Langley School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Langley parents would crawl on broken glass if their kid could somehow be admitted to Potomac.

Since when is it hard to get into Potomac? I never got above a B- in middle school and I got in there.

And when was that, exactly?

Potomac is very competitive now. The straight-A, 2-sport star athlete and 3-time lead in the school musical who won our school’s highest honor at graduation from our k8 was waitlisted. I doubt your B- student would get in the waitlist without buying a new building now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Langley parents would crawl on broken glass if their kid could somehow be admitted to Potomac.

Since when is it hard to get into Potomac? I never got above a B- in middle school and I got in there.

Potomac admissions is very difficult now and has been going back for some years. Someone with a hook (e.g., athletics, legacy, or whatever) might well find admissions easier than an unhooked applicant, just as is the case at sidwell, cathedral schools, or gds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Langley parents would crawl on broken glass if their kid could somehow be admitted to Potomac.

Since when is it hard to get into Potomac? I never got above a B- in middle school and I got in there.

Potomac admissions is very difficult now and has been going back for some years. Someone with a hook (e.g., athletics, legacy, or whatever) might well find admissions easier than an unhooked applicant, just as is the case at sidwell, cathedral schools, or gds.

Anecdotally we are seeing this. The only students we know who have been admitted recently to Potomac have had family connection with staff or are the younger siblings to Potomac students. Is Langley able to get kids into Potomac or Top 3 without hooks? If it’s this difficult to get into local top private high schools, then what percentage of Langley graduates go on to public high schools, boarding schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Langley parents would crawl on broken glass if their kid could somehow be admitted to Potomac.

Since when is it hard to get into Potomac? I never got above a B- in middle school and I got in there.

Potomac admissions is very difficult now and has been going back for some years. Someone with a hook (e.g., athletics, legacy, or whatever) might well find admissions easier than an unhooked applicant, just as is the case at sidwell, cathedral schools, or gds.

Anecdotally we are seeing this. The only students we know who have been admitted recently to Potomac have had family connection with staff or are the younger siblings to Potomac students. Is Langley able to get kids into Potomac or Top 3 without hooks? If it’s this difficult to get into local top private high schools, then what percentage of Langley graduates go on to public high schools, boarding schools?

The vast majority (85-90%) of Langley graduates go on to private high schools (day schools—not boarding). A handful of kids will go public or boarding, by choice, not because they couldn’t have private options). Langley does well with private HS admissions, but it is a numbers game. If a private HS is filling 25-30 total spots, they aren’t going to offer more than 5-6 spots to any one K-8. The more spots a private HS is filling, the more kids they will accept. Also depends on any given year which HS schools are popular for Langley applicants (coed is more popular some years than others). Normally Langley would have acceptances in the range of 8-10+ kids at Flint Hill, Bullis, Madeira, 5-6 kids at Potomac, Sidwell, GDS; 3-4 kids at Maret, NCS, Holton, Landon, Gonzaga, SSSAS, Stone Ridge. Not as many apply to Visi, St Albans, St Andrews, Field, Burke, Georgetown Prep, Episcopal, O’Connel, SJC, etc so maybe only 1-2/year. There is some overlap in acceptances but it seems to generally work out for everyone.

[Anonymous]

How many from Langley got into to TJ?

[Anonymous]

We had a kid get it into Potomac from Langley, what do you want to know? We were lucky, lots of kids rejected or waitlisted from our k-8. Only 3 got in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is some overlap in acceptances but it seems to generally work out for everyone.

I find it very very difficult to believe “everyone”. I might believe “many” or “most”, but “everyone” is just not believable for outplacement from ANY school, whether that is to 9th grade or to college. Saying “everyone” sure sounds like marketing.

Having one’s DC accepted to “someplace” during outplacement is very very different from having DC accepted at one of that family’s desired/preferred/acceptable places, whether or not that family’s short list was “reasonable”.

[Anonymous]

It’s just like college, the job of the counselor is to set expectations of parents and students. There are a few slots at Potomac, a few at StA, GDS, Landon, etc, and more availability at Prep, Bullis and Flint Hill. A couple usually go to public, a couple to boarding. Kids get spread around. I’m sure this is similar to other K8s. Kids with lower grades, scores, no legacy at Ivy schools, financial aid needs, aren’t as likely to go to top schools. Smart kids with pushy type A ivy parents who get tutors for their kids from grade 3 tend to end up right where they expect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How many from Langley got into to TJ?

Normally very few (if any) apply—Langley is a school where people send their kids for a “whole child” education (academics, sports, arts, SEL) so TJ being so STEM focused doesn’t necessarily appeal to those same families. To be clear—TJ is a great school, just not where you’d go for a particularly balanced experience. No idea who/how many applied this year but normally only one kid at most would go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s just like college, the job of the counselor is to set expectations of parents and students. There are a few slots at Potomac, a few at StA, GDS, Landon, etc, and more availability at Prep, Bullis and Flint Hill. A couple usually go to public, a couple to boarding. Kids get spread around. I’m sure this is similar to other K8s. Kids with lower grades, scores, no legacy at Ivy schools, financial aid needs, aren’t as likely to go to top schools. Smart kids with pushy type A ivy parents who get tutors for their kids from grade 3 tend to end up right where they expect.

Consider a kid at the top of K-8 class but with financial aid needs and no hooks at Ivies. Would that kid have a chance at top private high schools in the area? I don't mean top 3 but maybe top 5 or whatever is the term for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s just like college, the job of the counselor is to set expectations of parents and students. There are a few slots at Potomac, a few at StA, GDS, Landon, etc, and more availability at Prep, Bullis and Flint Hill. A couple usually go to public, a couple to boarding. Kids get spread around. I’m sure this is similar to other K8s. Kids with lower grades, scores, no legacy at Ivy schools, financial aid needs, aren’t as likely to go to top schools. Smart kids with pushy type A ivy parents who get tutors for their kids from grade 3 tend to end up right where they expect.

Is getting outside tutoring for Langley common, especially if your kid is smart and doing well there? Naively I thought that just by sending my kid to a school like this would mean that I don’t have to supplement with outside tutoring.

[Anonymous]

That kid generally needs a hook beyond good grades to get in with FA. It does happen because these schools do need a few of these kids they can point to whenever they have to defend their DEI claims.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s just like college, the job of the counselor is to set expectations of parents and students. There are a few slots at Potomac, a few at StA, GDS, Landon, etc, and more availability at Prep, Bullis and Flint Hill. A couple usually go to public, a couple to boarding. Kids get spread around. I’m sure this is similar to other K8s. Kids with lower grades, scores, no legacy at Ivy schools, financial aid needs, aren’t as likely to go to top schools. Smart kids with pushy type A ivy parents who get tutors for their kids from grade 3 tend to end up right where they expect.

Is getting outside tutoring for Langley common, especially if your kid is smart and doing well there? Naively I thought that just by sending my kid to a school like this would mean that I don’t have to supplement with outside tutoring.

Not unless they are struggling.

[Anonymous]

Four girls going to Potomac from Langley this year and none are siblings. Several boys accepted and going elsewhere. A better year than most.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s just like college, the job of the counselor is to set expectations of parents and students. There are a few slots at Potomac, a few at StA, GDS, Landon, etc, and more availability at Prep, Bullis and Flint Hill. A couple usually go to public, a couple to boarding. Kids get spread around. I’m sure this is similar to other K8s. Kids with lower grades, scores, no legacy at Ivy schools, financial aid needs, aren’t as likely to go to top schools. Smart kids with pushy type A ivy parents who get tutors for their kids from grade 3 tend to end up right where they expect.

Is getting outside tutoring for Langley common, especially if your kid is smart and doing well there? Naively I thought that just by sending my kid to a school like this would mean that I don’t have to supplement with outside tutoring.

People say no but many kids have outside tutors for at least one subject, or use after school programs for boosts. SAHMs who are fully dedicated or they frequently use the school after school help programs just in case. I think that’s true for any top school. Rich parents have the ability to help their kids. Maybe the top kids don’t use anything and it’s all easy for them which is how they get into Ivys.