Sidwell College Admissions This Year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sidwell is a scam. They admit the parents and situation. The kid is a byproduct.

Funny how the vast majority of Sidwell parents went to Ivy or other too schools. Thus assuring the legacy bump the child would have received from any school.

If the parent isn’t from an Ivy or other too school, you can bet the child is a URM, first in family to go to college or exceptional athlete.

The admissions office stacks the deck. These children would have had the same outcome from any school in the DMV.

But a scam is a scam.

I wouldn't call Sidwell a scam--the kids get a great education. But it's definitely true that pedigree matters in admissions. I'll never forget how quickly the admissions interviewer lost interest once my husband and I talked about where we came from and where we went to college. She even made a snide remark along the lines of "you must be proud of how far you've come." I knew immediately that our kid wasn't getting in.

[Anonymous]

My Sidwell senior got into 3 Ivies. All in RD. Going to one. It does happen. Completely unhooked. Not legacy, not URM, not first generation, not an athlete. Very high stats. Hugely disappointing outcomes in early round, including safeties. Kid then wrote roughly 30 unique essays derived from 9 “root” essays, which I think made a critical difference IMO in the RD round. Kid’s passion for deep intellectual inquiry came through loud and clear. The essays were not perfunctory. We accepted the reality that my kid “checked no boxes” in the early round. If unhooked, accept the fact that in the early round colleges focus on their institutional priorities and my unhooked kid doesn’t fall into any of those categories. Stay focused on making the essays extraordinary because high stats kids may have a tendency to undervalue the importance of the essays. It took me a long time to convince my kid of this, but it finally broke through and fortunately worked out. All the while, my kid remained very happy for the hooked kids and felt almost all were fully deserving of the opportunities they got. Kid was constructive and so was I. I’m trying not to sound preachy, but focus on what you can control not what you cannot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sidwell is a scam. They admit the parents and situation. The kid is a byproduct.

Funny how the vast majority of Sidwell parents went to Ivy or other too schools. Thus assuring the legacy bump the child would have received from any school.

If the parent isn’t from an Ivy or other too school, you can bet the child is a URM, first in family to go to college or exceptional athlete.

The admissions office stacks the deck. These children would have had the same outcome from any school in the DMV.

But a scam is a scam.

I wouldn't call Sidwell a scam--the kids get a great education. But it's definitely true that pedigree matters in admissions. I'll never forget how quickly the admissions interviewer lost interest once my husband and I talked about where we came from and where we went to college. She even made a snide remark along the lines of "you must be proud of how far you've come." I knew immediately that our kid wasn't getting in.

How is that snide? Maybe you have a chip on your shoulder?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My Sidwell senior got into 3 Ivies. All in RD. Going to one. It does happen. Completely unhooked. Not legacy, not URM, not first generation, not an athlete. Very high stats. Hugely disappointing outcomes in early round, including safeties. Kid then wrote roughly 30 unique essays derived from 9 “root” essays, which I think made a critical difference IMO in the RD round. Kid’s passion for deep intellectual inquiry came through loud and clear. The essays were not perfunctory. We accepted the reality that my kid “checked no boxes” in the early round. If unhooked, accept the fact that in the early round colleges focus on their institutional priorities and my unhooked kid doesn’t fall into any of those categories. Stay focused on making the essays extraordinary because high stats kids may have a tendency to undervalue the importance of the essays. It took me a long time to convince my kid of this, but it finally broke through and fortunately worked out. All the while, my kid remained very happy for the hooked kids and felt almost all were fully deserving of the opportunities they got. Kid was constructive and so was I. I’m trying not to sound preachy, but focus on what you can control not what you cannot.

You do sound preachy. How do you know the other parents didn't do all this and still didn't get into ivies or any of the other top schools? They are allowed to feel disappointed and upset. I do think that Sidwell does not serve its students well but that's another story for another day.

[Anonymous]

You do sound self-satisfied including how your kid was so happy for the hooked kids and how constructive you all were. Maybe the nugget here though is that essays matter. What are the 9 root essays? I always thought you were supposed to approach each essay on its own terms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My Sidwell senior got into 3 Ivies. All in RD. Going to one. It does happen. Completely unhooked. Not legacy, not URM, not first generation, not an athlete. Very high stats. Hugely disappointing outcomes in early round, including safeties. Kid then wrote roughly 30 unique essays derived from 9 “root” essays, which I think made a critical difference IMO in the RD round. Kid’s passion for deep intellectual inquiry came through loud and clear. The essays were not perfunctory. We accepted the reality that my kid “checked no boxes” in the early round. If unhooked, accept the fact that in the early round colleges focus on their institutional priorities and my unhooked kid doesn’t fall into any of those categories. Stay focused on making the essays extraordinary because high stats kids may have a tendency to undervalue the importance of the essays. It took me a long time to convince my kid of this, but it finally broke through and fortunately worked out. All the while, my kid remained very happy for the hooked kids and felt almost all were fully deserving of the opportunities they got. Kid was constructive and so was I. I’m trying not to sound preachy, but focus on what you can control not what you cannot.

You do sound preachy. How do you know the other parents didn't do all this and still didn't get into ivies or any of the other top schools? They are allowed to feel disappointed and upset. I do think that Sidwell does not serve its students well but that's another story for another day.

I am not the pp you are replying to, but it is fine to be upset about college results, people need to remember, that no one is entitled to seats at a school. It is ridiculous what the parent community - this is not focused at Sidwell, but in the region generally, has devolved to. Ridiculous that people think there are like 20 schools that are acceptable and that if your kid isn't going to one of them, they are somehow less, and that the school they went to is a "scam"

People really need to check themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My Sidwell senior got into 3 Ivies. All in RD. Going to one. It does happen. Completely unhooked. Not legacy, not URM, not first generation, not an athlete. Very high stats. Hugely disappointing outcomes in early round, including safeties. Kid then wrote roughly 30 unique essays derived from 9 “root” essays, which I think made a critical difference IMO in the RD round. Kid’s passion for deep intellectual inquiry came through loud and clear. The essays were not perfunctory. We accepted the reality that my kid “checked no boxes” in the early round. If unhooked, accept the fact that in the early round colleges focus on their institutional priorities and my unhooked kid doesn’t fall into any of those categories. Stay focused on making the essays extraordinary because high stats kids may have a tendency to undervalue the importance of the essays. It took me a long time to convince my kid of this, but it finally broke through and fortunately worked out. All the while, my kid remained very happy for the hooked kids and felt almost all were fully deserving of the opportunities they got. Kid was constructive and so was I. I’m trying not to sound preachy, but focus on what you can control not what you cannot.

I don't think you sound preachy and think this is great advice. We have advised our children to pay attention details during visits (or online if not visiting) regardless of reach/safety. What are the reasons why you would want to attend this specific school and how will you fit into their community? You need to get this across in the applications, it can't just be a cookie cutter that could apply to any school. Congrats to your DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My Sidwell senior got into 3 Ivies. All in RD. Going to one. It does happen. Completely unhooked. Not legacy, not URM, not first generation, not an athlete. Very high stats. Hugely disappointing outcomes in early round, including safeties. Kid then wrote roughly 30 unique essays derived from 9 “root” essays, which I think made a critical difference IMO in the RD round. Kid’s passion for deep intellectual inquiry came through loud and clear. The essays were not perfunctory. We accepted the reality that my kid “checked no boxes” in the early round. If unhooked, accept the fact that in the early round colleges focus on their institutional priorities and my unhooked kid doesn’t fall into any of those categories. Stay focused on making the essays extraordinary because high stats kids may have a tendency to undervalue the importance of the essays. It took me a long time to convince my kid of this, but it finally broke through and fortunately worked out. All the while, my kid remained very happy for the hooked kids and felt almost all were fully deserving of the opportunities they got. Kid was constructive and so was I. I’m trying not to sound preachy, but focus on what you can control not what you cannot.

Probably not Asian as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My Sidwell senior got into 3 Ivies. All in RD. Going to one. It does happen. Completely unhooked. Not legacy, not URM, not first generation, not an athlete. Very high stats. Hugely disappointing outcomes in early round, including safeties. Kid then wrote roughly 30 unique essays derived from 9 “root” essays, which I think made a critical difference IMO in the RD round. Kid’s passion for deep intellectual inquiry came through loud and clear. The essays were not perfunctory. We accepted the reality that my kid “checked no boxes” in the early round. If unhooked, accept the fact that in the early round colleges focus on their institutional priorities and my unhooked kid doesn’t fall into any of those categories. Stay focused on making the essays extraordinary because high stats kids may have a tendency to undervalue the importance of the essays. It took me a long time to convince my kid of this, but it finally broke through and fortunately worked out. All the while, my kid remained very happy for the hooked kids and felt almost all were fully deserving of the opportunities they got. Kid was constructive and so was I. I’m trying not to sound preachy, but focus on what you can control not what you cannot.

You do sound preachy. How do you know the other parents didn't do all this and still didn't get into ivies or any of the other top schools? They are allowed to feel disappointed and upset. I do think that Sidwell does not serve its students well but that's another story for another day.

I am not the pp you are replying to, but it is fine to be upset about college results, people need to remember, that no one is entitled to seats at a school. It is ridiculous what the parent community - this is not focused at Sidwell, but in the region generally, has devolved to. Ridiculous that people think there are like 20 schools that are acceptable and that if your kid isn't going to one of them, they are somehow less, and that the school they went to is a "scam"

People really need to check themselves.

I'd recommend you google PBS Newshour college admissions. A fascinating piece that aired earlier this week. It highlighted a young woman who was admitted to Emory this admissions season. She got an 18 on the ACT (yep, an 18). In the era of test optional she simply didn't send the test result, a result that would have rightly eliminated her from consideration at such a university. The piece showed the admissions staff praise themselves for "opening up" admissions to candidates like this young woman.

Parents, do you think this is so great? An 18 on the ACT?

In this area, it takes a tremendous amount of work and to get even a B+ at Sidwell, GDS or STA, so standardized test scores reinforce that these students are strong academic high flyers. These kids are not the ones getting anything close to an 18 on an ACT. (Say what you will about test prep around the margins, but getting an 18 means you are not an academic high flyer.)

This year, just as the PBS piece highlights, plenty of high achieving students were displaced by students from less rigorous high schools and who were were able to hide their low standardized test results. In this case, the admissions staff at Emory seemed very proud of this fact, as if admission were itself an entitlement to be doled out vs. earned by demonstrable achievement.

That unprecedented dynamic is why this year was especially rough for a lot of kids. Let's please stop minimizing what happened this year by suggesting it is "entitlement" by kids who got rejected. One could argue that it is entitlement to earn an 18 on the ACT and believe you should have a spot at Emory, let alone get that spot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My Sidwell senior got into 3 Ivies. All in RD. Going to one. It does happen. Completely unhooked. Not legacy, not URM, not first generation, not an athlete. Very high stats. Hugely disappointing outcomes in early round, including safeties. Kid then wrote roughly 30 unique essays derived from 9 “root” essays, which I think made a critical difference IMO in the RD round. Kid’s passion for deep intellectual inquiry came through loud and clear. The essays were not perfunctory. We accepted the reality that my kid “checked no boxes” in the early round. If unhooked, accept the fact that in the early round colleges focus on their institutional priorities and my unhooked kid doesn’t fall into any of those categories. Stay focused on making the essays extraordinary because high stats kids may have a tendency to undervalue the importance of the essays. It took me a long time to convince my kid of this, but it finally broke through and fortunately worked out. All the while, my kid remained very happy for the hooked kids and felt almost all were fully deserving of the opportunities they got. Kid was constructive and so was I. I’m trying not to sound preachy, but focus on what you can control not what you cannot.

You do sound preachy. How do you know the other parents didn't do all this and still didn't get into ivies or any of the other top schools? They are allowed to feel disappointed and upset. I do think that Sidwell does not serve its students well but that's another story for another day.

I am not the pp you are replying to, but it is fine to be upset about college results, people need to remember, that no one is entitled to seats at a school. It is ridiculous what the parent community - this is not focused at Sidwell, but in the region generally, has devolved to. Ridiculous that people think there are like 20 schools that are acceptable and that if your kid isn't going to one of them, they are somehow less, and that the school they went to is a "scam"

People really need to check themselves.

I'd recommend you google PBS Newshour college admissions. A fascinating piece that aired earlier this week. It highlighted a young woman who was admitted to Emory this admissions season. She got an 18 on the ACT (yep, an 18). In the era of test optional she simply didn't send the test result, a result that would have rightly eliminated her from consideration at such a university. The piece showed the admissions staff praise themselves for "opening up" admissions to candidates like this young woman.

Parents, do you think this is so great? An 18 on the ACT?

In this area, it takes a tremendous amount of work and to get even a B+ at Sidwell, GDS or STA, so standardized test scores reinforce that these students are strong academic high flyers. These kids are not the ones getting anything close to an 18 on an ACT. (Say what you will about test prep around the margins, but getting an 18 means you are not an academic high flyer.)

This year, just as the PBS piece highlights, plenty of high achieving students were displaced by students from less rigorous high schools and who were were able to hide their low standardized test results. In this case, the admissions staff at Emory seemed very proud of this fact, as if admission were itself an entitlement to be doled out vs. earned by demonstrable achievement.

That unprecedented dynamic is why this year was especially rough for a lot of kids. Let's please stop minimizing what happened this year by suggesting it is "entitlement" by kids who got rejected. One could argue that it is entitlement to earn an 18 on the ACT and believe you should have a spot at Emory, let alone get that spot.

Nice anecdote.

Do you think Emory is accepted a wide range of applicants who scored an 18? Or do you think they just saw something special for this particular applicant to give them a chance?

Do you think schools have the right to compose classes as they see fit? Or should every applicant meet a specific threshold to qualify for a seat?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My Sidwell senior got into 3 Ivies. All in RD. Going to one. It does happen. Completely unhooked. Not legacy, not URM, not first generation, not an athlete. Very high stats. Hugely disappointing outcomes in early round, including safeties. Kid then wrote roughly 30 unique essays derived from 9 “root” essays, which I think made a critical difference IMO in the RD round. Kid’s passion for deep intellectual inquiry came through loud and clear. The essays were not perfunctory. We accepted the reality that my kid “checked no boxes” in the early round. If unhooked, accept the fact that in the early round colleges focus on their institutional priorities and my unhooked kid doesn’t fall into any of those categories. Stay focused on making the essays extraordinary because high stats kids may have a tendency to undervalue the importance of the essays. It took me a long time to convince my kid of this, but it finally broke through and fortunately worked out. All the while, my kid remained very happy for the hooked kids and felt almost all were fully deserving of the opportunities they got. Kid was constructive and so was I. I’m trying not to sound preachy, but focus on what you can control not what you cannot.

You do sound preachy. How do you know the other parents didn't do all this and still didn't get into ivies or any of the other top schools? They are allowed to feel disappointed and upset. I do think that Sidwell does not serve its students well but that's another story for another day.

I am not the pp you are replying to, but it is fine to be upset about college results, people need to remember, that no one is entitled to seats at a school. It is ridiculous what the parent community - this is not focused at Sidwell, but in the region generally, has devolved to. Ridiculous that people think there are like 20 schools that are acceptable and that if your kid isn't going to one of them, they are somehow less, and that the school they went to is a "scam"

People really need to check themselves.

I'd recommend you google PBS Newshour college admissions. A fascinating piece that aired earlier this week. It highlighted a young woman who was admitted to Emory this admissions season. She got an 18 on the ACT (yep, an 18). In the era of test optional she simply didn't send the test result, a result that would have rightly eliminated her from consideration at such a university. The piece showed the admissions staff praise themselves for "opening up" admissions to candidates like this young woman.

Parents, do you think this is so great? An 18 on the ACT?

In this area, it takes a tremendous amount of work and to get even a B+ at Sidwell, GDS or STA, so standardized test scores reinforce that these students are strong academic high flyers. These kids are not the ones getting anything close to an 18 on an ACT. (Say what you will about test prep around the margins, but getting an 18 means you are not an academic high flyer.)

This year, just as the PBS piece highlights, plenty of high achieving students were displaced by students from less rigorous high schools and who were were able to hide their low standardized test results. In this case, the admissions staff at Emory seemed very proud of this fact, as if admission were itself an entitlement to be doled out vs. earned by demonstrable achievement.

That unprecedented dynamic is why this year was especially rough for a lot of kids. Let's please stop minimizing what happened this year by suggesting it is "entitlement" by kids who got rejected. One could argue that it is entitlement to earn an 18 on the ACT and believe you should have a spot at Emory, let alone get that spot.

I suspect if test optional wasn't in place, this student would have spent more time/$ on test prep and would have submitted a much higher score than 18.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You do sound self-satisfied including how your kid was so happy for the hooked kids and how constructive you all were. Maybe the nugget here though is that essays matter. What are the 9 root essays? I always thought you were supposed to approach each essay on its own terms.

Yeah, the bolded is a lie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My Sidwell senior got into 3 Ivies. All in RD. Going to one. It does happen. Completely unhooked. Not legacy, not URM, not first generation, not an athlete. Very high stats. Hugely disappointing outcomes in early round, including safeties. Kid then wrote roughly 30 unique essays derived from 9 “root” essays, which I think made a critical difference IMO in the RD round. Kid’s passion for deep intellectual inquiry came through loud and clear. The essays were not perfunctory. We accepted the reality that my kid “checked no boxes” in the early round. If unhooked, accept the fact that in the early round colleges focus on their institutional priorities and my unhooked kid doesn’t fall into any of those categories. Stay focused on making the essays extraordinary because high stats kids may have a tendency to undervalue the importance of the essays. It took me a long time to convince my kid of this, but it finally broke through and fortunately worked out. All the while, my kid remained very happy for the hooked kids and felt almost all were fully deserving of the opportunities they got. Kid was constructive and so was I. I’m trying not to sound preachy, but focus on what you can control not what you cannot.

You do sound preachy. How do you know the other parents didn't do all this and still didn't get into ivies or any of the other top schools? They are allowed to feel disappointed and upset. I do think that Sidwell does not serve its students well but that's another story for another day.

I am not the pp you are replying to, but it is fine to be upset about college results, people need to remember, that no one is entitled to seats at a school. It is ridiculous what the parent community - this is not focused at Sidwell, but in the region generally, has devolved to. Ridiculous that people think there are like 20 schools that are acceptable and that if your kid isn't going to one of them, they are somehow less, and that the school they went to is a "scam"

People really need to check themselves.

I'd recommend you google PBS Newshour college admissions. A fascinating piece that aired earlier this week. It highlighted a young woman who was admitted to Emory this admissions season. She got an 18 on the ACT (yep, an 18). In the era of test optional she simply didn't send the test result, a result that would have rightly eliminated her from consideration at such a university. The piece showed the admissions staff praise themselves for "opening up" admissions to candidates like this young woman.

Parents, do you think this is so great? An 18 on the ACT?

In this area, it takes a tremendous amount of work and to get even a B+ at Sidwell, GDS or STA, so standardized test scores reinforce that these students are strong academic high flyers. These kids are not the ones getting anything close to an 18 on an ACT. (Say what you will about test prep around the margins, but getting an 18 means you are not an academic high flyer.)

This year, just as the PBS piece highlights, plenty of high achieving students were displaced by students from less rigorous high schools and who were were able to hide their low standardized test results. In this case, the admissions staff at Emory seemed very proud of this fact, as if admission were itself an entitlement to be doled out vs. earned by demonstrable achievement.

That unprecedented dynamic is why this year was especially rough for a lot of kids. Let's please stop minimizing what happened this year by suggesting it is "entitlement" by kids who got rejected. One could argue that it is entitlement to earn an 18 on the ACT and believe you should have a spot at Emory, let alone get that spot.

I will give an anecdote: College pricing is bizarrely structured nowadays that my child with a 1300 SAT (equivalent to a 28 ACT) and 3.7 GPA and AP courses ended up at a state school with an 84% acceptance rate and a 66% 6-year graduation rate. After applying to 10 colleges, my DC got merit at about half of them (applied to small LACs, big state schools, small state schools, and everything in between) but we definitely could not swing over approx. $25k/year and merit wasn't bringing any schools but two of them under that. The school DC is at is not a good fit, but it is what it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My Sidwell senior got into 3 Ivies. All in RD. Going to one. It does happen. Completely unhooked. Not legacy, not URM, not first generation, not an athlete. Very high stats. Hugely disappointing outcomes in early round, including safeties. Kid then wrote roughly 30 unique essays derived from 9 “root” essays, which I think made a critical difference IMO in the RD round. Kid’s passion for deep intellectual inquiry came through loud and clear. The essays were not perfunctory. We accepted the reality that my kid “checked no boxes” in the early round. If unhooked, accept the fact that in the early round colleges focus on their institutional priorities and my unhooked kid doesn’t fall into any of those categories. Stay focused on making the essays extraordinary because high stats kids may have a tendency to undervalue the importance of the essays. It took me a long time to convince my kid of this, but it finally broke through and fortunately worked out. All the while, my kid remained very happy for the hooked kids and felt almost all were fully deserving of the opportunities they got. Kid was constructive and so was I. I’m trying not to sound preachy, but focus on what you can control not what you cannot.

You do sound preachy. How do you know the other parents didn't do all this and still didn't get into ivies or any of the other top schools? They are allowed to feel disappointed and upset. I do think that Sidwell does not serve its students well but that's another story for another day.

I am not the pp you are replying to, but it is fine to be upset about college results, people need to remember, that no one is entitled to seats at a school. It is ridiculous what the parent community - this is not focused at Sidwell, but in the region generally, has devolved to. Ridiculous that people think there are like 20 schools that are acceptable and that if your kid isn't going to one of them, they are somehow less, and that the school they went to is a "scam"

People really need to check themselves.

I'd recommend you google PBS Newshour college admissions. A fascinating piece that aired earlier this week. It highlighted a young woman who was admitted to Emory this admissions season. She got an 18 on the ACT (yep, an 18). In the era of test optional she simply didn't send the test result, a result that would have rightly eliminated her from consideration at such a university. The piece showed the admissions staff praise themselves for "opening up" admissions to candidates like this young woman.

Parents, do you think this is so great? An 18 on the ACT?

In this area, it takes a tremendous amount of work and to get even a B+ at Sidwell, GDS or STA, so standardized test scores reinforce that these students are strong academic high flyers. These kids are not the ones getting anything close to an 18 on an ACT. (Say what you will about test prep around the margins, but getting an 18 means you are not an academic high flyer.)

This year, just as the PBS piece highlights, plenty of high achieving students were displaced by students from less rigorous high schools and who were were able to hide their low standardized test results. In this case, the admissions staff at Emory seemed very proud of this fact, as if admission were itself an entitlement to be doled out vs. earned by demonstrable achievement.

That unprecedented dynamic is why this year was especially rough for a lot of kids. Let's please stop minimizing what happened this year by suggesting it is "entitlement" by kids who got rejected. One could argue that it is entitlement to earn an 18 on the ACT and believe you should have a spot at Emory, let alone get that spot.

I will give an anecdote: College pricing is bizarrely structured nowadays that my child with a 1300 SAT (equivalent to a 28 ACT) and 3.7 GPA and AP courses ended up at a state school with an 84% acceptance rate and a 66% 6-year graduation rate. After applying to 10 colleges, my DC got merit at about half of them (applied to small LACs, big state schools, small state schools, and everything in between) but we definitely could not swing over approx. $25k/year and merit wasn't bringing any schools but two of them under that. The school DC is at is not a good fit, but it is what it is.

PP here. Meant 1310 SAT if that matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My Sidwell senior got into 3 Ivies. All in RD. Going to one. It does happen. Completely unhooked. Not legacy, not URM, not first generation, not an athlete. Very high stats. Hugely disappointing outcomes in early round, including safeties. Kid then wrote roughly 30 unique essays derived from 9 “root” essays, which I think made a critical difference IMO in the RD round. Kid’s passion for deep intellectual inquiry came through loud and clear. The essays were not perfunctory. We accepted the reality that my kid “checked no boxes” in the early round. If unhooked, accept the fact that in the early round colleges focus on their institutional priorities and my unhooked kid doesn’t fall into any of those categories. Stay focused on making the essays extraordinary because high stats kids may have a tendency to undervalue the importance of the essays. It took me a long time to convince my kid of this, but it finally broke through and fortunately worked out. All the while, my kid remained very happy for the hooked kids and felt almost all were fully deserving of the opportunities they got. Kid was constructive and so was I. I’m trying not to sound preachy, but focus on what you can control not what you cannot.

You do sound preachy. How do you know the other parents didn't do all this and still didn't get into ivies or any of the other top schools? They are allowed to feel disappointed and upset. I do think that Sidwell does not serve its students well but that's another story for another day.

I am not the pp you are replying to, but it is fine to be upset about college results, people need to remember, that no one is entitled to seats at a school. It is ridiculous what the parent community - this is not focused at Sidwell, but in the region generally, has devolved to. Ridiculous that people think there are like 20 schools that are acceptable and that if your kid isn't going to one of them, they are somehow less, and that the school they went to is a "scam"

People really need to check themselves.

I'd recommend you google PBS Newshour college admissions. A fascinating piece that aired earlier this week. It highlighted a young woman who was admitted to Emory this admissions season. She got an 18 on the ACT (yep, an 18). In the era of test optional she simply didn't send the test result, a result that would have rightly eliminated her from consideration at such a university. The piece showed the admissions staff praise themselves for "opening up" admissions to candidates like this young woman.

Parents, do you think this is so great? An 18 on the ACT?

In this area, it takes a tremendous amount of work and to get even a B+ at Sidwell, GDS or STA, so standardized test scores reinforce that these students are strong academic high flyers. These kids are not the ones getting anything close to an 18 on an ACT. (Say what you will about test prep around the margins, but getting an 18 means you are not an academic high flyer.)

This year, just as the PBS piece highlights, plenty of high achieving students were displaced by students from less rigorous high schools and who were were able to hide their low standardized test results. In this case, the admissions staff at Emory seemed very proud of this fact, as if admission were itself an entitlement to be doled out vs. earned by demonstrable achievement.

That unprecedented dynamic is why this year was especially rough for a lot of kids. Let's please stop minimizing what happened this year by suggesting it is "entitlement" by kids who got rejected. One could argue that it is entitlement to earn an 18 on the ACT and believe you should have a spot at Emory, let alone get that spot.

You mean high schools with lower SES students. That is all you really mean.