What schools were not what you expected when you visited them in person?

[Anonymous]

Sexist much

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sexist much

No, just accurate. There is no way in hell that a bunch of adult male commenters could be this focused, collectively, on whether furniture looks worn and shabby, or whether the windows had been washed recently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I cannot believe how the majority of the people on this thread are so enamored with bright, shiny objects.

You realize you're evaluating your options for an education and not a luxury spa retreat, right? I actually re-read the thread to see if anyone at all commented intelligently on the discourse within a classroom between teacher/students, student writing on display outside the classrooms, the caliber of the robotic competition entries …. nope, no one.

Just 8 pages of women sniffing about carpet vs. tile and shabby couches in the hallways.

+1. This thread is hilarious. It’s like HGTV up in here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I cannot believe how the majority of the people on this thread are so enamored with bright, shiny objects.

You realize you're evaluating your options for an education and not a luxury spa retreat, right? I actually re-read the thread to see if anyone at all commented intelligently on the discourse within a classroom between teacher/students, student writing on display outside the classrooms, the caliber of the robotic competition entries …. nope, no one.

Just 8 pages of women sniffing about carpet vs. tile and shabby couches in the hallways.

You're probably Maret principal.

[Anonymous]

I was shocked by how small Maret is from the classrooms to the extras like the theatre. They have 80 per grade because it would be a fire hazard to fit any more down those narrow stairs. It felt oddly suffocating to be there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was shocked by how small Maret is from the classrooms to the extras like the theatre. They have 80 per grade because it would be a fire hazard to fit any more down those narrow stairs. It felt oddly suffocating to be there.

The whole place felt like a fire hazard. When we toured the upper school we had to step over 30 kids sprawled out in the hallway with their backpacks and laptops all over the place. If there was an emergency you'd trample someone trying to leave! It's also not at all ADA compliant- I was on crutches for a while and realized that, had I not healed on schedule, I wouldn't have been able to even get to the admissions office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was shocked by how small Maret is from the classrooms to the extras like the theatre. They have 80 per grade because it would be a fire hazard to fit any more down those narrow stairs. It felt oddly suffocating to be there.

The whole place felt like a fire hazard. When we toured the upper school we had to step over 30 kids sprawled out in the hallway with their backpacks and laptops all over the place. If there was an emergency you'd trample someone trying to leave! It's also not at all ADA compliant- I was on crutches for a while and realized that, had I not healed on schedule, I wouldn't have been able to even get to the admissions office.

Wow. That's a huge problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was shocked by how small Maret is from the classrooms to the extras like the theatre. They have 80 per grade because it would be a fire hazard to fit any more down those narrow stairs. It felt oddly suffocating to be there.

The whole place felt like a fire hazard. When we toured the upper school we had to step over 30 kids sprawled out in the hallway with their backpacks and laptops all over the place. If there was an emergency you'd trample someone trying to leave! It's also not at all ADA compliant- I was on crutches for a while and realized that, had I not healed on schedule, I wouldn't have been able to even get to the admissions office.

Wow. That's a huge problem.

That's a big problem.

[Anonymous]

As far as all girl schools, I found Visitation the most disappointing. I found the admissions staff to be cold and unfriendly, both during the open house and also during the admissions process. The girls were like clones. I asked them why they chose Visitation and they just said bc mom or grandma or aunt went there. They were some of the worst tour guides we had out of 8 schools we visited. It almost felt like they were forced to be there. The buildings were lovely and the campus was old yet beautiful. The teachers were unimpressive.

I didn't expect much from Holy Cross, but I came away surprised at how happy and knowledgeable the girls were. They were great tour guides and the admissions office was nice.

Stone Ridge had a wonderful admissions staff that went over and beyond. They were extremely helpful and thoughtful. The girls on the tour were smart and seemed really happy to be there. Teachers were great.

Holton had a beautiful campus and the admissions office was super nice. The atmosphere of girls really varied. Some of them were only focused on socializing and gave kind of a country club feel, yet others were so warm and welcoming. The teachers seemed fantastic and went out of their way to talk and answer any questions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As far as all girl schools, I found Visitation the most disappointing. I found the admissions staff to be cold and unfriendly, both during the open house and also during the admissions process. The girls were like clones. I asked them why they chose Visitation and they just said bc mom or grandma or aunt went there. They were some of the worst tour guides we had out of 8 schools we visited. It almost felt like they were forced to be there. The buildings were lovely and the campus was old yet beautiful. The teachers were unimpressive.

I didn't expect much from Holy Cross, but I came away surprised at how happy and knowledgeable the girls were. They were great tour guides and the admissions office was nice.

Stone Ridge had a wonderful admissions staff that went over and beyond. They were extremely helpful and thoughtful. The girls on the tour were smart and seemed really happy to be there. Teachers were great.

Holton had a beautiful campus and the admissions office was super nice. The atmosphere of girls really varied. Some of them were only focused on socializing and gave kind of a country club feel, yet others were so warm and welcoming. The teachers seemed fantastic and went out of their way to talk and answer any questions.

Where did your daughter end up, PP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GDS was not what I expected. We were coming from a small intimate private school setting. I went to a GDS information session and quite honestly it felt very much like a Cattlecall. I just got the feeling sitting there the people were just clamoring to get their children a space at the school. I ended up walking out in the middle of the information session because I just felt so disgusted by it. I’m in no way implying that it’s a bad school, all I can talk about is my experience during the information session and how it made me feel. All that to say it was not the school for us.

I was pleasantly surprised by the vibe at St. Andrews. The people are friendly, the environment was just so warm and inviting. I liked the facilities and liked the vision and mission of the school. It felt very much like the smaller environment that we were used to.

GDS is much sought-after today. It is unfortunate but understandable that parents are clamoring for a spot for their children, so the information sessions can be large. The school is amazing, though.

Please go home, GDS troll.

I’m not a troll. I was giving my honest opinion. I didn’t get far enough to take a tour of the school because I walked out. I did stay for some of the info session where the administration talked about how wonderful the school is. I’m sure it is a wonderful place, It just was not the place that I wanted to send my child. I showed up there with a positive attitude because I had heard so many wonderful things about the school. It simply was not what I expected. That is what this thread is about right? I am allowed to give my opinion as did pretty much everyone else on this thread.

[Anonymous]

SLEMAN SCHOOL FOR THE WIN!


When we toured the Sleman School located off Tacoma Park, we were in awe with the buildings. It looked like a college campus. It was so gorgeous and not what we thought an unknown school would look like.

100% Recomend--better than NCS and Visi combined. Faculty and teachers at the Sleman School are very caring and do the best.

Plus their college placement last year was all at Harvard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GDS was not what I expected. We were coming from a small intimate private school setting. I went to a GDS information session and quite honestly it felt very much like a Cattlecall. I just got the feeling sitting there the people were just clamoring to get their children a space at the school. I ended up walking out in the middle of the information session because I just felt so disgusted by it. I’m in no way implying that it’s a bad school, all I can talk about is my experience during the information session and how it made me feel. All that to say it was not the school for us.

I was pleasantly surprised by the vibe at St. Andrews. The people are friendly, the environment was just so warm and inviting. I liked the facilities and liked the vision and mission of the school. It felt very much like the smaller environment that we were used to.

GDS is much sought-after today. It is unfortunate but understandable that parents are clamoring for a spot for their children, so the information sessions can be large. The school is amazing, though.

Please go home, GDS troll.

I’m not a troll. I was giving my honest opinion. I didn’t get far enough to take a tour of the school because I walked out. I did stay for some of the info session where the administration talked about how wonderful the school is. I’m sure it is a wonderful place, It just was not the place that I wanted to send my child. I showed up there with a positive attitude because I had heard so many wonderful things about the school. It simply was not what I expected. That is what this thread is about right? I am allowed to give my opinion as did pretty much everyone else on this thread.

I think the troll accusation was directed at the responder to your post. There is apparently someone posing as an insufferable braggy GDS parent in an attempt to make the overall community look obnoxious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GDS was not what I expected. We were coming from a small intimate private school setting. I went to a GDS information session and quite honestly it felt very much like a Cattlecall. I just got the feeling sitting there the people were just clamoring to get their children a space at the school. I ended up walking out in the middle of the information session because I just felt so disgusted by it. I’m in no way implying that it’s a bad school, all I can talk about is my experience during the information session and how it made me feel. All that to say it was not the school for us.

I was pleasantly surprised by the vibe at St. Andrews. The people are friendly, the environment was just so warm and inviting. I liked the facilities and liked the vision and mission of the school. It felt very much like the smaller environment that we were used to.

GDS is much sought-after today. It is unfortunate but understandable that parents are clamoring for a spot for their children, so the information sessions can be large. The school is amazing, though.

Please go home, GDS troll.

I’m not a troll. I was giving my honest opinion. I didn’t get far enough to take a tour of the school because I walked out. I did stay for some of the info session where the administration talked about how wonderful the school is. I’m sure it is a wonderful place, It just was not the place that I wanted to send my child. I showed up there with a positive attitude because I had heard so many wonderful things about the school. It simply was not what I expected. That is what this thread is about right? I am allowed to give my opinion as did pretty much everyone else on this thread.

I think the troll accusation was directed at the responder to your post. There is apparently someone posing as an insufferable braggy GDS parent in an attempt to make the overall community look obnoxious.

There was nothing insufferable or braggy about that prior post. GDS is in fact much sought-after today; that's just a fact. (Btw, I'm a parent at a competing school.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SLEMAN SCHOOL FOR THE WIN!


When we toured the Sleman School located off Tacoma Park, we were in awe with the buildings. It looked like a college campus. It was so gorgeous and not what we thought an unknown school would look like.

100% Recomend--better than NCS and Visi combined. Faculty and teachers at the Sleman School are very caring and do the best.

Plus their college placement last year was all at Harvard.

+100, absolutely gorgeous, and amazing admissions team.