SWW interviews

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Confirmed with admin that emails with date/time for interviews will be going out this afternoon.

Thanks! I was going to call today

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Confirmed with admin that emails with date/time for interviews will be going out this afternoon.

Thanks! I was going to call today

Thanks, PP!

[Anonymous]

I think middle school grades can be weighted if students are taking classes like algebra two and Chinese 2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think middle school grades can be weighted if students are taking classes like algebra two and Chinese 2.

Nope. All classes are considered the same for GPA and admissions. I had a kid who applied with Algebra 2 and there was no bump.

[Anonymous]

They got rid of the test to try and recruit more kids from wards 7 and 8.
The strategy didn’t work as the school still has very few kids from ward 7 and 8.
Ward 3 has the most kids at walls which kind of makes sense because it is the most populous ward.
The commute to Walls from wards 7 and 8 is daunting. Many of those kids enroll OOB at Eastern HS.
Conclusion: They should bring back the test

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know the ward make up? Is it really the very uber 3rd ward mostly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know the ward make up? Is it really the very uber 3rd ward mostly?

Anacostia High School 4%
Ballou High School 3%
Cardozo Education Campus 8%
Coolidge High School 7%
Dunbar High School 8%
Eastern High School 20%
Roosevelt High School 6%
Wilson High School 41%
Woodson High School 4%

These are the in-boundary schools of SWW students. This is from the data posted on this thread: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1110151.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think middle school grades can be weighted if students are taking classes like algebra two and Chinese 2.

No. Underwater dodgeball counts the same as Algebra 2 and Advanced Mandarin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I think the biggest problem is that they go by seventh grade GPAs, and make no differentiation of the school attended, the course difficulty and the grading policies….

In a few years time, I think MacArthur high school will likely out rank SWW in terms of quality and desireability

How would they differentiate by school? I might argue it’s not fair to claim a 3.7 at Basis is a stronger student than a 3.7 at a DCPS middle school. Who’s to say the kid at the DCPS wouldn’t get a 3.7 at Basis? There is no way to do this in a fair way.

Are you joking? A 3.7 at Basis is easily a 4.0 at any other public school on DC. They don’t have the same grade inflation and social promotion.

So your kid wins the lottery by getting into basis, and also gets an easier track into walls where they can get a lower GPA and still get an interview because they got into a harder middle school through the lottery? That’s ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think middle school grades can be weighted if students are taking classes like algebra two and Chinese 2.

Nope. All classes are considered the same for GPA and admissions. I had a kid who applied with Algebra 2 and there was no bump.

NP but if a class is listed as an honors course, then there is a GPA bump. Therefore a student could theoretically have above a 4.0.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think middle school grades can be weighted if students are taking classes like algebra two and Chinese 2.

Nope. All classes are considered the same for GPA and admissions. I had a kid who applied with Algebra 2 and there was no bump.

NP but if a class is listed as an honors course, then there is a GPA bump. Therefore a student could theoretically have above a 4.0.

Sigh. No one takes honors classes in 7th grade in DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I think the biggest problem is that they go by seventh grade GPAs, and make no differentiation of the school attended, the course difficulty and the grading policies….

In a few years time, I think MacArthur high school will likely out rank SWW in terms of quality and desireability

How would they differentiate by school? I might argue it’s not fair to claim a 3.7 at Basis is a stronger student than a 3.7 at a DCPS middle school. Who’s to say the kid at the DCPS wouldn’t get a 3.7 at Basis? There is no way to do this in a fair way.

Are you joking? A 3.7 at Basis is easily a 4.0 at any other public school on DC. They don’t have the same grade inflation and social promotion.

So your kid wins the lottery by getting into basis, and also gets an easier track into walls where they can get a lower GPA and still get an interview because they got into a harder middle school through the lottery? That’s ridiculous.

Dumb take. Walls is supposed to be accept the top students in DCPS. Picking those students by just looking at GPA (and a 5-minute interview) is ridiculous.

Name a selective college that picks its student body by just taking the kids with the best GPAs, regardless of high school attended, cllasses taken, rigor, or anything else. Doesn't happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think middle school grades can be weighted if students are taking classes like algebra two and Chinese 2.

No. Underwater dodgeball counts the same as Algebra 2 and Advanced Mandarin.

Weighting classes for admissions is a slippery slope. Kids can only take the hardest classes their school offers. So a kid might be ready for algebra two and eighth grade but their middle school doesn’t offer it. They shouldn’t be penalized for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I think the biggest problem is that they go by seventh grade GPAs, and make no differentiation of the school attended, the course difficulty and the grading policies….

In a few years time, I think MacArthur high school will likely out rank SWW in terms of quality and desireability

How would they differentiate by school? I might argue it’s not fair to claim a 3.7 at Basis is a stronger student than a 3.7 at a DCPS middle school. Who’s to say the kid at the DCPS wouldn’t get a 3.7 at Basis? There is no way to do this in a fair way.

Are you joking? A 3.7 at Basis is easily a 4.0 at any other public school on DC. They don’t have the same grade inflation and social promotion.

So your kid wins the lottery by getting into basis, and also gets an easier track into walls where they can get a lower GPA and still get an interview because they got into a harder middle school through the lottery? That’s ridiculous.

Dumb take. Walls is supposed to be accept the top students in DCPS. Picking those students by just looking at GPA (and a 5-minute interview) is ridiculous.

Name a selective college that picks its student body by just taking the kids with the best GPAs, regardless of high school attended, cllasses taken, rigor, or anything else. Doesn't happen.

High school and college are not the same thing. Please stop trying to make admissions for high school the same as admissions for college. And admissions for college are just as murky as admissions for walls.

[Anonymous]

PP again, and if we’re going to do Walls admissions like college admissions, then we must certainly take into account many criteria to get the diversity that a college strives for. But you upper NW parents really wouldn’t like that. But that’s just my dumb take.