My take on this is that high-end independent schools has a pretty good outing this year, which actually kind of surprised me. I thought all of the uncertainty re: affirmative action and test optional was going to cut the other way. In general, I think that most students take a small hit by going private, and they would actually do slightly better coming from most public schools if you are solely concerned with optimizing college prospects.

Having been through the process with one and starting with the second child at a private school, I can tell you that their chances of admission is contingent on them, their grades, test scores, etc. However the biggest advantage in private school in our experience is the counseling department. Much more attention given to your child and stronger advocacy. You can rely better on them for strong rec letters as well. My first got into a top 20 with no hooks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It amuses me when people post about the Big 3 here in the DMV. What they perhaps don't realize is how many *better* private schools are out there. If you really want to give your kid an edge, then shell out for those schools, whether by sending your kid to boarding school or moving.

The highest-ranked DMV school on the Polaris List, for example, is GDS at 37. It's not a perfect list but it's at least based on real data.

https://polarislist.com/best-private-high-schools-in-america

Why did you post this link? This is a terrible ranking system. This data is from 2019 and 2020, and it only tracks results from 3 colleges: Harvard, Princeton and MIT.

This list also does not seem to adjust for class size. Some schools have 300 kids in a class and others have 50.

Anonymous wrote:It amuses me when people post about the Big 3 here in the DMV. What they perhaps don't realize is how many *better* private schools are out there. If you really want to give your kid an edge, then shell out for those schools, whether by sending your kid to boarding school or moving.

The highest-ranked DMV school on the Polaris List, for example, is GDS at 37. It's not a perfect list but it's at least based on real data.

https://polarislist.com/best-private-high-schools-in-america

And 3 area publics (TJ, Blair and RM) rank above GDS on this list if you toggle to public plus private.

Anonymous wrote:Private school helps if you want to end up at private college , esp mid range (eg Tulane, BU, Emory etc)
Private school does not help if you want to get into tippy top (unless your kid is #1-#5 at the school). If your kid is #20, they will discourage you from applying to HYPSM because it might hurt the top kids chances.

Public school is great if your kid would otherwise be upper middle of the road at private but can be the top in the public.

Nothing mid range about Emory or any T25 school. Tulane is barely T100 at the point, nice try tho.

Anonymous wrote:It amuses me when people post about the Big 3 here in the DMV. What they perhaps don't realize is how many *better* private schools are out there. If you really want to give your kid an edge, then shell out for those schools, whether by sending your kid to boarding school or moving.

The highest-ranked DMV school on the Polaris List, for example, is GDS at 37. It's not a perfect list but it's at least based on real data.

https://polarislist.com/best-private-high-schools-in-america

Why did you post this link? This is a terrible ranking system. This data is from 2019 and 2020, and it only tracks results from 3 colleges: Harvard, Princeton and MIT.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A B+ student at a private has a much better option than a B+ student from a public.

This.
Every day.
X10.

The debate is not about the 3.95uw student. It’s about kids in the 3.4-3.7uw range.

<yawn> you guys are truly ble$$ed.

Anonymous wrote:A B+ student at a private has a much better option than a B+ student from a public.

This.
Every day.
X10.

The debate is not about the 3.95uw student. It’s about kids in the 3.4-3.7uw range.

no but attending a private school is a nicer experience! like flying business or first class versus coach. you still get to the same destination, but the ride is more enjoyable.

My son is in a private HS. We enrolled him for the smaller classes, closer relationship with teachers and more innovative curriculum. It's been a home run on all those fronts, but I wouldn't recommend to do it based on college matriculation alone.

Most of the parents we're in private school community with bring advantages to the school with them: they're legacies at top 30 schools and very wealthy with a lot of resources to push their children in terms of experiences and support. I think that skews the results.

Anonymous wrote:Hard no. Publics have it easier because its easier to get the stats needed to succeed. A 3.9 might be top 10 at a public but not even top 25 at a private.

Colleges do not compare private school kids against public school kids. It is not the way the systems works. They look at the stats for that school not a certain number.

A B+ student at a private has a much better option than a B+ student from a public.

Anonymous wrote:If you’re a T50 alum and your child is competing with five other legacies in generic private versus zero legacies in generic public, then I believe your chances are better in public.

Except there is not zero legacies in the W schools or McLean, etc… you’ll find just as many hooked kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly it depends on your kid’s stats. What are the target types of schools based on gpa/stats/profile.


But imo yes, it does help. My kid w/ a 3.8 unweighted GPA at a non-DMV private got into colleges (including Ivy) that he wouldn’t have gotten into at a public. Maybe his GPA would’ve been higher at the public, but there’s no way he could’ve stood out.

Search for a thread here with 3.8 GDS in title…

His unweighted GPA would not have been higher at a good DMV public with the highest level of rigor available to him. Please stop the nonsense.

How do you know he would not have gotten into similar schools from public? I'm not saying you are wrong but it's just not so clear to me. I have a high stats kid who went to public and got into top schools; suspect he would have gotten into the same kind of schools if he went to private.

It amuses me when people post about the Big 3 here in the DMV. What they perhaps don't realize is how many *better* private schools are out there. If you really want to give your kid an edge, then shell out for those schools, whether by sending your kid to boarding school or moving.

The highest-ranked DMV school on the Polaris List, for example, is GDS at 37. It's not a perfect list but it's at least based on real data.

https://polarislist.com/best-private-high-schools-in-america