Please tell me whether Georgetown Prep is a pressure cooker?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

MOCOS wrote:We are considering a number of schools and have been impressed with the atmosphere at GP. We heard, however, their AP classes are super hard to get in, and extremely difficult to get a good grade in AP. And that their regular class is like a honors' class and the teachers are hard graders. Does this mean, if a student want to be a decent student with mostly As, it will be very stressful? We want to take a few APs, not over the top, but will that make it too stressful for an average child? Thank you so much - sincerely looking for perspectives from experienced family.

I don't get the "we". Are you taking the classes with your kid?

Is it really that hard not to be an a$$hole?? You know exactly what OP is talking about.

[Anonymous]

I was worried about this too and it was an adjustment for our son but the small classes and collaborative environment have helped with that transition. It’s a challenging but supportive and very special place!

[Anonymous]

Landon is not more rigorous. Not starting a fight but not more rigorous.

[Anonymous]

I’d echo other comments from current Prep families. We have a 9th grader who came from public middle school. The academics have been a definite step up, but nothing extreme. The hardest thing for him this year has been the grammar part of English, because his public middle school did not teach that but the feeder parochial schools did. He’s felt some stress about the amount of work and the pace (lots of tests and quizzes), but it’s been manageable. He’s developing great organizational and study skills. The students and faculty are very supportive. And not all the kids are gunning for straight As. Some of them appear to be more focused on sports. So it’s not like all the students are non-stop stressing about their grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current GP family.
I feel the curriculum can be moderate or hard depending on the classes the students take. The honors and AP classes are hard but I don’t think they are harder than comparable privates from what I’ve seen from my son’s friends.
I wouldn’t say the school is a pressure cooker but it’s not a walk in the park either.
Our son is also a quiet kid but he’s not super athletic and he found a nice group of friends. Contrary to the school’s reputation of only attracting jocks ( and there are many ) there are all types of different kids there. Best of luck in your decision

This -- it's not like St. Anselm's were the most challenging courses are the only option; you can pick and choose and take some challenging, some less challenging in areas that aren't your strength, etc. There are leveled options.

Super helpful- what’s an average GP student study life like? 1-2 sports; 4-5 homes/AP, a mix of As and Bs? Average 1-2 hours of hw per night? Does this sound about right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current GP family.
I feel the curriculum can be moderate or hard depending on the classes the students take. The honors and AP classes are hard but I don’t think they are harder than comparable privates from what I’ve seen from my son’s friends.
I wouldn’t say the school is a pressure cooker but it’s not a walk in the park either.
Our son is also a quiet kid but he’s not super athletic and he found a nice group of friends. Contrary to the school’s reputation of only attracting jocks ( and there are many ) there are all types of different kids there. Best of luck in your decision

This -- it's not like St. Anselm's were the most challenging courses are the only option; you can pick and choose and take some challenging, some less challenging in areas that aren't your strength, etc. There are leveled options.

Super helpful- what’s an average GP student study life like? 1-2 sports; 4-5 homes/AP, a mix of As and Bs? Average 1-2 hours of hw per night? Does this sound about right?

I meant to say 4-5 honors/AP above

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’d echo other comments from current Prep families. We have a 9th grader who came from public middle school. The academics have been a definite step up, but nothing extreme. The hardest thing for him this year has been the grammar part of English, because his public middle school did not teach that but the feeder parochial schools did. He’s felt some stress about the amount of work and the pace (lots of tests and quizzes), but it’s been manageable. He’s developing great organizational and study skills. The students and faculty are very supportive. And not all the kids are gunning for straight As. Some of them appear to be more focused on sports. So it’s not like all the students are non-stop stressing about their grades.

I did hear their English program is very rigorous - grammar, writing, etc. it’s good to know that it’s manageable. How about Latin?

And math? He has the ambition to go beyond Algebra 1 as his current school is teaching Algebra 1 at 8th grade - I think he’d need to take an assessment test- and the curriculum lists out the next level to be either Honors Alg or Geometry. Any experience there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

MOCOS wrote:We are considering a number of schools and have been impressed with the atmosphere at GP. We heard, however, their AP classes are super hard to get in, and extremely difficult to get a good grade in AP. And that their regular class is like a honors' class and the teachers are hard graders. Does this mean, if a student want to be a decent student with mostly As, it will be very stressful? We want to take a few APs, not over the top, but will that make it too stressful for an average child? Thank you so much - sincerely looking for perspectives from experienced family.

I don't get the "we". Are you taking the classes with your kid?

No, they are paying for it

[Anonymous]

You might find Prep to be a pressure cooker in ways that aren’t academic. Especially this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You might find Prep to be a pressure cooker in ways that aren’t academic. Especially this year.

What do you mean?

[Anonymous]

We had two boys graduate from Prep and one from Gonzaga. And we have a bunch of neighbors and friends whose sons went to Landon.

I disagree with much that has been written on this thread.

Prep and Landon are very close to one another academically. There are a dozen reasons to choose one over the other, but academic workload is not one of them. They both have a range of students and produce roughly comparable college matriculation results with Prep students choosing Catholic colleges much more frequently.

The greatest difference is that the student body, faculty and staff at Prep are overwhelmingly Catholics. (Especially when you subtract out the International borders and some of the URMs) This, of course, is not true of Landon.

I find the idea that Prep is some sort of academic pressure cooker amusing. There is a segment of the student body that is very academically focused. And the school does address this group.

My overall impression is that the Prep experience is idyllic. The boys love it there and appreciate it as a privilege. T here’s no way to measure this for comparison purposes, but if there were, I would venture that Prep has the happiest, most satisfied “customers” in the area.

Gonzaga is a different experience. But the school is buoyed by this incredible, palpable school spirit and enthusiasm.

Between Prep and Landon, it’s a toss-up. If you are Catholic, choose Prep. If you are not, it’s Landon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had two boys graduate from Prep and one from Gonzaga. And we have a bunch of neighbors and friends whose sons went to Landon.

I disagree with much that has been written on this thread.

Prep and Landon are very close to one another academically. There are a dozen reasons to choose one over the other, but academic workload is not one of them. They both have a range of students and produce roughly comparable college matriculation results with Prep students choosing Catholic colleges much more frequently.

The greatest difference is that the student body, faculty and staff at Prep are overwhelmingly Catholics. (Especially when you subtract out the International borders and some of the URMs) This, of course, is not true of Landon.

I find the idea that Prep is some sort of academic pressure cooker amusing. There is a segment of the student body that is very academically focused. And the school does address this group.

My overall impression is that the Prep experience is idyllic. The boys love it there and appreciate it as a privilege. T here’s no way to measure this for comparison purposes, but if there were, I would venture that Prep has the happiest, most satisfied “customers” in the area.

Gonzaga is a different experience. But the school is buoyed by this incredible, palpable school spirit and enthusiasm.

Between Prep and Landon, it’s a toss-up. If you are Catholic, choose Prep. If you are not, it’s Landon.

Why is Gonzaga a different experience? How so?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d echo other comments from current Prep families. We have a 9th grader who came from public middle school. The academics have been a definite step up, but nothing extreme. The hardest thing for him this year has been the grammar part of English, because his public middle school did not teach that but the feeder parochial schools did. He’s felt some stress about the amount of work and the pace (lots of tests and quizzes), but it’s been manageable. He’s developing great organizational and study skills. The students and faculty are very supportive. And not all the kids are gunning for straight As. Some of them appear to be more focused on sports. So it’s not like all the students are non-stop stressing about their grades.

I did hear their English program is very rigorous - grammar, writing, etc. it’s good to know that it’s manageable. How about Latin?

And math? He has the ambition to go beyond Algebra 1 as his current school is teaching Algebra 1 at 8th grade - I think he’d need to take an assessment test- and the curriculum lists out the next level to be either Honors Alg or Geometry. Any experience there?

9th grade Latin has been manageable - lots of flashcards and memorization. Regarding math, incoming freshmen will be placed in Algebra unless they take an assessment that places them in honors Algebra or geometry. It is rare for a 9th grader to be placed in geometry. Our son took algebra in 8th grade, took the assessment, and was placed in regular algebra. There are a few ways to accelerate the math curriculum during the 4 years, but the kid has to demonstrate aptitude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had two boys graduate from Prep and one from Gonzaga. And we have a bunch of neighbors and friends whose sons went to Landon.

I disagree with much that has been written on this thread.

Prep and Landon are very close to one another academically. There are a dozen reasons to choose one over the other, but academic workload is not one of them. They both have a range of students and produce roughly comparable college matriculation results with Prep students choosing Catholic colleges much more frequently.

The greatest difference is that the student body, faculty and staff at Prep are overwhelmingly Catholics. (Especially when you subtract out the International borders and some of the URMs) This, of course, is not true of Landon.

I find the idea that Prep is some sort of academic pressure cooker amusing. There is a segment of the student body that is very academically focused. And the school does address this group.

My overall impression is that the Prep experience is idyllic. The boys love it there and appreciate it as a privilege. T here’s no way to measure this for comparison purposes, but if there were, I would venture that Prep has the happiest, most satisfied “customers” in the area.

Gonzaga is a different experience. But the school is buoyed by this incredible, palpable school spirit and enthusiasm.

Between Prep and Landon, it’s a toss-up. If you are Catholic, choose Prep. If you are not, it’s Landon.

Why is Gonzaga a different experience? How so?

Although there are lots of similarities, much of the difference is driven by location, size and diversity (including geographic diversity). Just getting there and back (at least for our son was a challenge in car polls, on the Metro and then driving). It was part of the learning experience. Gonzaga seemed a very busy, place. The Prep environment was much more sedate. Our sons at Prep ate lunch in the South Room. My Gonzaga son bought half smokes from food trucks and ate them on North Capitol Street. After four years he was very comfortable with downtown DC as he would be in any large city.

Boys at Gonzaga come from a wider geographic area. You have many from Alexandria and Arlington that include military families. Most of the Prep boys were from NW DC, western Montgomery County and from NoVa close to the American Legion Bridge.

All that said, all three of all boys would have been happy at either school. As I said, they are more similar than different.

I don't know what the current count is, but there were many more Jesuit priests and scholastics at Gonzaga. I saw that as a significant benefit as their presence influences a number of things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had two boys graduate from Prep and one from Gonzaga. And we have a bunch of neighbors and friends whose sons went to Landon.

I disagree with much that has been written on this thread.

Prep and Landon are very close to one another academically. There are a dozen reasons to choose one over the other, but academic workload is not one of them. They both have a range of students and produce roughly comparable college matriculation results with Prep students choosing Catholic colleges much more frequently.

The greatest difference is that the student body, faculty and staff at Prep are overwhelmingly Catholics. (Especially when you subtract out the International borders and some of the URMs) This, of course, is not true of Landon.

I find the idea that Prep is some sort of academic pressure cooker amusing. There is a segment of the student body that is very academically focused. And the school does address this group.

My overall impression is that the Prep experience is idyllic. The boys love it there and appreciate it as a privilege. T here’s no way to measure this for comparison purposes, but if there were, I would venture that Prep has the happiest, most satisfied “customers” in the area.

Gonzaga is a different experience. But the school is buoyed by this incredible, palpable school spirit and enthusiasm.

Between Prep and Landon, it’s a toss-up. If you are Catholic, choose Prep. If you are not, it’s Landon.

Why is Gonzaga a different experience? How so?

Although there are lots of similarities, much of the difference is driven by location, size and diversity (including geographic diversity). Just getting there and back (at least for our son was a challenge in car polls, on the Metro and then driving). It was part of the learning experience. Gonzaga seemed a very busy, place. The Prep environment was much more sedate. Our sons at Prep ate lunch in the South Room. My Gonzaga son bought half smokes from food trucks and ate them on North Capitol Street. After four years he was very comfortable with downtown DC as he would be in any large city.

Boys at Gonzaga come from a wider geographic area. You have many from Alexandria and Arlington that include military families. Most of the Prep boys were from NW DC, western Montgomery County and from NoVa close to the American Legion Bridge.

All that said, all three of all boys would have been happy at either school. As I said, they are more similar than different.

I don't know what the current count is, but there were many more Jesuit priests and scholastics at Gonzaga. I saw that as a significant benefit as their presence influences a number of things.

We are considering both for our 7th grader and I appreciate you taking the time to write your answers. Thanks.