<p>Well, we have a top fifty ranked high school in our area, and the kids aren’t admitted to the really reachy schools at anything like the rate your school seems to have.</p>
<p>I think that there are probably three influences you may not be considering:
- Many elite private universities heavily subsidize the college tuition for children of employees – sometimes up to the amount of tuition that would be charged at their own institution. Stanford did this when my b-i-l taught there. They would pay up to the cost of Stanford’s tuition to any school a dependent attended. Why even consider a state U when you get a free ride at any private school? Schools know this too – admit one of these kids and you don’t hit your FA budget at all.
- Faculty at elite private universities often themselves graduated from elite private universities, and often married spouses who did the same. In an affluent area, this may also apply to grandparents, and so a kid may be a legacy at a number of colleges, and we all know what a boost that can be.
- Kids of heavy-hitter parents – academics, politicos, or entertainers seem to get a more favorable nod than otherwise might be the case, though in some cases it may be because the kids had a lot of opportunities and used them wisely. On the other hand, I know of the child of a Nobel prize winner who had a lot more college flex than you might have expected given her academic prowess.</p>