Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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Exactly. And as you said, they transfer in with much less effort expended doing the work at community college/other state school than it would have taken in high school.
But, they don't get that freshman experience at UNC that is the crux and foundation of a Carolina education.
Curious if anyone thinks that private schools enables a better chance for competitive university admittance - ie due to a more rigorous curriculum. Our kids have several peers going this route, not necessarily for this reason and mostly Thales, but we’re not convinced it will really move the needle in the end.
To a certain extent I would say yes. I actually had one professor at PENN insinuate that having a private school pedigree was "desired" for students entering PENN. Made me feel very insecure with my JoCo public school education, eventhough I had excellent grades.
On the other hand, not all private schools are equal, as we all know. They would probably consider an education from schools like Ravenscroft or Cary Academy as better preparation than certain other private schools in the area.
Since these schools get sooooo many applications from students that have 4.5-5.0 GPAs, 1500-1600 SAT scores, and boatloads of extracurricular activities to boot, they essentially need ways to distinguish one applicant from another. I would say that all top schools look for one common thing...evidence that the applicant has the ability to think outside the box.
Last edited by uncchgrad; 07-21-2021 at 10:21 PM..
Curious if anyone thinks that private schools enables a better chance for competitive university admittance - ie due to a more rigorous curriculum. Our kids have several peers going this route, not necessarily for this reason and mostly Thales, but we’re not convinced it will really move the needle in the end.
All private schools have colleges that they are “feeders” to. Thales is likely not well established enough to be in that position yet. I believe having gone to Gibbons helped my son get into State but if you’re talking about schools like Ivies then no I don’t think so. In fact so few kids go to private colleges from public high schools around here that I think just being from NC is an advantage in a lot of cases. We’ve all heard the story of the girl from Panther Creek who didn’t get into UNC a few years ago but got into Harvard.
Curious if anyone thinks that private schools enables a better chance for competitive university admittance - ie due to a more rigorous curriculum. Our kids have several peers going this route, not necessarily for this reason and mostly Thales, but we’re not convinced it will really move the needle in the end.
My guess is not really, maybe the top 2 or 3 in area. We were enrolled in a private that was not one of those and I actually think it would have been a negative in our case. He got into a charter we wanted and we backed out. At the private he was forced to take a freshman seminar, theology and PE whereas at the charter he doubled up in science and took an enriched history course in place of those. More freedom which we liked. We came from a K-8 private, most choose for the perceived bubble more than anything. The private is a fine school, just not the best choice for my kid, it would have held him back.
The extra curriculurs will help a great deal. My son got into UNC 2 years ago with a 4.5 GPA, 1500 SAT, 10 APs but few extras besides a varsity sport (and his parents being alumns).
Legacy status only applies if you are out of state applicants.
I thought most Ivy League schools only accepted one or two students a year from a single school. Wouldn't attending a school like Enloe or Raleigh Charter put you at a disadvantage?
I thought most Ivy League schools only accepted one or two students a year from a single school. Wouldn't attending a school like Enloe or Raleigh Charter put you at a disadvantage?
I thought through this when we were deciding. I was possibly putting my kid at a disadvantage going to RC, but I knew without question he would be more challenged and come out smarter than our other options. The likelihood of Ivy outcome at any school is so slim that it seemed silly to make a decision based on this. Not sure what others think, but that was my logic.
There are 8 Ivies even if they each accept 1 kid per high school that’s 8 kids…add to that their own competitive criteria that’s plenty of opportunity at most high schools. Again many kids and parents think stellar grades are enough for an Ivy and that’s not close to the truth.
There are 8 Ivies even if they each accept 1 kid per high school that’s 8 kids…
But they definitely don't accept 1 kid per high school. There are more high schools in the US than there are first year students in all the Ivy League schools put together.
There are plenty of other excellent schools out there that are not in the Ivy League like UNC, Duke, Stanford, MIT, U-Chicago, Berkeley, Vanderbilt, GA Tech, etc. It would be a shame to limit your child to only the Ivies. Another school might be a better fit.
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