BASIS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Much better list than last year at any rate. Yale, Harvard, U Penn, Johns Hopkins, the rest meh, considering that these kids all had to take algebra no later than 7th grade. No MIT or Caltech.

Just because you take algebra in 7th grade you have to go to MIT or Caltech. What?

Do you realize that DC only sends a handful of students to MIT each year, and Caltech even fewer?

For what it worth, a BASIS DC grad from last year is at Caltech and one from BASIS McLean (which has the same curriculum) is going to MIT.

If you want to go to MIT or Caltech, your best bet is to move to Fairfax County and go to TJ.

Do you realize that BASIS sent two to MIT in 2022 and another two in 2023? Fair observation that none cracked the high-octane tech schools this year.

[Anonymous]

What I wonder about at BASIS is why they insist on cramming four years of high school academics into three. Seems like the kids would have a better shot at all these schools if they weren't under such pressure to crank out AP results by the end of junior year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Much better list than last year at any rate. Yale, Harvard, U Penn, Johns Hopkins, the rest meh, considering that these kids all had to take algebra no later than 7th grade. No MIT or Caltech.

Just because you take algebra in 7th grade you have to go to MIT or Caltech. What?

Do you realize that DC only sends a handful of students to MIT each year, and Caltech even fewer?

For what it worth, a BASIS DC grad from last year is at Caltech and one from BASIS McLean (which has the same curriculum) is going to MIT.

If you want to go to MIT or Caltech, your best bet is to move to Fairfax County and go to TJ.

Do you realize that BASIS sent two to MIT in 2022 and another two in 2023? Fair observation that none cracked the high-octane tech schools this year.

You are talking BASIS DC or McLean?

If so, that is wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What I wonder about at BASIS is why they insist on cramming four years of high school academics into three. Seems like the kids would have a better shot at all these schools if they weren't under suchj pressure to crank out AP results by the end of junior year.

Your premise is wrong and so is your conclusion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Much better list than last year at any rate. Yale, Harvard, U Penn, Johns Hopkins, the rest meh, considering that these kids all had to take algebra no later than 7th grade. No MIT or Caltech.

Just because you take algebra in 7th grade you have to go to MIT or Caltech. What?

Do you realize that DC only sends a handful of students to MIT each year, and Caltech even fewer?

For what it worth, a BASIS DC grad from last year is at Caltech and one from BASIS McLean (which has the same curriculum) is going to MIT.

If you want to go to MIT or Caltech, your best bet is to move to Fairfax County and go to TJ.

I do wonder about the BASIS model as preparation for a place like MIT... my husband is an alum and they don't accept any AP credits (which BASIS seems to make a big deal out of tauting.) We are sending our son there next year but I am definitely curious about how well they are prepping kids for serious math and science careers. No clue if our kids want to follow in their Dad's footsteps. No legacy at MIT either so they will need to get in on their own merits.

They certainly do a better job than any other public school in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Much better list than last year at any rate. Yale, Harvard, U Penn, Johns Hopkins, the rest meh, considering that these kids all had to take algebra no later than 7th grade. No MIT or Caltech.

Just because you take algebra in 7th grade you have to go to MIT or Caltech. What?

Do you realize that DC only sends a handful of students to MIT each year, and Caltech even fewer?

For what it worth, a BASIS DC grad from last year is at Caltech and one from BASIS McLean (which has the same curriculum) is going to MIT.

If you want to go to MIT or Caltech, your best bet is to move to Fairfax County and go to TJ.

I do wonder about the BASIS model as preparation for a place like MIT... my husband is an alum and they don't accept any AP credits (which BASIS seems to make a big deal out of tauting.) We are sending our son there next year but I am definitely curious about how well they are prepping kids for serious math and science careers. No clue if our kids want to follow in their Dad's footsteps. No legacy at MIT either so they will need to get in on their own merits.

They certainly do a better job than any other public school in DC.

Yes, I believe that. We are excited.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I wonder about at BASIS is why they insist on cramming four years of high school academics into three. Seems like the kids would have a better shot at all these schools if they weren't under suchj pressure to crank out AP results by the end of junior year.

Your premise is wrong and so is your conclusion.

I work in admissions at an elite college in this city that you've, um, heard of. No, PP isn't wrong, explaining why private schools and top suburban magnets in the DMV never cram four years of high school academics into several. My impression is that the BASIS senior project, which isn't required, isn't serious. It's clear that few franchise resources go into supporting it. The students would clearly be better off continuing to take AP classes senior year, leaving them with more time for ECs lower down the chain. At some privates and suburban magnets, seniors take one or two Cambridge International subject exams in November, enabling them to enter application season with more standardized test scores they they'd have simply by sticking with AP exams. Unfortunately, BASIS doesn't plan or innovate like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I wonder about at BASIS is why they insist on cramming four years of high school academics into three. Seems like the kids would have a better shot at all these schools if they weren't under suchj pressure to crank out AP results by the end of junior year.

Your premise is wrong and so is your conclusion.

I work in admissions at an elite college in this city that you've, um, heard of. No, PP isn't wrong, explaining why private schools and top suburban magnets in the DMV never cram four years of high school academics into several. My impression is that the BASIS senior project, which isn't required, isn't serious. It's clear that few franchise resources go into supporting it. The students would clearly be better off continuing to take AP classes senior year, leaving them with more time for ECs lower down the chain. At some privates and suburban magnets, seniors take one or two Cambridge International subject exams in November, enabling them to enter application season with more standardized test scores they they'd have simply by sticking with AP exams. Unfortunately, BASIS doesn't plan or innovate like that.

This is all a strange line of reasoning. The BASIS DC kids did very well regarding college admissions this year. So we should be figuring why they did so well.

FWIW, I recently learned that the Math sequence (geometry and Algebra in middle, calculus for 3 years in high school, senior year off) is identical to the test-in STEM sequence in the Twin Cities (and maybe other cities) and many of those kids end up at MIT or CalTech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I wonder about at BASIS is why they insist on cramming four years of high school academics into three. Seems like the kids would have a better shot at all these schools if they weren't under suchj pressure to crank out AP results by the end of junior year.

Your premise is wrong and so is your conclusion.

I work in admissions at an elite college in this city that you've, um, heard of. No, PP isn't wrong, explaining why private schools and top suburban magnets in the DMV never cram four years of high school academics into several. My impression is that the BASIS senior project, which isn't required, isn't serious. It's clear that few franchise resources go into supporting it. The students would clearly be better off continuing to take AP classes senior year, leaving them with more time for ECs lower down the chain. At some privates and suburban magnets, seniors take one or two Cambridge International subject exams in November, enabling them to enter application season with more standardized test scores they they'd have simply by sticking with AP exams. Unfortunately, BASIS doesn't plan or innovate like that.

I'm a BASIS parent, and I absolutely agree with you. This year's senior projects with one exception are not impressive at all. There is a website where students post descriptions of their projects and blog their progress. Senior year at BASIS is a joke, and kids take it easy after three years of non-stop cramming for AP's. I wish BASIS would invest more in capstones and senior projects.

[Anonymous]

+100. BASIS just doesn’t make smart use of senior year.

[Anonymous]

I understand BASIS parents wishing things were better and I don't want to say you shouldn't. But my kid is on the waitlist, we're hoping desperately they'll get in, and this just seems....like, have you seen our other options?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I wonder about at BASIS is why they insist on cramming four years of high school academics into three. Seems like the kids would have a better shot at all these schools if they weren't under suchj pressure to crank out AP results by the end of junior year.

Your premise is wrong and so is your conclusion.

I work in admissions at an elite college in this city that you've, um, heard of. No, PP isn't wrong, explaining why private schools and top suburban magnets in the DMV never cram four years of high school academics into several. My impression is that the BASIS senior project, which isn't required, isn't serious. It's clear that few franchise resources go into supporting it. The students would clearly be better off continuing to take AP classes senior year, leaving them with more time for ECs lower down the chain. At some privates and suburban magnets, seniors take one or two Cambridge International subject exams in November, enabling them to enter application season with more standardized test scores they they'd have simply by sticking with AP exams. Unfortunately, BASIS doesn't plan or innovate like that.

You think that all kids finish BASIS after junior year and leave? BASIS seniors are required to take 4 capstones classes in humanities, math, science, and language as well as college admissions. This includes classes such as multivariable calculus (for those who have taken Cal BC and want to go further). Plus they can take additional electives and a senior project, if they want (those are not required). They are free to take multiple AP class electives senior year if they want and take Cambridge exams or whatever else they want. Some kids do both.

It seems strange that you are comparing BASIS to private schools in the area, which generally don't even offer AP classes, and suggesting that BASIS should be requiring more AP courses senior year. It also odd that you are bringing up Cambridge exams since no school in the area requires them (except outliers like the British School) and anyone, including students at BASIS, can take them if they wish.

Plus, I doubt that kids anywhere who have already committed to a college early in senior year are killing themselves to take a rigorous senior-year courseload that won't count for college admissions.

Finally, it is also weird to compare BASIS, a free public 100% lottery school, to private schools costing $50,000+ a year and magnets--both of whom handpick their student bodies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I wonder about at BASIS is why they insist on cramming four years of high school academics into three. Seems like the kids would have a better shot at all these schools if they weren't under suchj pressure to crank out AP results by the end of junior year.

Your premise is wrong and so is your conclusion.

I work in admissions at an elite college in this city that you've, um, heard of. No, PP isn't wrong, explaining why private schools and top suburban magnets in the DMV never cram four years of high school academics into several. My impression is that the BASIS senior project, which isn't required, isn't serious. It's clear that few franchise resources go into supporting it. The students would clearly be better off continuing to take AP classes senior year, leaving them with more time for ECs lower down the chain. At some privates and suburban magnets, seniors take one or two Cambridge International subject exams in November, enabling them to enter application season with more standardized test scores they they'd have simply by sticking with AP exams. Unfortunately, BASIS doesn't plan or innovate like that.

You think that all kids finish BASIS after junior year and leave? BASIS seniors are required to take 4 capstones classes in humanities, math, science, and language as well as college admissions. This includes classes such as multivariable calculus (for those who have taken Cal BC and want to go further). Plus they can take additional electives and a senior project, if they want (those are not required). They are free to take multiple AP class electives senior year if they want and take Cambridge exams or whatever else they want. Some kids do both.

It seems strange that you are comparing BASIS to private schools in the area, which generally don't even offer AP classes, and suggesting that BASIS should be requiring more AP courses senior year. It also odd that you are bringing up Cambridge exams since no school in the area requires them (except outliers like the British School) and anyone, including students at BASIS, can take them if they wish.

Plus, I doubt that kids anywhere who have already committed to a college early in senior year are killing themselves to take a rigorous senior-year courseload that won't count for college admissions.

Finally, it is also weird to compare BASIS, a free public 100% lottery school, to private schools costing $50,000+ a year and magnets--both of whom handpick their student bodies.

The above sounds great on paper to the uninitiated, with a kid heading into 5th, but it's inaccurate. Senior year at BASIS really is mostly a waste of time from day one. Seniors goof off with abandon. The mandatory college admissions class is overkill, another example of the franchise's commitment to paternalism. Sure, BASIS gets superior college admissions results overall to other DC public high schools, which doesn't that doesn't mean that there isn't room for improvement.

No, it's not weird to compare the BASIS students with a good chance of cracking highly selective colleges to those at top privates or DMV test-in magnets. The strongest DC students would make the grade for those programs in different circumstances.

Not true that BASIS DC students are taking Cambridge Exams in fall of senior year. Families and admins lack familiarity with the exams, and interest in them. A CE language exam was suggested to us by private school friends, who planned to have the kid take a Nov. exam after a summer of immersion abroad. We copied them with success.

I see BASIS DC as coming under increasing pressure to move with the times in college admissions, mainly by giving kids more breathing room to focus on HS ECs and targeted enrichment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I understand BASIS parents wishing things were better and I don't want to say you shouldn't. But my kid is on the waitlist, we're hoping desperately they'll get in, and this just seems....like, have you seen our other options?

This kind of attitude allows dumb decisions to go unchecked.

[Anonymous]

Too many questionable practices go unchecked at BASIS. For example, it's not uncommon for kids who leave on good form academically at whatever stage to be forced to retake math at other schools. This happens after they couldn't pass placement tests testing math they supposedly learned at BASIS. We had a couple middle school teachers who cried in front of classes they couldn't handle multiple times. The more desperate you are for a decent school, the more BS you put up with.