Bottom Half at Sidwell - How is college placement?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Woops, sorry, the midrange more like 70%, I am actually a science/math nerd, can't believe I can't add. So much for simple arithmetic. The midrange kids are going to really good schools-U Chicago, Bowdoin, Wesleyan, Georgetown, Cornell, McGill, USC, Michigan, Rice, NYU, Hopkins, Barnard, Wash U, Tulane, Emory, a few overseas at LSE, St Andrews, Edinburgh, and in some cases specialized places such as film schools or theater programs. I believe those kids perhaps are benefiting the most from being at a place like Sidwell, at a large public they might not be pushed or challenged as much, and might float long with less intensive advising/college counseling, and end up at less intellectually stimulating colleges and less prepared to excel when they get there.

I think I agree with this, on balance. I also think it's possible that some kids might find themselves trying harder at public school, and pushing themselves more to get attention and recognition. I think it would depend a lot on the kid. Certainly, the college advising and counseling is less helpful at public schools.

My kids graduated from Sidwell. I agree with much that the first poster above says -- except for the part about college counseling. Sidwell's strength in the US is a faculty and peer group which combine to create a robust intellectual experience. The college counseling program is fine, but not exceptional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Woops, sorry, the midrange more like 70%, I am actually a science/math nerd, can't believe I can't add. So much for simple arithmetic. The midrange kids are going to really good schools-U Chicago, Bowdoin, Wesleyan, Georgetown, Cornell, McGill, USC, Michigan, Rice, NYU, Hopkins, Barnard, Wash U, Tulane, Emory, a few overseas at LSE, St Andrews, Edinburgh, and in some cases specialized places such as film schools or theater programs. I believe those kids perhaps are benefiting the most from being at a place like Sidwell, at a large public they might not be pushed or challenged as much, and might float long with less intensive advising/college counseling, and end up at less intellectually stimulating colleges and less prepared to excel when they get there.

I think I agree with this, on balance. I also think it's possible that some kids might find themselves trying harder at public school, and pushing themselves more to get attention and recognition. I think it would depend a lot on the kid. Certainly, the college advising and counseling is less helpful at public schools.

My kids graduated from Sidwell. I agree with much that the first poster above says -- except for the part about college counseling. Sidwell's strength in the US is a faculty and peer group which combine to create a robust intellectual experience. The college counseling program is fine, but not exceptional.

But college counseling at Sidwell starts with a class junior year, no? That's more than most privates and certainly more than any public.

[Anonymous]

Most of the Sidwell grads I know, including my own kids, would say that the college counseling workshop was not all that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of the Sidwell grads I know, including my own kids, would say that the college counseling workshop was not all that.

Still. They took time out of the day during junior year to give some thought as to what kind of college they wanted, big/small, urban/rural, what they wanted to do there, and more. That's a blessing.

[Anonymous]

Any more updates on this thread? Where do the kids at the lower end of the Sidwell class go to college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any more updates on this thread? Where do the kids at the lower end of the Sidwell class go to college?

Great schools, but none attended that "#1 ranked International Business School - South Carolina" or that fine institution Indiana. They settled for Top 25 schools and selective SLACs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Only a small number of colleges can have a Sidwell or St. Albans or GDS graduate.

Every college can have a public school graduate.

Bottom half as an impediment? Just do the math.

I think most competitive colleges would rather have interesting high achievers from public schools than yet another prep school grad. The math has been done. Bottom half of class matters but coming from a "top" private school can actually hurt.

I'm not going to read the whole thread but you know this has been well publicized. Colleges like geographic diversity, especially the top ones. A straight A student from some podunk public school in North Dakota with good test scores is always going to beat out a middling student at a school like Sidwell. Just how it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another Sidwell parent here -- can I ask what you're basing this on? I know the kids claim to know what everyone else scored, but do you really think those reports are credible beyond your child's circle of very close friends? I sure don't.''

Like I said, I read it somewhere here on a spreadsheet. That said, my recent grad had a score in that range that was average for the school. Sidwell kids tend to do extremely well in verbal and reading- writing sections of the SAT which brings up averages. As to your snarky tone about whether or not the reports are credible, the scores and grades were consistent with the colleges kids got in to. You get to know the families pretty well and I don't think there was any misinformation about grades and scores. That hasn't been my experience at the school.

Sidwell kids do well on the SAT because the SAT is highly correlated with family income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another Sidwell parent here -- can I ask what you're basing this on? I know the kids claim to know what everyone else scored, but do you really think those reports are credible beyond your child's circle of very close friends? I sure don't.''

Like I said, I read it somewhere here on a spreadsheet. That said, my recent grad had a score in that range that was average for the school. Sidwell kids tend to do extremely well in verbal and reading- writing sections of the SAT which brings up averages. As to your snarky tone about whether or not the reports are credible, the scores and grades were consistent with the colleges kids got in to. You get to know the families pretty well and I don't think there was any misinformation about grades and scores. That hasn't been my experience at the school.

Sidwell kids do well on the SAT because the SAT is highly correlated with family income.

Why do you think that is? One explanation: the SAT measures intelligence (it is one test accepted for admission to MENSA) and there is surely some correlation between intelligence and family income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sidwell kids do well on the SAT because the SAT is highly correlated with family income.

Correlation ? causation

[Anonymous]

Over the years I've met plenty of people that had perfect or near perfect scores on the SAT and none of them were dumb (some were unlikable, but that's a different story).

On the other hand, I've met many 4.0 (or higher) students who were genuinely dumb. Grade inflation is a reality and there is no uniform standard across schools.

The SAT is the best metric available, though it is not perfect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Only a small number of colleges can have a Sidwell or St. Albans or GDS graduate.

Every college can have a public school graduate.

Bottom half as an impediment? Just do the math.

I think most competitive colleges would rather have interesting high achievers from public schools than yet another prep school grad. The math has been done. Bottom half of class matters but coming from a "top" private school can actually hurt.

I'm not going to read the whole thread but you know this has been well publicized. Colleges like geographic diversity, especially the top ones. A straight A student from some podunk public school in North Dakota with good test scores is always going to beat out a middling student at a school like Sidwell. Just how it is.

This is true, but not especially relevant for this thread. There isn't a school in the country that is looking for DCUM-type kids based on "geographic diversity." NW DC, Lower MoCo and NoVa are well represented everywhere. It's places like North Dakota or Alaska where you'll get that bump.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any more updates on this thread? Where do the kids at the lower end of the Sidwell class go to college?

Great schools, but none attended that "#1 ranked International Business School - South Carolina" or that fine institution Indiana. They settled for Top 25 schools and selective SLACs.

This is incorrect -- not every student from sidwell went to a top 25 school. that is a ridiculous claim and sidwell does not publish college results so there is no evidence. I however personally know 3 recent grads of sidwell that did not got to a top 25 college -- one was U Maryland, one was Connecticut college and the third was sewanne. That's a sample size of 3 but discredit your claim.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any more updates on this thread? Where do the kids at the lower end of the Sidwell class go to college?

Great schools, but none attended that "#1 ranked International Business School - South Carolina" or that fine institution Indiana. They settled for Top 25 schools and selective SLACs.

This is incorrect -- not every student from sidwell went to a top 25 school. that is a ridiculous claim and sidwell does not publish college results so there is no evidence. I however personally know 3 recent grads of sidwell that did not got to a top 25 college -- one was U Maryland, one was Connecticut college and the third was sewanne. That's a sample size of 3 but discredit your claim.

Connecticut College and Sewanee are selective SLACs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Great schools, but none attended that "#1 ranked International Business School - South Carolina" or that fine institution Indiana. They settled for Top 25 schools and selective SLACs.

This is incorrect -- not every student from sidwell went to a top 25 school. that is a ridiculous claim and sidwell does not publish college results so there is no evidence. I however personally know 3 recent grads of sidwell that did not got to a top 25 college -- one was U Maryland, one was Connecticut college and the third was sewanne. That's a sample size of 3 but discredit your claim.

I know a 2013 Sidwell grad who went to a different LAC well below below the top 25 USNWR LAC rankings. I happen to think the rankings are useless, but the point is that the first PP is full of it.