Now that it's over, tell me about the good and bad experiences you had with admissions offices

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a GDS parent, I am so frustrated by the feedback I hear year after year about the admissions department. They are not organized and in some cases not even friendly to prospective families. I hear this all the time from friends applying across the different grades. In particular, the head of admisssions for the HS has been there forever and seems burned out.

There is an arrogance to it that makes me furious. It seems GDS's attitude is like - take us or leave us - we have a million applicants.

My kids love GDS and are getting a great education but I do not want ANY potential family with a great kid turned pff by the process!!

We should be marketing to every family and cultivating every potential applicant. Russell please listen to this feedback and make some changes!

PP, if it makes you feel any better, the head of admissions was absolutely wonderful with our DC. Engaged and very kind- she even responded to an email sent by our DC. DC was WL, but we weren’t surprised. It’s almost impossible to get in after 9th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Loved the Arts Open House at Potomac and was impressed with the communication throughout the process.

+1

[Anonymous]

We met with the head of admissions at GDS for our son’s interview. We found her straight forward, curious about our son, and warm. I think information she wanted about us as parents she gleaned by observation with our interactions with our son. We shared what we saw as his strengths, but also where we thought he could benefit from a GDS education - that he was not getting in his public school. Honestly wasn’t sure if the interview was a ‘success’ or not. When we emailed the admissions office she promptly responded to the emails herself. My kid chose not to interview at other schools- so can’t compare to other admission offices - but the school felt right to him based on this experience and what he picked up from remote information. Think she is trying to figure out which kids will be the best fit for GDS, with her longevity quality of the students they are bringing in, expect she is doing something right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Didn’t apply this year, but when we applied to Lowell AD kept insisting that our DC should go to Lab School when she found out our kid has a learning difference. Our child had been in another mainstream private and the learning difference was not an issue there at all. It was really off-putting and frustrating that she wouldn’t look at our child with an open mind.

Lowell has a new AD now.

[Anonymous]

Terrific experience at Stone Ridge and NCS. Both were warm and had lovely sense of community. Not so great at Sidwell or Holton.

[Anonymous]

My DS really liked his Potomac interviewer, it was his favorite by far. They made a connection. DS was WL. His classmate was accepted and declined, parent mentioned he had a “not great” interview. I think these interactions and interviews don’t account for much. Being talented at a sport does seem important for 9th.

[Anonymous]

Best by far SSSAS. Worst by a landslide GDS with Potomac next worst.

[Anonymous]

We had a terrific experience/interview with the AD at Potomac and felt he was the most genuine out of all of our admission visits to other schools. DS is WL'd but in terms of time spent with us and communication Potomac stood out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We met with the head of admissions at GDS for our son’s interview. We found her straight forward, curious about our son, and warm. I think information she wanted about us as parents she gleaned by observation with our interactions with our son. We shared what we saw as his strengths, but also where we thought he could benefit from a GDS education - that he was not getting in his public school. Honestly wasn’t sure if the interview was a ‘success’ or not. When we emailed the admissions office she promptly responded to the emails herself. My kid chose not to interview at other schools- so can’t compare to other admission offices - but the school felt right to him based on this experience and what he picked up from remote information. Think she is trying to figure out which kids will be the best fit for GDS, with her longevity quality of the students they are bringing in, expect she is doing something right.

Did he get in? What grade?

[Anonymous]

Madeira's admissions team is fabulous! Everyone was warm, thoughtful, curious, helpful, very responsive by phone and email, and very encouraging to our family as well as other families visiting at the same time as us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Madeira's admissions team is fabulous! Everyone was warm, thoughtful, curious, helpful, very responsive by phone and email, and very encouraging to our family as well as other families visiting at the same time as us.

+1. Looking forward to our daughter becoming a Snail this fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had a terrific experience/interview with the AD at Potomac and felt he was the most genuine out of all of our admission visits to other schools. DS is WL'd but in terms of time spent with us and communication Potomac stood out.

I know 8 kids who got waitlisted at Potomac and don’t know any who got in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a GDS parent, I am so frustrated by the feedback I hear year after year about the admissions department. They are not organized and in some cases not even friendly to prospective families. I hear this all the time from friends applying across the different grades. In particular, the head of admisssions for the HS has been there forever and seems burned out.

There is an arrogance to it that makes me furious. It seems GDS's attitude is like - take us or leave us - we have a million applicants.

My kids love GDS and are getting a great education but I do not want ANY potential family with a great kid turned pff by the process!!

We should be marketing to every family and cultivating every potential applicant. Russell please listen to this feedback and make some changes!

We were turned off especially after interviewing with other schools. The arrogance really shows and as a prospective parent I didn't believe it could be limited to the admissions team. If people have been complaining for years and no one has done anything about it the arrogance is pervasive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We met with the head of admissions at GDS for our son’s interview. We found her straight forward, curious about our son, and warm. I think information she wanted about us as parents she gleaned by observation with our interactions with our son. We shared what we saw as his strengths, but also where we thought he could benefit from a GDS education - that he was not getting in his public school. Honestly wasn’t sure if the interview was a ‘success’ or not. When we emailed the admissions office she promptly responded to the emails herself. My kid chose not to interview at other schools- so can’t compare to other admission offices - but the school felt right to him based on this experience and what he picked up from remote information. Think she is trying to figure out which kids will be the best fit for GDS, with her longevity quality of the students they are bringing in, expect she is doing something right.

Did he get in? What grade?

Yes, got in. Ninth grade, but don’t think it was obvious to anyone that would be the outcome. I think a good interviewer is paying attention to a lot of verbal and nonverbal information and sometimes taking notes. So, my impression is the focus is on ascertaining is this kid going to be a good fit, with the focus by the interviewer be on taking notes that to allow recall re: the details about this kid. That was my expectation, as opposed to an effort to present the school to the kid / parents who are being interviewed. There were many other venues for that during the application ‘season’. .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a GDS parent, I am so frustrated by the feedback I hear year after year about the admissions department. They are not organized and in some cases not even friendly to prospective families. I hear this all the time from friends applying across the different grades. In particular, the head of admisssions for the HS has been there forever and seems burned out.

There is an arrogance to it that makes me furious. It seems GDS's attitude is like - take us or leave us - we have a million applicants.

My kids love GDS and are getting a great education but I do not want ANY potential family with a great kid turned pff by the process!!

We should be marketing to every family and cultivating every potential applicant. Russell please listen to this feedback and make some changes!

I would definitely share your feedback directly with the school. We also had a terrible experience, with two different interviewers: one for lower school and the other for middle. I definitely got the impression they were not interested in getting to know us at all. Definitely felt very snobby and elitist. We left wondering if the interview would have been better if we were wealthier or more well-connected. It was ironic for a school with a social justice mission. We are not-white and I am the first generation to have a college eduction. Lots of different kinds of diversity in our family but at the end of the day, we felt like they weren't interested in any of that. Curious to know what their DEI focus is re: recruiting students?