Anonymous wrote:Are you seeing a ton - more than usual - deferrals if top/competitive candidates in ED/EA than in the past year or two?

What are the private CCO advising as to strategy?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have kids at two Big3 schools and what I've been hearing is that the kids getting in are the top kids 3.95+ and the kids aiming outright for less competitive schools (say, Syracuse, South Carolina, Colorado, second tier liberal arts colleges etc).
The instagrams look great but what you're seeing are the athletic recruits, 3.95+ kids, and some legacies (mostly VIP legacies).
It's the middle (say 3.6 to 3.9) that are just getting deferred or denied. This is worrisome because this is a big part of each class.

Lots of deferrals from 3.75-3.9
That in previous years would have been admits.

Anonymous wrote:Sure - but being a top student isn't enough these days - so it's the legacy that's pushing them over the line. There are far more qualified students than there are spots. I wish legacy families wouldn't push back on this constantly. Just own the fact that they had a hook. It doesn't make them less qualified (same with URM) - it just means it helped them rise to the top of a huge pile of "top students".

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Nope this is what we have seen so far. The schools that have done well for non legacy or donor or athletes so far have been the less recognized privates. I think those schools have a different attitude for admissions because they have always had to market their kids and their school.

You know the legacy and donor status for kids at all these schools? Amazing talent.

I'm not the PP - but kids talk and so do parents. I learned far more about the make up our our DC's Big3 class between Dec-June of Senior year than I did between 9th grade and Fall of 12th. I am not one to care about who is a VIP or a legacy etc. But when admissions start to come out - it becomes very clear.

Yep. 95% of the senior kids know each other very well and they figure these things out when admissions start cranking out. Maybe 5% of the class rides under the radar and it's less clear but in general these aren't the kids going to top schools anyway (because the kids going to top schools are usually the ones who do a lot of activities at school.) Remember, these classes are small--at some schools they're 70 kids and many have been in class together since they were 4 years old!
My son is only a junior but goes to school sports practice every day for 2 hours. He knows who is going where next year and why they got admitted--because the seniors on his team all chat while working out. My son knows who is considered to be super smart, who is legacy, etc. He's not even on social media and isn't even friends with these kids but it swirls around him daily.

Maybe you know who gets in where at your school. But to know their legacy status? And then to know this not just about your school but another half dozen schools in DC? Like I said, just an amazing talent.

Anonymous wrote:Most legacies nowadays are also top students-so you can’t write their admit off just because they are legacy.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That really stinks. Sorry to hear that. They are being punished for being wealthy. But the education they received will make it ok in the long run. Plus they can still get into a prestigious graduate school

I agree. The private school kids in this area have very high SAT and ACT scores and colleges are not even taking that into account. I think there will be backlash when they start to see a difference in the kind of work the kids they are admitting are tuning in. There is a distinct difference in writing and other skills.

This doesn't quite make sense. Submit that high scores, that is great.

But your private school kid likely has a lower GPA than others with weighted scores based on 12 plus APs, etc. And then these kids do NOT submit test scores.

So the lower GPAs are killing the private school kids, esp with so many applications. If your school says "well they know our school is more rigorous," you should laugh in their faces.

But the private school SAT and ACT averages are out of the park high. Cathedral school averages are close to 1500 and I am sure same for GDS and Sidwell. Why shouldn't this be a factor in admissions? It should.

Anonymous wrote:Are you seeing a ton - more than usual - deferrals if top/competitive candidates in ED/EA than in the past year or two?

What are the private CCO advising as to strategy?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nope this is what we have seen so far. The schools that have done well for non legacy or donor or athletes so far have been the less recognized privates. I think those schools have a different attitude for admissions because they have always had to market their kids and their school.

You know the legacy and donor status for kids at all these schools? Amazing talent.

I'm not the PP - but kids talk and so do parents. I learned far more about the make up our our DC's Big3 class between Dec-June of Senior year than I did between 9th grade and Fall of 12th. I am not one to care about who is a VIP or a legacy etc. But when admissions start to come out - it becomes very clear.

Yep. 95% of the senior kids know each other very well and they figure these things out when admissions start cranking out. Maybe 5% of the class rides under the radar and it's less clear but in general these aren't the kids going to top schools anyway (because the kids going to top schools are usually the ones who do a lot of activities at school.) Remember, these classes are small--at some schools they're 70 kids and many have been in class together since they were 4 years old!
My son is only a junior but goes to school sports practice every day for 2 hours. He knows who is going where next year and why they got admitted--because the seniors on his team all chat while working out. My son knows who is considered to be super smart, who is legacy, etc. He's not even on social media and isn't even friends with these kids but it swirls around him daily.

Maybe you know who gets in where at your school. But to know their legacy status? And then to know this not just about your school but another half dozen schools in DC? Like I said, just an amazing talent.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That really stinks. Sorry to hear that. They are being punished for being wealthy. But the education they received will make it ok in the long run. Plus they can still get into a prestigious graduate school

I agree. The private school kids in this area have very high SAT and ACT scores and colleges are not even taking that into account. I think there will be backlash when they start to see a difference in the kind of work the kids they are admitting are tuning in. There is a distinct difference in writing and other skills.

This doesn't quite make sense. Submit that high scores, that is great.

But your private school kid likely has a lower GPA than others with weighted scores based on 12 plus APs, etc. And then these kids do NOT submit test scores.

So the lower GPAs are killing the private school kids, esp with so many applications. If your school says "well they know our school is more rigorous," you should laugh in their faces.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nope this is what we have seen so far. The schools that have done well for non legacy or donor or athletes so far have been the less recognized privates. I think those schools have a different attitude for admissions because they have always had to market their kids and their school.

You know the legacy and donor status for kids at all these schools? Amazing talent.

I'm not the PP - but kids talk and so do parents. I learned far more about the make up our our DC's Big3 class between Dec-June of Senior year than I did between 9th grade and Fall of 12th. I am not one to care about who is a VIP or a legacy etc. But when admissions start to come out - it becomes very clear.

Yep. 95% of the senior kids know each other very well and they figure these things out when admissions start cranking out. Maybe 5% of the class rides under the radar and it's less clear but in general these aren't the kids going to top schools anyway (because the kids going to top schools are usually the ones who do a lot of activities at school.) Remember, these classes are small--at some schools they're 70 kids and many have been in class together since they were 4 years old!
My son is only a junior but goes to school sports practice every day for 2 hours. He knows who is going where next year and why they got admitted--because the seniors on his team all chat while working out. My son knows who is considered to be super smart, who is legacy, etc. He's not even on social media and isn't even friends with these kids but it swirls around him daily.

Maybe you know who gets in where at your school. But to know their legacy status? And then to know this not just about your school but another half dozen schools in DC? Like I said, just an amazing talent.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nope this is what we have seen so far. The schools that have done well for non legacy or donor or athletes so far have been the less recognized privates. I think those schools have a different attitude for admissions because they have always had to market their kids and their school.

You know the legacy and donor status for kids at all these schools? Amazing talent.

I'm not the PP - but kids talk and so do parents. I learned far more about the make up our our DC's Big3 class between Dec-June of Senior year than I did between 9th grade and Fall of 12th. I am not one to care about who is a VIP or a legacy etc. But when admissions start to come out - it becomes very clear.

Yep. 95% of the senior kids know each other very well and they figure these things out when admissions start cranking out. Maybe 5% of the class rides under the radar and it's less clear but in general these aren't the kids going to top schools anyway (because the kids going to top schools are usually the ones who do a lot of activities at school.) Remember, these classes are small--at some schools they're 70 kids and many have been in class together since they were 4 years old!
My son is only a junior but goes to school sports practice every day for 2 hours. He knows who is going where next year and why they got admitted--because the seniors on his team all chat while working out. My son knows who is considered to be super smart, who is legacy, etc. He's not even on social media and isn't even friends with these kids but it swirls around him daily.