Ahhhhhh.
I forgot to factor in the nobles parent. They are quite a force. Sometimes need to move away from them at games because they are so unpleasant.
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Plus a seemingly very athletic focus. Perhaps higher percentage of recruitable kids?
One other thing to consider about Nobles is, in order to pinpoint kids, they might allow kids to apply only to those schools which THEY believe are likely to accept them. Limiting the number of highly recommended applicants to a specific college is one way to control acceptances. This has been talked about but cannot really be proven. Do you want your kid at any school where they cannot apply to a college they love and for which they are stat-wise āin the runningā because someone wealthier, more connected etc is in line in front of them. So is the guidance office really doing an awesome job, or is the guidance counseling dept sending along highly qualified full pay candidates who have expressed deep interest with a connection? This makes things easier for the colleges ( yield) and Nobles ( work).
Nobles is a very solid school. That said, many people have houses in the 3+ million plus range in these neighborhoods. And many of these folks are Ivy legacies. That impacts admissions. They are known for not offering large FA or having a diverse student body. So the playing field might not be equal even if it appears to be.
Donāt know much about parents and pressure. We do know two nice Nobles families (one is legacy) the other very connected. I would not want my kids behind theirs come application time ( even with stronger stats).
This happens at a lot of BS, according to what I have heard. Hearsay yes, but must be some basis in fact. We talked with other parents about schools and how the college process went before making a final decision. We heard several schools have a limited pool for the Ivies. Anyone with older kids have real experiences where your kid was qualified but last in line at any school?
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Our sonās CC was quite upfront about a couple of schools on his initial list that were in stat range but not acceptance range due to the applicant pool from his BS that year. He was welcome to apply (no control over that), but the school would not actively advocate for him at those colleges. Good to know, avoided wasted app fees. The civilian list the CC and our son crafted was still an impressive cohort and perfectly targeted for acceptances, no disappointments.
He was not ālast in lineā at those other schools, just less competitive than some of his peers that round for whatever reasons, so the BS would not expend their advocacy capital on him at those colleges. Why should they? There were two other colleges on his list where HE was the applicant to beat, so it wasnāt all one-sided.
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I think the point being made is that if schools are advocating for kids because of family power that is not fair to other kids. (Thatās what I took from @Happytimes2001 post). Thatās different from better qualified candidates at the same school. Thatās the price you pay for going to a top BS, youāre less likely to be the best applicant.
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No issue at all with advocacy based on meritocracy. Serious issues with restricting access based on other factors like parental donors.
@ChoatieMom Iād imagine your son was strong on nearly every list based on where he landed and the meritocracy involved in the selection.
Well, I didnāt say āacademic strengthā of the applicant pool, just āless competitive than some of his peers that round for whatever reasons.ā 
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There is zero chance this is happening at a school like Nobles. Their families are simply not going to be told they canāt apply to a school their child loves. And no school is going to fight that battle. Now they will make recommendations, and will try to get people to have reasonable reaches for the ED/REA round at least. So they will absolutely tell you that the Yale REA pool is very strong with legacies/superstars/ otherwise hooked candidates this year and that if you ED Penn instead (another school high on your list) your chances would be a lot better, and they would be in a better position to advocate for you. And some people will go with the recommendation, and some will not. And while CC people have experience and generally will increase your odds there is no guarantee either way. There are people who follow CC advice and still donāt get one of the top choices. And there are people who donāt and get their top choice, too. It is not perfect science, and CC office does not have as much power as people think it does. By and large it is the colleges calling all the shots and taking the kids they want. We some kids everyone believed were shoo-ins who did not get in, and some kids got into amazing schools unexpectedly.
I think CC office understands the application pool from your school which is a useful part of the picture but they do not know how the outside picture looks like, nor do they know which college shifted their focus and is looking for something different this year. So if you are unhooked applicant it is a crapshoot regardless and no decent CC will prevent you from having some high reaches on your list as long as the rest of your list is balanced and you have some targets you will get into. So if your heart is set on Harvard you will likely be told it is very unlikely but they arenāt going to tell you that you cannot apply. And one friend of DD did get in completely unexpectedly in RD, after being deferred from quite a bit less competitive school recommended by CC office. I donāt think the issue with applying from a BS is the CC trying to foil you, it is the highly competitive application pool with a lot of hooked candidates, and the fact that colleges read applications by HS so you will be compared to your classmates first, and if you cannot stand out somehow your application will go nowhere. But competitive public high schools or private day schools have very similar issue. Thatās why some people say moving to South Dakota and go to HS in the middle of nowhere is the best way to get good college outcome.
Our experience with college counseling was pretty neutral. PEA never advised our kids against applying to any college. But they also never implied they had any insights about our kids competitiveness vs peers. Like zero discussion about this.
Funny enough- our youngest daughters college counselor encouraged her to add some ivies to her list- if she was interested as she was a competitive applicant and had shortchanged herself.
@417WHB Point of view. I didnāt mean to imply that they wonāt ALLOW it. Just meant that some schools will not wholly support all kids for every school.
Try competing against someone in the highly recommended/best category. That would be tough. You know the one where the category is best I have ever had in my teaching career against general this kid is solid. I donāt know exactly what takes place at Nobles nor does anyone. But having a type A parent who will apply without CC support doesnāt mean that kid has an advantage, IMO . There are only so many kids top schools will take. Some are going to be a given sports ( for example) and legacy helps ( a lot according to the Harvard lawsuit).
Doesnāt make the playing field level even if everyone sends in the same application. Kids can ALWAYS apply to any school. But supported candidates IMO have a solid advantage. Not always going to get them in, but good to have.
I think a college counselor who will be honest with a student/family about chances in general and vis-a-vis fellow students at the school are doing a valuable favor. My kidsā school let students apply wherever they desired but they were also good at giving informed assessments.
@doschicos Agree. Hard when there is a true mismatch between kid & CC. Usually, the CC knows best. But sometimes kids/parents donāt want to listen or they really want that school in the mix.
Best if CC is like yours, gives assessments then steps out of the final decision.
After reading through old posts, it is worth pointing out that Boston area private school admissions seems to be evolving. Any thoughts? Some schools that use to be competitive, seem to have gotten even more competitive. A number of schools have made big moves academically and athletically. Only a few may have cooled off.
Any observations based on this year? One might call itā¦ the year of the waitlist.
All can be pretty tough. Some of the most difficult to get into are located in suburbs where the $ isnāt as much of an issue.
Thereās a lot of schools so maybe you should ask about specific ones. Some are relatively easy and many are not.
The Boston area has a lot of high income folks who value education. So you are also competing against legacies and high demand.
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Sorry, I am not askingā¦ I follow the market quite closely. Just thought this thread deserves an update. Trends have changed things to some extent. Even some of the points made as recently as last year are no longer valid IMO.
Applications up 25%-50% at the day schools - BB&N, Nobles, Rox Latin and Rivers. Rivers, the biggest moving school over the last 5 years. Went from being slightly competitive to on fire. Just heard of a Nobles admit Rivers Waitlist and a Windsor admit and a Rivers Waitlist.
and lots of Belmont Hill admits and Rivers Waitlist/Rejections.
Interesting. Rivers was working hard to build out their sports teams 5-6 years ago. Maybe that started to click. They were also a safety for kids applying to BBN/Nobles etc. They have a nice campus and lots of arts.
Belmont Hill has always been tough.
I bet what you are seeing is a short-term Covid trend. Parents in towns like Weston and Belmont with great public schools still arenāt going to be happy with kids out of school 1 year plus. The draw to privates with schools still in session is common sense, IMO.
Also, as the top schools get more difficult, schools that were once easier to get into become more difficult as well. Iād guess all schools got a lot more apps this year.
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I also heard that Rivers had a ton of applications this season, but their applications are not kids who would be competitive at schools like Groton/Andover/Exeter. They are definitely building up their sports teams but academically Rivers is simply not at the same level as the top academic schools in the area, regardless of their application numbers.
This doesnāt mean Rivers isnāt a good school - it is - but donāt confuse application #'s with more than what it is - lots of kids in the MA area had HORRIBLE online learning. Many public schools absolutely failed during the pandemic here which shocked a lot of parents in typically great school systems. Half the kids we know are applying to day schools to re-class. Rivers is a great day school.
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Agree, Rivers is a great day school and not similar to many other schools with higher academic standards. Day and BS are very different.
Rivers and Cambridge School of Weston attract the same types of kids.
Rivers and Cambridge School of Weston *absolutely do not attract the same kind of kids. Not academically, not socially, not athletically.
Cambridge School of Weston competes with Beaver and offers a nice environment for people looking for a more innovative type of education.
Rivers is on the low/middle end of the very competitive schools. Its most common overlap schools are Nobles and Belmont Hill, followed by Milton and Roxbury Latin. It loses applicants, to those schools much of the time, but has been gaining ground with Nobles and Belmont Hill. From an admissions perspective, Belmont Hill is still more prestigious, but takes a slightly lower academic student than Rivers.
Independent schools change, just like colleges do. Imagine if you were going by Northeasternās reputation from 20 years ago! Rivers can no longer be a safe school for the Nobles crowd because the reject the same kids these days.
Many are claiming Rivers has the right message for the times. Very solid academics, but wonāt have your kid crying at the kitchen table every night. It is compelling!
I agree that you canāt compare it to Andover, Exeter - but that is another level and not sure they strive for that.
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