schools with very good outcomes - especially across board, including kids getting full rides to schools. It's just a different learning environment. Many of the kids there are impressive.
The suburban schools have okay results but it's extremely competitive. And for many living in the suburbs isn't what they want so it's not a realistic option.
At the end of the day, your child has to get into a school (if not going to the local suburban public school) and you have to decide if the financial cost is worth it to your family to send to a private school. If the Spence (or any other schools) exmissions don't impress you and the education isn't worth spending the $$, then go to the top public school. There are enough people willing to pay to to the TT schools in nyc.
I am referencing Stuy/BS/Hunter. If your family is spending $100k a year on education (tutors, college counselor, extracurricular, etc..) you are going to out resource many families compared to TT private.
I doubt most families are spending an incremental $30k on tutors, CC, EC - i know we are not.
but anyway those are the 3 top public schools in nyc. It's not easy to get into them.
one could argue that it's best to send your kids to one of these schools (assuming they get in) and then spend $25k a year on other items and have a good college outcome. perhaps that is your point.
for us, we didn't feel like those schools would be right for both of our kids. we prefer the smaller class sizes versus the larger grades/classes. one kid would have done fine but we didn't want to do the 1 public 1 private thing.
i am pretty sure that the majority of the kids in those 3 schools would do well academically at a private school.
Private school tuition is ~$70k + fundraising. I am still curious what giving a lot of money at the gala will get you.
We give $2k a year. That won't get us access to the special treatment that is for sure.
Curious - what factors lead you to the decision (assumption on my part) to forgo Private for one of the three top private schools? was it completely value for $$? or something else? was private a realistic option?
for elementary school we made the value for $ decision and decided public was a better choice. Financially it would have been possible but not a easy decision - so that factored into the decision.
we are happy with the path we took.
Anonymous
05/14/2026 13:57
Subject: Class of '26 Instagram College Decisions
Anonymous wrote:but anyway those are the 3 top public schools in nyc. It's not easy to get into them.
A typical grade cohort in NYC is around 60,000, so between Hunter's 200 and BS/Stuy's 750 each we're talking around the top 3% of kids. (maybe a touch more if you throw in HSMSE)
Which is not an *easy* lift, but if your kid is getting the ISEE 8's and 9's needed to interest Trinity or Brearley or HM as an unconnected kid (note that the percentiles on those are relative to other ISEE test takers and not the general population), they can probably also do well enough on the SHSAT or Hunter Test to get into one of those top public schools.
Anonymous
05/14/2026 13:51
Subject: Class of '26 Instagram College Decisions
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The view of all these private schools filled with hooked kids is flawed. Some rich families, FGLI, POC, definitely there. But our experience leads us to believe that the number is much lower that the inflated percentage mentioned.
Looking at Spence for this year - 54 girls have public posts - my guess is that's around 85% of the class give or take.
The list is below. Taking out the HYP or bust mentality (which is silly) - it appears to me that 48/54 girls are going to a pretty decent school.
You are very generous with your views of a decent school. The discussion should also consider the alternative of attending a top public school instead. If Cornell and Columbia are easily achievable from public, why would anyone be impressed with Spence’s results.
PP here - you are very generous with you comment of "easily achievable" regarding Columbia and Cornell. I believe Columbia has a sub 5% acceptance rate.
what are some top public schools you are speaking about? The suburban schools like Manhasset, Summit, Rye? Or top city schools like BS, Stuy?
Stuy/BS are excellent free top public schools with very good outcomes - especially across board, including kids getting full rides to schools. It's just a different learning environment. Many of the kids there are impressive.
The suburban schools have okay results but it's extremely competitive. And for many living in the suburbs isn't what they want so it's not a realistic option.
At the end of the day, your child has to get into a school (if not going to the local suburban public school) and you have to decide if the financial cost is worth it to your family to send to a private school. If the Spence (or any other schools) exmissions don't impress you and the education isn't worth spending the $$, then go to the top public school. There are enough people willing to pay to to the TT schools in nyc.
I am referencing Stuy/BS/Hunter. If your family is spending $100k a year on education (tutors, college counselor, extracurricular, etc..) you are going to out resource many families compared to TT private.
I doubt most families are spending an incremental $30k on tutors, CC, EC - i know we are not.
but anyway those are the 3 top public schools in nyc. It's not easy to get into them.
one could argue that it's best to send your kids to one of these schools (assuming they get in) and then spend $25k a year on other items and have a good college outcome. perhaps that is your point.
for us, we didn't feel like those schools would be right for both of our kids. we prefer the smaller class sizes versus the larger grades/classes. one kid would have done fine but we didn't want to do the 1 public 1 private thing.
i am pretty sure that the majority of the kids in those 3 schools would do well academically at a private school.
Private school tuition is ~$70k + fundraising. I am still curious what giving a lot of money at the gala will get you.
Anonymous
05/14/2026 13:51
Subject: Class of '26 Instagram College Decisions
Anonymous wrote:
do you believe the outcomes at HM are not good?
they have more dispersion and less heavy on the HYPS cohort but in general it's a very good list.
could it be that the academics are so tough that the kids have less time for EC and that hurts them in the admission process? that could be one reason.
The outcomes at HM are generally excellent!
I am not making a value judgement here, but if we use some sort of a metric based on college ranking and exclusivity, Brearley outperforms (again, how useful this metric is is a different matter, for me personally not very, but it doesn't mean it's meaningless). E.g. I think it's fair to say that ED2 to Chicago is a common -- and considerably more attainable -- 2nd option for people applying REA to HYP (and Chicago is an excellent school and particularly not inferior to HYP in economics which is what the majority of HM matriculations are in).
RE: ECs -- I don't think that's it. Brearley is also pretty tough academically and HM has a bigger culture of sport teams and more clubs, top-notch theater production company, etc.
Anonymous
05/14/2026 13:42
Subject: Class of '26 Instagram College Decisions
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The view of all these private schools filled with hooked kids is flawed. Some rich families, FGLI, POC, definitely there. But our experience leads us to believe that the number is much lower that the inflated percentage mentioned.
Looking at Spence for this year - 54 girls have public posts - my guess is that's around 85% of the class give or take.
The list is below. Taking out the HYP or bust mentality (which is silly) - it appears to me that 48/54 girls are going to a pretty decent school.
You are very generous with your views of a decent school. The discussion should also consider the alternative of attending a top public school instead. If Cornell and Columbia are easily achievable from public, why would anyone be impressed with Spence’s results.
PP here - you are very generous with you comment of "easily achievable" regarding Columbia and Cornell. I believe Columbia has a sub 5% acceptance rate.
what are some top public schools you are speaking about? The suburban schools like Manhasset, Summit, Rye? Or top city schools like BS, Stuy?
Stuy/BS are excellent free top public schools with very good outcomes - especially across board, including kids getting full rides to schools. It's just a different learning environment. Many of the kids there are impressive.
The suburban schools have okay results but it's extremely competitive. And for many living in the suburbs isn't what they want so it's not a realistic option.
At the end of the day, your child has to get into a school (if not going to the local suburban public school) and you have to decide if the financial cost is worth it to your family to send to a private school. If the Spence (or any other schools) exmissions don't impress you and the education isn't worth spending the $$, then go to the top public school. There are enough people willing to pay to to the TT schools in nyc.
I am referencing Stuy/BS/Hunter. If your family is spending $100k a year on education (tutors, college counselor, extracurricular, etc..) you are going to out resource many families compared to TT private.
I doubt most families are spending an incremental $30k on tutors, CC, EC - i know we are not.
but anyway those are the 3 top public schools in nyc. It's not easy to get into them.
one could argue that it's best to send your kids to one of these schools (assuming they get in) and then spend $25k a year on other items and have a good college outcome. perhaps that is your point.
for us, we didn't feel like those schools would be right for both of our kids. we prefer the smaller class sizes versus the larger grades/classes. one kid would have done fine but we didn't want to do the 1 public 1 private thing.
i am pretty sure that the majority of the kids in those 3 schools would do well academically at a private school.
Anonymous
05/14/2026 13:35
Subject: Class of '26 Instagram College Decisions
iAnonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I think most people here will agree that TT schools are great feeders for T20-T25 schools. It is specifically HYP admissions that are heavily influenced by other factors (hooks).
Right, this point is kinda fascinating to me, just as a sort of abstract math/data analysis puzzle. From everything I've seen, on pure academics e.g. HM is not weaker that Brearley in any meaningful way. Amazing research opportunities, broad choices, some disciplines like computer science are barely taught at Brearley, while is there is a deep sequence at HM (and a few now-billionaire founders graduated in the last 10 years). Strong rigor, no grade inflation. Perhaps, Brearley has an edge in some humanities and civics/political engagement, but nothing decisive. HM is much bigger, poorer (per student) and more diverse, but there is no clear reason why, say top 30 (out of 180) kids at HM should have different outcomes than the top 30 (out or 60) girls at Brearley. And yet they seemingly don't.
do you believe the outcomes at HM are not good?
they have more dispersion and less heavy on the HYPS cohort but in general it's a very good list.
could it be that the academics are so tough that the kids have less time for EC and that hurts them in the admission process? that could be one reason.
Anonymous
05/14/2026 13:31
Subject: Class of '26 Instagram College Decisions
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The view of all these private schools filled with hooked kids is flawed. Some rich families, FGLI, POC, definitely there. But our experience leads us to believe that the number is much lower that the inflated percentage mentioned.
Looking at Spence for this year - 54 girls have public posts - my guess is that's around 85% of the class give or take.
The list is below. Taking out the HYP or bust mentality (which is silly) - it appears to me that 48/54 girls are going to a pretty decent school.
You are very generous with your views of a decent school. The discussion should also consider the alternative of attending a top public school instead. If Cornell and Columbia are easily achievable from public, why would anyone be impressed with Spence’s results.
PP here - you are very generous with you comment of "easily achievable" regarding Columbia and Cornell. I believe Columbia has a sub 5% acceptance rate.
what are some top public schools you are speaking about? The suburban schools like Manhasset, Summit, Rye? Or top city schools like BS, Stuy?
Stuy/BS are excellent free top public schools with very good outcomes - especially across board, including kids getting full rides to schools. It's just a different learning environment. Many of the kids there are impressive.
The suburban schools have okay results but it's extremely competitive. And for many living in the suburbs isn't what they want so it's not a realistic option.
At the end of the day, your child has to get into a school (if not going to the local suburban public school) and you have to decide if the financial cost is worth it to your family to send to a private school. If the Spence (or any other schools) exmissions don't impress you and the education isn't worth spending the $$, then go to the top public school. There are enough people willing to pay to to the TT schools in nyc.
I am referencing Stuy/BS/Hunter. If your family is spending $100k a year on education (tutors, college counselor, extracurricular, etc..) you are going to out resource many families compared to TT private.
Anonymous
05/14/2026 13:26
Subject: Class of '26 Instagram College Decisions
most but definitely not all. some believe getting into Columbia is a cakewalk.Anonymous wrote:I think most people here will agree that TT schools are great feeders for T20-T25 schools. It is specifically HYP admissions that are heavily influenced by other factors (hooks).
I also think TT school college counsellors are good at advising on ED strategies and can save families a lot of time and mental energy. It works even for FA students since many experienced counsellors can generally anticipate (within a small margin of error) what school can provide what kind of package.
Anonymous
05/14/2026 13:25
Subject: Class of '26 Instagram College Decisions
Anonymous wrote:I think most people here will agree that TT schools are great feeders for T20-T25 schools. It is specifically HYP admissions that are heavily influenced by other factors (hooks).
Right, this point is kinda fascinating to me, just as a sort of abstract math/data analysis puzzle. From everything I've seen, on pure academics e.g. HM is not weaker that Brearley in any meaningful way. Amazing research opportunities, broad choices, some disciplines like computer science are barely taught at Brearley, while is there is a deep sequence at HM (and a few now-billionaire founders graduated in the last 10 years). Strong rigor, no grade inflation. Perhaps, Brearley has an edge in some humanities and civics/political engagement, but nothing decisive. HM is much bigger, poorer (per student) and more diverse, but there is no clear reason why, say top 30 (out of 180) kids at HM should have different outcomes than the top 30 (out or 60) girls at Brearley. And yet they seemingly don't.
Anonymous
05/14/2026 13:23
Subject: Class of '26 Instagram College Decisions
no, totally understandable on your part. I have never gotten the extreme pressure some parents put on Ivy or bust - it's not healthy. Lots of excellent schools - but my point is that Spence (and many other TT schools) have excellent outcomes if willing to look at a broader set of schools.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I totally agree with you point and i should have pointed that out. I implied this with the HYP or bust comment but I should have been more specific. I can't speak to Kenyon or Chapman but Colgate and Vassar are good schools - maybe not T30 or whatever metric people use here. What I am saying is that the data shows matriculations are really good. If NE/WF are the "worst" schools a student gets into - that is a very impressive list.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The view of all these private schools filled with hooked kids is flawed. Some rich families, FGLI, POC, definitely there. But our experience leads us to believe that the number is much lower that the inflated percentage mentioned.
Looking at Spence for this year - 54 girls have public posts - my guess is that's around 85% of the class give or take.
The list is below. Taking out the HYP or bust mentality (which is silly) - it appears to me that 48/54 girls are going to a pretty decent school.
Penn: 6
Chicago: 5
Cornell: 5
Harvard: 4
Princeton: 4
Michigan: 4
Brown: 2
Columbia: 2
Williams: 2
WashU: 2
Berkeley: 2
Yale: 1
Dartmouth: 1
Northwestern: 1
Vanderbilt: 1
Emory: 1
Rice: 1
Tufts: 1
Wellesley: 1
Swarthmore: 1
Barnard: 1
Colgate: 1
Wake Forest: 1
Vassar: 1
Northeastern: 1
Chapman: 1
Kenyon: 1
Assuming you are identifying the bottom six as not "pretty decent." Wake, Colgate and Vassar are all excellent schools, particularly assuming those are kids well into the bottom half of their high school class. I hate Northeastern and how it is obsessive about gaming the system but for certain programs it is excellent and kids turn down elite options to go there. Chapman is underrated on the east coast. And Kenyon is fine. Stop being such a snob.
Thank you for clarifying. Sorry for being so harsh - my default based on most DCUM posters is that they are jerks so appreciate that you are not.
my spouse has done very well going to what many here would consider a so so school (a T50 school according to US News)!
Anonymous
05/14/2026 13:18
Subject: Class of '26 Instagram College Decisions
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The view of all these private schools filled with hooked kids is flawed. Some rich families, FGLI, POC, definitely there. But our experience leads us to believe that the number is much lower that the inflated percentage mentioned.
Looking at Spence for this year - 54 girls have public posts - my guess is that's around 85% of the class give or take.
The list is below. Taking out the HYP or bust mentality (which is silly) - it appears to me that 48/54 girls are going to a pretty decent school.
You are very generous with your views of a decent school. The discussion should also consider the alternative of attending a top public school instead. If Cornell and Columbia are easily achievable from public, why would anyone be impressed with Spence’s results.
PP here - you are very generous with you comment of "easily achievable" regarding Columbia and Cornell. I believe Columbia has a sub 5% acceptance rate.
what are some top public schools you are speaking about? The suburban schools like Manhasset, Summit, Rye? Or top city schools like BS, Stuy?
Stuy/BS are excellent free top public schools with very good outcomes - especially across board, including kids getting full rides to schools. It's just a different learning environment. Many of the kids there are impressive.
The suburban schools have okay results but it's extremely competitive. And for many living in the suburbs isn't what they want so it's not a realistic option.
At the end of the day, your child has to get into a school (if not going to the local suburban public school) and you have to decide if the financial cost is worth it to your family to send to a private school. If the Spence (or any other schools) exmissions don't impress you and the education isn't worth spending the $$, then go to the top public school. There are enough people willing to pay to to the TT schools in nyc.
Anonymous
05/14/2026 13:11
Subject: Class of '26 Instagram College Decisions
Anonymous wrote:I totally agree with you point and i should have pointed that out. I implied this with the HYP or bust comment but I should have been more specific. I can't speak to Kenyon or Chapman but Colgate and Vassar are good schools - maybe not T30 or whatever metric people use here. What I am saying is that the data shows matriculations are really good. If NE/WF are the "worst" schools a student gets into - that is a very impressive list.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The view of all these private schools filled with hooked kids is flawed. Some rich families, FGLI, POC, definitely there. But our experience leads us to believe that the number is much lower that the inflated percentage mentioned.
Looking at Spence for this year - 54 girls have public posts - my guess is that's around 85% of the class give or take.
The list is below. Taking out the HYP or bust mentality (which is silly) - it appears to me that 48/54 girls are going to a pretty decent school.
Penn: 6
Chicago: 5
Cornell: 5
Harvard: 4
Princeton: 4
Michigan: 4
Brown: 2
Columbia: 2
Williams: 2
WashU: 2
Berkeley: 2
Yale: 1
Dartmouth: 1
Northwestern: 1
Vanderbilt: 1
Emory: 1
Rice: 1
Tufts: 1
Wellesley: 1
Swarthmore: 1
Barnard: 1
Colgate: 1
Wake Forest: 1
Vassar: 1
Northeastern: 1
Chapman: 1
Kenyon: 1
Assuming you are identifying the bottom six as not "pretty decent." Wake, Colgate and Vassar are all excellent schools, particularly assuming those are kids well into the bottom half of their high school class. I hate Northeastern and how it is obsessive about gaming the system but for certain programs it is excellent and kids turn down elite options to go there. Chapman is underrated on the east coast. And Kenyon is fine. Stop being such a snob.
Thank you for clarifying. Sorry for being so harsh - my default based on most DCUM posters is that they are jerks so appreciate that you are not.
Anonymous
05/14/2026 13:05
Subject: Class of '26 Instagram College Decisions
I totally agree with you point and i should have pointed that out. I implied this with the HYP or bust comment but I should have been more specific. I can't speak to Kenyon or Chapman but Colgate and Vassar are good schools - maybe not T30 or whatever metric people use here. What I am saying is that the data shows matriculations are really good. If NE/WF are the "worst" schools a student gets into - that is a very impressive list.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The view of all these private schools filled with hooked kids is flawed. Some rich families, FGLI, POC, definitely there. But our experience leads us to believe that the number is much lower that the inflated percentage mentioned.
Looking at Spence for this year - 54 girls have public posts - my guess is that's around 85% of the class give or take.
The list is below. Taking out the HYP or bust mentality (which is silly) - it appears to me that 48/54 girls are going to a pretty decent school.
Penn: 6
Chicago: 5
Cornell: 5
Harvard: 4
Princeton: 4
Michigan: 4
Brown: 2
Columbia: 2
Williams: 2
WashU: 2
Berkeley: 2
Yale: 1
Dartmouth: 1
Northwestern: 1
Vanderbilt: 1
Emory: 1
Rice: 1
Tufts: 1
Wellesley: 1
Swarthmore: 1
Barnard: 1
Colgate: 1
Wake Forest: 1
Vassar: 1
Northeastern: 1
Chapman: 1
Kenyon: 1
Assuming you are identifying the bottom six as not "pretty decent." Wake, Colgate and Vassar are all excellent schools, particularly assuming those are kids well into the bottom half of their high school class. I hate Northeastern and how it is obsessive about gaming the system but for certain programs it is excellent and kids turn down elite options to go there. Chapman is underrated on the east coast. And Kenyon is fine. Stop being such a snob.
Anonymous
05/14/2026 13:03
Subject: Class of '26 Instagram College Decisions
Anonymous wrote:The view of all these private schools filled with hooked kids is flawed. Some rich families, FGLI, POC, definitely there. But our experience leads us to believe that the number is much lower that the inflated percentage mentioned.
Looking at Spence for this year - 54 girls have public posts - my guess is that's around 85% of the class give or take.
The list is below. Taking out the HYP or bust mentality (which is silly) - it appears to me that 48/54 girls are going to a pretty decent school.
You are very generous with your views of a decent school. The discussion should also consider the alternative of attending a top public school instead. If Cornell and Columbia are easily achievable from public, why would anyone be impressed with Spence’s results.
Anonymous
05/14/2026 12:55
Subject: Class of '26 Instagram College Decisions
I think most people here will agree that TT schools are great feeders for T20-T25 schools. It is specifically HYP admissions that are heavily influenced by other factors (hooks).
I also think TT school college counsellors are good at advising on ED strategies and can save families a lot of time and mental energy. It works even for FA students since many experienced counsellors can generally anticipate (within a small margin of error) what school can provide what kind of package.
I also think TT school college counsellors are good at advising on ED strategies and can save families a lot of time and mental energy. It works even for FA students since many experienced counsellors can generally anticipate (within a small margin of error) what school can provide what kind of package.