College admissions for Westlake Academy (Austin, Stamford: public schools, university, law)

[Aisha2022]

Hello! I would love to get some information about college placements for Westlake Academy in recent years. Specifically, where do graduates attend college? What percent of the graduating class goes to selective colleges such as Duke, Vandy, UT Austin, NYU, Ivies etc. Is the school even on the radar of admissions folks at these colleges? I understand not everybody wants to attend or pay for these colleges. Thanks.

[Wittgenstein's Ghost]

Originally Posted by Aisha2022

Hello! I would love to get some information about college placements for Westlake Academy in recent years. Specifically, where do graduates attend college? What percent of the graduating class goes to selective colleges such as Duke, Vandy, UT Austin, NYU, Ivies etc. Is the school even on the radar of admissions folks at these colleges? I understand not everybody wants to attend or pay for these colleges. Thanks.

I don't have any specific information for you on Westlake's placements, but I think you're overstating the effect of specific high schools on college placement. Students who excel at most competitive high schools in DFW and have stellar test scores and extra c's will be competitive. To some extent the Ivies are a crapshoot once you're at that level, and Texas in general is probably underrepresented. But I don't think a kid at Westlake would have significantly different odds than a kid at a similarly strong high school in the DFW suburbs.

[20Hope20]

https://amp.star-telegram.com/news/l...231451748.html


"Notable schools (less than 25 percent acceptance rate) that admitted 2019 graduates include Brown, Cornell, Georgia Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins, New York University, Northwestern, Princeton, Rice, UCLA, University of Chicago, USC, Vanderbilt, and Yale."

[arkroyal2223]

https://resources.finalsite.net/imag...23wHeader1.pdf

Here is their college profile with college admissions over the past decade+. Seems like all the big boys are represented on that list

[platon20]

I only care how many kids they put into Harvard. Everything else means nothing.

[aggie972]

Originally Posted by Wittgenstein's Ghost

I don't have any specific information for you on Westlake's placements, but I think you're overstating the effect of specific high schools on college placement. Students who excel at most competitive high schools in DFW and have stellar test scores and extra c's will be competitive. To some extent the Ivies are a crapshoot once you're at that level, and Texas in general is probably underrepresented. But I don't think a kid at Westlake would have significantly different odds than a kid at a similarly strong high school in the DFW suburbs.

Other posters on this board have indicated to the contrary in the past. Their belief was that the most elite prep schools had college counselors that had strong working relationships with admissions officers at the top colleges. The admissions officers at these top colleges trusted specific college counselors to recommend kids that would be a great fit for the college, so the recommendations of those counselors carried some extra weight over recommendations from other high schools.

[debtex]

Insider tip: Many of these schools have a ”hype” page on Instagram for college admissions. For this one for example, if you search for the name of the school and the graduating class (23) you will find their page. Found this one on the first try...

[Wittgenstein's Ghost]

Originally Posted by aggie972

Other posters on this board have indicated to the contrary in the past. Their belief was that the most elite prep schools had college counselors that had strong working relationships with admissions officers at the top colleges. The admissions officers at these top colleges trusted specific college counselors to recommend kids that would be a great fit for the college, so the recommendations of those counselors carried some extra weight over recommendations from other high schools.

I'm more than skeptical. If we're talking St. Mark's or similar, maybe (at least to some extent). But assuming we are talking about public schools, I really doubt this.

Parents often have all sorts of crazy ideas about college admissions. I hear them almost daily. There's sometimes a nugget of truth in there, but not always.

[TeamLynn]

This is entertaining.....to think any high school counselor around here has pull to get your even moderately successful child into a Top 20 institution is likely a myth. There's probably a better chance of finding a pay for play situation (but you risk going to jail.) Might even be a good idea to endow a professorship to up your chances, or donate a building. Unless there is just some unusual connection (like their brother or college roommate) is the counselor and can shift thru the apps to move it to the review stage. Then again that's all a roll of the dice. What if the brother in law is the counselor at Brown, but you and your kids choice is Stamford....or if you kid's goal is to study nuclear engineering...and the best option is becoming an Aggie.
As far as admissions go, I would also wonder if it is not better to put a smart motivated kid in a bad school. Coach them to be the validictorian, vs #55 in a class of 100 super achievers. Think of the recommendation letters they'd get in the bad school vs being average in the great school?

https://www.insidehighered.com/admis...luence-opinion

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by platon20

I only care how many kids they put into Harvard. Everything else means nothing.

For me is it's The US Astronaut Academy or it's all been for nothing.