Are SR Admissions considerably tougher at 9th?

[Anonymous]

What type of girl is most successful?

[Anonymous]

Like all schools, this varies from year to year

[Anonymous]

Our daughter is a rising 9th grader there and we just went through the process.

Stone Ridge no longer does standardized testing, so that's something to think about. But they do consider grades and standardized test scores from existing schools as well as teacher evaluations. They also conduct a reading/writing assessment prior to decisions. In prior years they used the SSAT.

The other interesting thing is SR is the only school we applied to that did not require an essay. They do have a questionnaire the student responds (5 random things) and they want to know what the applicant is doing, so lots of prompts for types of activities. But they explained that the writing assessment is the tool they use to evaluate writing ability and thoughtfulness. There is a parent questionnaire, which I am told is very important to provide insight about your daughter. We spent a lot of time on that piece.

Having just gone through the process ourselves, I can only say that it seems they are looking for girls who are smart, motivated, and busy with a preference for girls coming out of Catholic K-8s. When we met with our school principal about HS applications last year, we were told our daughter is perfect for SR. I still am not sure exactly what that means, but I guess we will find out.

[Anonymous]

Congrats! We have been told SR is an amazing community with great families. Was your daughter coming from a Catholic K-8?

[Anonymous]

My experience is pre-covid, but, they had spaces open in middle school whereas they always filled upper school, so yes, admissions was easier in MS vs. US. Between lifers and siblings there just aren't a lot of US spots. If you know you want SR, I would definitely apply in MS.

[DCpetunia]

Anonymous wrote:Our daughter is a rising 9th grader there and we just went through the process.

Stone Ridge no longer does standardized testing, so that's something to think about. But they do consider grades and standardized test scores from existing schools as well as teacher evaluations. They also conduct a reading/writing assessment prior to decisions. In prior years they used the SSAT.

The other interesting thing is SR is the only school we applied to that did not require an essay. They do have a questionnaire the student responds (5 random things) and they want to know what the applicant is doing, so lots of prompts for types of activities. But they explained that the writing assessment is the tool they use to evaluate writing ability and thoughtfulness. [b]There is a parent questionnaire, which I am told is very important to provide insight about your daughter. We spent a lot of time on that piece.[/b][b]

Having just gone through the process ourselves, I can only say that it seems they are looking for girls who are smart, motivated, and busy with a preference for girls coming out of Catholic K-8s. When we met with our school principal about HS applications last year, we were told our daughter is perfect for SR. I still am not sure exactly what that means, but I guess we will find out.

We did this as well. As for what they look for, seems to be as stated above - smart, motivated, busy. These girls are pretty busy with sports, ECs and homework, plus social lives on weekends. Our impression, based solely on what our DD tells us and what we hear from other parents, is there are 3-4 camps of girls in 9th grade: the popular mostly blonde girls (mostly lacrosse players), the super sporty girls who aren't in the first group, and everyon else (mix of sportos, smarties, arties, and whatever else). The popular girls seem to be the minority, and that seems to be the only real exclusive group; the sporty/artsy/smarty girls seem to blur the lines and do a little of everything, which is good. The only real beef I have heard is that socializaton is a bit weird - the popular girls seem to throw (or attend) parties on the weekends and have a very exclusive invite list, and that tranlates into (or reinforces) exclusionary behavior on campus during school. No idea if that is true, but the complaint is that the school has not done enough school-sponsored social events to try to bring the girls together and blur the lines, so that translates into exclusionary behavior. In our exprience, the lack of social events is totally true; only one social with Gonzaga, all year, and very few (if any) social events other than sporting events. SR can do better here.

Even with the exclusionary behavior, seems that everyone is pretty nice to each other on campus. Sports are HUGE - very, very athletic culture. But there are enough athletic options for everyone, not every girl is travel-calibre and they are encouraged to try new things (DD tried 2 new sports during the school year). Overall we are happy but for the lack of social events.

[Anonymous]

For our athletic, smart DD - SR has been excellent. The last few graduating classes have been admitted to top notch schools. SR has a great reputation and colleges know that.

[Anonymous]

DCpetunia wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our daughter is a rising 9th grader there and we just went through the process.

Stone Ridge no longer does standardized testing, so that's something to think about. But they do consider grades and standardized test scores from existing schools as well as teacher evaluations. They also conduct a reading/writing assessment prior to decisions. In prior years they used the SSAT.

The other interesting thing is SR is the only school we applied to that did not require an essay. They do have a questionnaire the student responds (5 random things) and they want to know what the applicant is doing, so lots of prompts for types of activities. But they explained that the writing assessment is the tool they use to evaluate writing ability and thoughtfulness. [b]There is a parent questionnaire, which I am told is very important to provide insight about your daughter. We spent a lot of time on that piece.[/b][b]

Having just gone through the process ourselves, I can only say that it seems they are looking for girls who are smart, motivated, and busy with a preference for girls coming out of Catholic K-8s. When we met with our school principal about HS applications last year, we were told our daughter is perfect for SR. I still am not sure exactly what that means, but I guess we will find out.

We did this as well. As for what they look for, seems to be as stated above - smart, motivated, busy. These girls are pretty busy with sports, ECs and homework, plus social lives on weekends. Our impression, based solely on what our DD tells us and what we hear from other parents, is there are 3-4 camps of girls in 9th grade: the popular mostly blonde girls (mostly lacrosse players), the super sporty girls who aren't in the first group, and everyon else (mix of sportos, smarties, arties, and whatever else). The popular girls seem to be the minority, and that seems to be the only real exclusive group; the sporty/artsy/smarty girls seem to blur the lines and do a little of everything, which is good. The only real beef I have heard is that socializaton is a bit weird - the popular girls seem to throw (or attend) parties on the weekends and have a very exclusive invite list, and that tranlates into (or reinforces) exclusionary behavior on campus during school. No idea if that is true, but the complaint is that the school has not done enough school-sponsored social events to try to bring the girls together and blur the lines, so that translates into exclusionary behavior. In our exprience, the lack of social events is totally true; only one social with Gonzaga, all year, and very few (if any) social events other than sporting events. SR can do better here.

Even with the exclusionary behavior, seems that everyone is pretty nice to each other on campus. Sports are HUGE - very, very athletic culture. But there are enough athletic options for everyone, not every girl is travel-calibre and they are encouraged to try new things (DD tried 2 new sports during the school year). Overall we are happy but for the lack of social events.

your description of the social scene matches my daughter's at another all girls school. There are also the partying popular girls but they are a small demographic. Unless you are trying to fit in with their group (a hopeless endeavor), they are harmless enough. And as a parent, it is best to not have your daughter in this crowd as it means alcohol and boys.