Anonymous wrote:So, while I may know nothing about the ten Sidwell kids going to Yale, you are never going to convince me that the majority did not have any kind of family connection or hook.

"Seldom right, but never in doubt"

Anonymous wrote:Our kids went to public schools but many, many of my colleagues send their kids to Sidwell, NCS, STA, GDS, etc. I know from who I know that many of the families attending these schools not only Ivy League legacies but are also extremely well connected. I have no doubt that these connections play a major role in the college admissions process. So, while I may know nothing about the ten Sidwell kids going to Yale, you are never going to convince me that the majority did not have any kind of family connection or hook.

As for those who lament the small number of public school graduates attending top colleges, the question is really "what is a top college?" There are many more top colleges than Harvard or Yale. Any school in the top 50 in US News provides a top notch education and opportunities of a lifetime. And what you'll find, as we have, is that 10 years after high school your Harvard classmate and your Maryland classmate are more likely than not to be doing the exactly same thing and making the same money.

Relax, everybody.

Thanks for keeping it in perspective.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a dumb thread. Yes, there are some schools that get some special attention because of their long history with certain schools (e.g. Exeter, Andover, St. Paul's, etc.)

But compared to a decade ago or much longer ago, there are no feeders anymore. The world is too big now and there are too many great candidates for any top school to have a handful of "go to" schools for applicants.

Some of that glow may be off St. Paul's now.

It is an embarrassing scandal, but they have long sent a ton of kids to the Ivies. One episode is not going to blacklist that school.

Do any of you have a good idea as to how many kids apply to the Ivies from boarding schools that are "feeders"? Me again here... All of them. As in all of them. Meaning all of them. Boarding school kids are urged to spread their bets and for the most part can afford the application fee. I had classmates apply to 25 colleges. The old strategy was the law of eighths. From a Deerfield apply to all 8 and have an expectancy of 1.

Consider for a moment that the same 30 or 40 kids from BCC or Whitman all applied to the 8 Ivies, and Stanford and Amherst and Williams. Count it up and kids settled and matriculated by one or a few at those colleges and it fills out that if you are a top student at a public, you're going somewhere good. Maybe not your choice but somewhere good. Also consider that my alma mater Deerfield would never publish these ratios, because people seeing it would react like these posters and I get that. If you saw that the Deefield applied to versus got into Amherst ratio was 75 to 5, would you be discouraged? Probably. If Deerfield just says 5 going to a school that is near impossible to get into, you'd likely be impressed. Again, the numbers can dance when presented differently. Do the Sidwell posters here have te published data on how many kids applied versus got in for these selective colleges? I really doubt Sidwell would furnish that and I would understand why that is.

Our kids went to public schools but many, many of my colleagues send their kids to Sidwell, NCS, STA, GDS, etc. I know from who I know that many of the families attending these schools not only Ivy League legacies but are also extremely well connected. I have no doubt that these connections play a major role in the college admissions process. So, while I may know nothing about the ten Sidwell kids going to Yale, you are never going to convince me that the majority did not have any kind of family connection or hook.

As for those who lament the small number of public school graduates attending top colleges, the question is really "what is a top college?" There are many more top colleges than Harvard or Yale. Any school in the top 50 in US News provides a top notch education and opportunities of a lifetime. And what you'll find, as we have, is that 10 years after high school your Harvard classmate and your Maryland classmate are more likely than not to be doing the exactly same thing and making the same money.

Relax, everybody.

Anonymous wrote:Yes. The stats in Bethesda Magazine, from what are considered among some of the best public high schools around, are very sobering.

Bethesda Magazine chart - http://bethesdamagazine.com/College_Chart.pdf These are acceptances, not attendees, so the numbers are probably inflated a little since most of the top students probably were admitted to several top colleges.

Come on, is a kid posting some of this. Sorry my "facts" weren't comments on other blog threads.

Yes. The stats in Bethesda Magazine, from what are considered among some of the best public high schools around, are very sobering.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Better to be a very top student at a public than in a herd of strong applicants at a prep now. If you consider how small the classes are at Harvard and Yale, next consider 15% is spoken for by international students. Then there are regional quotas to consider all over the U.S. There aren't 150-200 acceptances going to DMV area kids, not nearly. Schools don't get imbalanced preferences, even if they are well regarded preps. I true irony now

I thought so too but then I looked at the college chart in Bethesda magazine which showed #applied/#accepted to colleges from MoCo schools. Not impressive for the most elite universities. Whitman was especially surprising. Maybe true for DC high schools.

Agree. I found that Bethesda Mag chart very eye-opening. I think many people here over-estimate the number of kids being admitted to top colleges.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would wager that if Sidwell got 10 headed to Yale, then 7-8 of those have a reason more than academic record or Sidwell name for it happening. I give Sidwell or any fine DC prep 2-3 per year without the factors that have absolutely nothing to do with how great the prep school is attached to making the number higher. In reality Sidwell doesn't explain 10, something else that most students at Sidwell can't obtain does...well heeled multi generation and sibling legacy family is most prominent of these.

While we all hate for the facts to get in the way of a good story, I'm not sure your narrative checks out here. Some parents who know the 10 Yale kids posted in the spring in response to comments like yours that were discounting these kids. IIRC only a few had any legacy or athlete connections. My memory might be faulty, but I'm pretty sure I'm correct about this. I'm sure you can find those posts pretty easily if you search the archive.

Well, of course a personal attack was only minutes away. I'm sure you've vetted all ten kids and families and this is all my failed effort to undermine how fabulously feeder schools really work and that if you aren't in that system all is doomed. You sound like the guy at the reunion cocktail parties who is ready to correct me about where I went to school because he knows better.

Put your gun back in the holster, Tex. My post wasn't a personal attack on you or anyone (which is especially ironic in light of your own bizarre attack post). I was just pointing out that your effort to link the Yale admits to legacy preference has already been discussed ad nauseam several month ago. I even acknowledged my recollection might be faulty. I haven't "vetted" anyone, I don't know any of the Yale students, and I don't particularly care what you think of feeder schools. I was just saying you ought to check your facts before you discount the successes of these kids. Consider decaf in the afternoons.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It varies year to year. This year Sidwell is sending 10 to Yale. Next year it may be one or two. All the top schools are like this. I really can't believe anyone thinks there is a feeder school anymore.

I call BS. NCS had 76 graduates this year. No way that 10 of them went to Yale. Sorry.

Sorry for jumping the gun -- now seeing it was Sidwell with the ten. Makes more sense. Still, that means the vast majority even at Sidwell are not Yale (or Harvard) bound.

Anonymous wrote:It varies year to year. This year Sidwell is sending 10 to Yale. Next year it may be one or two. All the top schools are like this. I really can't believe anyone thinks there is a feeder school anymore.

I call BS. NCS had 76 graduates this year. No way that 10 of them went to Yale. Sorry.

The classmates I mentioned who took up 7 of 8 Harvards from my class were not kids who would have failed to get into another great school. That isn't the point at all. Be point is those 7 were pretty much done deals at Harvard before the applications were in, we all knew that and we all understood exactly why. The point is that for other kids in my class the page turned to getting excited about Columbia, Dartmouth, Brown, Georgetown, etc. Not bad outcomes, but we all knew that we were smoked out of Harvard because of old money legacies. That said, this was more than 20 years ago. Maybe that means somewhat less today but I have a hard time believing that.

Anonymous wrote:Better to be a very top student at a public than in a herd of strong applicants at a prep now. If you consider how small the classes are at Harvard and Yale, next consider 15% is spoken for by international students. Then there are regional quotas to consider all over the U.S. There aren't 150-200 acceptances going to DMV area kids, not nearly. Schools don't get imbalanced preferences, even if they are well regarded preps. I true irony now

I thought so too but then I looked at the college chart in Bethesda magazine which showed #applied/#accepted to colleges from MoCo schools. Not impressive for the most elite universities. Whitman was especially surprising. Maybe true for DC high schools.

Anonymous wrote:I guess the "test" to see if a legacy kid got into an Ivy on their own merits is if they get into multiple Ivies/Stanford/MIT even ones where they have no "hook".

Many of these legacies get into multiple top schools. Excellent candidates are excellent candidates.

Thank you proud parent.