Has your first choice school changed since you started applications?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What were the GDS essay questions?

I’m curious too!

How would you describe your philosophy of life – your personal commitments, set of guiding principles, or deepest beliefs?

How do you like to spend your time outside of school?

What academic subjects most inspire you? Why?

Write about a change you’d like to make in your school or neighborhood community.

Describe a time when you encountered a particularly challenging situation. What was challenging about it, and how did you respond?

Those seem fine to me. Maybe the first one is a bit much, but a thoughtful 8th grader should be able to do it.

These are very similar to questions asked by other schools, including SSSAS, Burke and Field

The first one is a bit over the top for kids who are 13/14. The number of essays required is also a bit excessive. Crazy process!

Do those questions really require 5-paragraph essays though? I would think a one or two paragraphs for each would suffice? And if an 8th grader can’t handle that, how will they handle the work in Freshman English and History? Daddy/Mommy/tutor will do those too?

It's not a lot of work at all and they are not essays to those questions, but a long paragraph at most. Many say max 250 words! Not that hard to do for an 8th grader. It is tough if they are applying to five schools, and they all have different requirements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really, your 8th grader can’t handle those questions? Screen zombie, I’m guessing?

Yep. But he got in so it's all good.

Wait. So your husband's essay got your kid into school and you are proud of that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really, your 8th grader can’t handle those questions? Screen zombie, I’m guessing?

Yep. But he got in so it's all good.

Wait. So your husband's essay got your kid into school and you are proud of that?

NP. My husband probably couldn’t name all the high schools my kid applied to for 9th! I think he could name 4 of the 6. Frankly, I’m impressed the husband was that involved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really, your 8th grader can’t handle those questions? Screen zombie, I’m guessing?

Yep. But he got in so it's all good.

Wait. So your husband's essay got your kid into school and you are proud of that?

NP here with a more important question: I want to know the color of Proud Mom's G Wagon! Did you go with the white/black/charcoal or did you feel edgy and get one of the cute colors like sapphire?

Potomac or Bethesda?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really, your 8th grader can’t handle those questions? Screen zombie, I’m guessing?

Yep. But he got in so it's all good.

Wait. So your husband's essay got your kid into school and you are proud of that?

I’m sure he wasn’t the only parent that did this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really, your 8th grader can’t handle those questions? Screen zombie, I’m guessing?

Yep. But he got in so it's all good.

Wait. So your husband's essay got your kid into school and you are proud of that?

I’m sure he wasn’t the only parent that did this.

That’s a great justification for your snowplow parenting!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What were the GDS essay questions?

I’m curious too!

How would you describe your philosophy of life – your personal commitments, set of guiding principles, or deepest beliefs?

How do you like to spend your time outside of school?

What academic subjects most inspire you? Why?

Write about a change you’d like to make in your school or neighborhood community.

Describe a time when you encountered a particularly challenging situation. What was challenging about it, and how did you respond?

Those seem fine to me. Maybe the first one is a bit much, but a thoughtful 8th grader should be able to do it.

These are very similar to questions asked by other schools, including SSSAS, Burke and Field

The first one is a bit over the top for kids who are 13/14. The number of essays required is also a bit excessive. Crazy process!

Do those questions really require 5-paragraph essays though? I would think a one or two paragraphs for each would suffice? And if an 8th grader can’t handle that, how will they handle the work in Freshman English and History? Daddy/Mommy/tutor will do those too?

It's not a lot of work at all and they are not essays to those questions, but a long paragraph at most. Many say max 250 words! Not that hard to do for an 8th grader. It is tough if they are applying to five schools, and they all have different requirements.

250 words is about one page double spaced. That is definitely an essay (the application even called them essays) and your kid better break it up into paragraphs or the essay reader won’t be too happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Strangely enough, I wish we had applied to a couple of less academically rigorous/intense schools. I am starting to doubt our decision to limit our applications to the Big 3. Even if our child gets in, it may not be the most enjoyable experience. Our back up is our strong public school, which we would be fine with.

Were you influenced by talking to current families or more from the characterizations of pressure cookers on this board?

Both. This board makes the top schools sound incredibly joyless but current parents also freely admit that the academics are very intense. I have an academically strong child but I can't help but wonder if they would have a more enjoyable experience at a school like Bullis or SSSAS as opposed to GDS/Sidwell/St. Albans, etc. - particularly since I don't think the college outcomes from any of these schools for unconnected children are measurably different. Too late at this point but I think I would have done things a little differently. This is for a 9th grader.

I have a freshman at SSSAS who is very happy. As cliche as it sounds, it's definitely a joyful place for him. My husband and I both went to pressure cooker schools (mine was an even bigger pressure cooker than his) and we did not want that for our son.

He works hard both in school and in sports, but he also has enough down time which he desperately needs. The key is finding the right amount of balance of being busy and being able to relax. We believe it's really important to "be a kid" especially after these past two years. All of our kids have lost so much.

We've been very impressed with his teachers. They are incredibly supportive, but they also push him. He is also learning how to study, how to write, and how to manage his time.

Socially, he's also very happy and has lots of all different kinds of friends. He is very sporty, but also likes theater and video games and he's found friends with all of those interests. There are about 115 kids in the grade which doesn't feel too small or too big. There's also a really strong sense of community with annual traditions, etc. All the parents we have met have been welcoming and friendly.

I know application deadlines have passed, but if you truly are interested I would give admissions a call. It can't hurt.

I love reading posts like this!

We’re another SSSAS family and when we applied (a couple years ago) it wasn’t at the top of my list (I don’t know why - I think I naively thought we’d either do a “big 3” or public). I nearly didn’t go to the open house! But from the beginning I was just blown away by the combination of academics and a joyful love of learning and a really kind and caring community. I saw they recently released a new admissions video that’s super goofy and I just thought, yup, that is ACTUALLY what St Stephens is like - warm, joyful, goofy, while still being academically strong. It’s not a pressure cooker, in that parents and teachers seem to universally value balance and joy over achievement, but LEARNING for the joy of learning is highly valued.

It’s a reminder to other parents not to get too wrapped up in what you think your top choice “should” be, but to really consider a school for what it is.

[Anonymous]

The video I’m talking about above!

https://youtu.be/KyvMJ8tszYI

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It just seemed obvious to me that GDS must have a separate admissions track for the connected etc, and the interviews were a tedious formality for the admissions staff.

I also got this impression. It just seemed like they didn't think we were worth their time. It really makes me wonder who they do think is worth their time? Seems like they missed out on some potentially really great kids and families.

Those of you with the disinterested GDS interviewers - are you coming from public or private? I've read on this board it might be much easier to get into private 9th from private 8th, so wonder if people applying from public are given less consideration including during the interviews?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It just seemed obvious to me that GDS must have a separate admissions track for the connected etc, and the interviews were a tedious formality for the admissions staff.

I also got this impression. It just seemed like they didn't think we were worth their time. It really makes me wonder who they do think is worth their time? Seems like they missed out on some potentially really great kids and families.

Those of you with the disinterested GDS interviewers - are you coming from public or private? I've read on this board it might be much easier to get into private 9th from private 8th, so wonder if people applying from public are given less consideration including during the interviews?

What would be more informative is that for the kids who did get in, was their interview as disinterested as the rest of us have reported?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It just seemed obvious to me that GDS must have a separate admissions track for the connected etc, and the interviews were a tedious formality for the admissions staff.

I also got this impression. It just seemed like they didn't think we were worth their time. It really makes me wonder who they do think is worth their time? Seems like they missed out on some potentially really great kids and families.

Those of you with the disinterested GDS interviewers - are you coming from public or private? I've read on this board it might be much easier to get into private 9th from private 8th, so wonder if people applying from public are given less consideration including during the interviews?

From public. Time will soon tell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It just seemed obvious to me that GDS must have a separate admissions track for the connected etc, and the interviews were a tedious formality for the admissions staff.

I also got this impression. It just seemed like they didn't think we were worth their time. It really makes me wonder who they do think is worth their time? Seems like they missed out on some potentially really great kids and families.

Those of you with the disinterested GDS interviewers - are you coming from public or private? I've read on this board it might be much easier to get into private 9th from private 8th, so wonder if people applying from public are given less consideration including during the interviews?

From a private k-8 that regularly sends kids to GDS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The video I’m talking about above!

https://youtu.be/KyvMJ8tszYI

I was a little surprised they sent this video to applicants. Not a hit with my DC. Maybe a sign SSSAS isn’t a good fit?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It just seemed obvious to me that GDS must have a separate admissions track for the connected etc, and the interviews were a tedious formality for the admissions staff.

I also got this impression. It just seemed like they didn't think we were worth their time. It really makes me wonder who they do think is worth their time? Seems like they missed out on some potentially really great kids and families.

Those of you with the disinterested GDS interviewers - are you coming from public or private? I've read on this board it might be much easier to get into private 9th from private 8th, so wonder if people applying from public are given less consideration including during the interviews?

Public

(not very social justice oriented of them to treat the "poors" differently)