<p>What do your public schools do after the decisions come in? Our school has seen a drop off of very qualified students getting into the most competitive schools. Until the last 3-4 years high school routinely had 10-15 students every year being admitted to Ivy/top ranked undergrad colleges. That number is now down to 2-5 (including recruited athletes).
Are other public high schools experiencing the same thing? Is there data (state or otherwise) on these admittance rates?
Do your guidance office followup to see what school or applicant could do better to gain an acceptance. I do realize application are up but too bad that our school is seeing so few of top students get admitted.
I do hear that the private preps still have solid admittance numbers and often student stats are not nearly as good.
What should/could these public schools be doing?</p>
<p>It has been a while but in our situation all graduating seniors need to complete a form for guidance with their acceptances, waitlists and rejections as well as their final decision and reasons for decisions. This helps the guidance department to assess which colleges our high school does well with in terms of acceptances overall as well as rejections. With rejections they can better plan for the future… are too many students selecting reach schools because they can easily do so… or did guidance not offer them enough more realistic options or if going on to pay collegiate level sports, were they given appropriate guidance for the right schools? Some of it will come down every year to the particular strength/weakness of that senior class. It you have a year with many exceptionally bright and talented students including Intel finalists, NMF, Presidential Scholars, Coca-Cola scholars and so on, you have to assume you will have some solid acceptances and if your school does not offer a graduating class with many students with outstanding credentials, the opposite. We had a year at our high school with 4 Princeton admits from a very strong graduating class the year ahead of my d. The following year we had a graduating class with all of the above (Intel, Presidential Scholars, Coca-Cola, NMF)and we had zero Princeton admits but many other Ivies and strong acceptances. </p>
<p>You know, at my kids’ public high school, there are close to 400 kids per counselor. I don’t there’s much follow up at all into why Billy or Susie didn’t get into a Harvard. There are kids each year who are NMFs and who get into Ivies and other high stats colleges, but there are many more who need help to keep making high school work. I live in a community that recoils at every mention of a tax increase. My feeling is if we’re not willing to pay for more services, we do the best we can with what we have. Making sure kids can stay in high school is more important than figuring out why admittance to top schools is down. Just the reality in my neck of the woods. </p>
<p>“Do your guidance office followup to see what school or applicant could do better to gain an acceptance.”</p>
<p>If you want your schools to do this, it’s important for the schools to spend money on professional development for your guidance counselors. I attend lots of conferences and counselor campus events where I meet and learn from fellow counselors as well as university admissions officers. I see a disproportionate number of independent counselors and GCs from private schools at these events, with a lower number coming from public schools. The public schools won’t pay for it, and heaven knows these underpaid public servants are not paying their own way. There’s no substitute for building relationships with the decision-makers at the schools your students want to attend. That’s how you learn how THEIR readers think. I’m not talking about using connections to push a favored candidate in; I’m talking about building connections to get an INFORMATION edge.</p>
<p>Run for school board in your district, or attend the meetings and let them know this is a priority for you as a taxpayer and a parent.</p>
<p>Our HS hired a college counselor a few years ago and she has been great helping the kids, trying to establish contacts in admissions offices, etc, but not Ivy league schools. The only Ivy kids from here get into regularly is Cornell. I think there was an ED admit to Penn 6 years ago. My D was the first ever to apply to several of the highly selective LACs last year. I don’t think follow-up for the few who don’t get into Ivy league schools is a priority.</p>
<p>Hanna for president- or at least Schools Superintendent!!!</p>