Sidwell College Admissions This Year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Unfortunately, this student will most likely struggle at Emory or any college. A college-ready ACT score is at least a composite score of 22. I hope Emory has support/courses to help this student succeed.

Signed, a college professor

"Unqualified" students select a major that does not require any tests or require only take home tests and/or essays to pass courses and they hire other students to work on the take home tests and write the papers for them. Weird system we have here.

I have literally never heard of this happening.

And not enjoying the classist/racist stereotypes being thrown around on here of “poor” students majoring “bullshit studies.” From what I’ve seen it’s the complete opposite.

I have heard of this for a female UVA student who would make "qualified" boyfriend and then have this boyfriend work on all take home tests and essays.

Oh, good, a trifecta of bigotry.

[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.

Congratulations -- quite an impressive achievement. Do you mind sharing the range of your DC's "very high stats"?

Very high stats. Yes. The top 5/7 kids at Sidwell still do well in a pool where the Top 40 percent would all have a 4.0 at FCPS or MCPS.

It also means your kid had no social life.

Well that’s certainly an unfounded statement. Am not the poster you are responding to, but our child has straight As at Sidwell and has a great group of friends and social life. Just like many of the highly successful athletes, artists and others who really excel in their area, or several areas, of interest Also have great friends and an active social life. Let’s be careful about stereotyping people as being socially disconnected or having no social life simply because they are successful in areas that also require a commitment.

[Anonymous]

+1

Many of the kids who have been in the advanced math and science classes are also multi-year varsity letter winners and also participate in the life of the school - socially and through activities.

In fact, I would say there are very few "book worms" who never interact with others inside or outside of the school.

[Anonymous]

Folks: Let's get serious here-- we need to generate 17 pages of comments to reach 100 pages

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Folks: Let's get serious here-- we need to generate 17 pages of comments to reach 100 pages

Ok let me do the honors.

[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.

This is one of the grossest posts I have read on here in awhile.

And I don't care how hard you think students at $50,000/year tuition prep schools ''work.''



Typical leftist BS. Anybody who tells the truth gets shamed. This poster tells it like it is. And 18 on an ACT is not a good score. Full stop. So go call someone else “gross” you scold.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So many 1%ers on here clutching their pearls that their little cubs will finally have to compete with kids who've had to overcome way more challenges than theirs. Keep 'em coming!

Great idea. The idea that overcoming adversity always makes up for a lack of intelligence is laughable. It’s such a fake narrative and yet you all think that as long as you repeat it enough everybody will believe it and it will become true.

Overcoming adversity – grit – is a key life skill. But a gritty but less intelligent kid will always end up getting ground up at one of these top colleges when they face more intelligent kids who are also gritty.

That’s the truth. But go ahead and keep repeating the mantra that top colleges make the kid as opposed to kids make the top college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many 1%ers on here clutching their pearls that their little cubs will finally have to compete with kids who've had to overcome way more challenges than theirs. Keep 'em coming!

Great idea. The idea that overcoming adversity always makes up for a lack of intelligence is laughable. It’s such a fake narrative and yet you all think that as long as you repeat it enough everybody will believe it and it will become true.

Overcoming adversity – grit – is a key life skill. But a gritty but less intelligent kid will always end up getting ground up at one of these top colleges when they face more intelligent kids who are also gritty.

That’s the truth. But go ahead and keep repeating the mantra that top colleges make the kid as opposed to kids make the top college.

Why do you assume gritty is less intelligent? Maybe the kid with grit has intelligence and wisdom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This is one of the grossest posts I have read on here in awhile.

And I don't care how hard you think students at $50,000/year tuition prep schools ''work.''



Typical leftist BS. Anybody who tells the truth gets shamed. This poster tells it like it is. And 18 on an ACT is not a good score. Full stop. So go call someone else “gross” you scold.

How much did the essays cost you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a sophomore parent I was impressed by the initial presentation and follow-up materials shared by the Director of CCO. Disheartening to see some of the posts by senior parents. Surprised also by the early results reported here about the top 5-10% performing students w/o a hook.

And here, in a nutshell, is the problem.

PP, if you are a sophomore class parent, you need to read and understand this now. It should not come as a "surprise" that top-performing students at Sidwell are not getting into top schools ED unless they have a hook. That should not come as a surprise to anyone, because that is the reality now. If the school is at fault for anything, it is for not constantly articulating that but, as I'm afraid is displayed here, parents simply do not want to hear it.

This will be your child in 2 years. It will be extremely difficult to get into any top school in the country unless your child is a direct legacy or a coveted athlete. Please accept that now and plan accordingly.

Or URM.


I don't know why many parents at the Big3 don't get this. I was at an athletic competition this fall and all the junior/senior parents were talking about college visits and their tours of the Ivies. All I could think was "why the heck do you think your kids are getting into the Ivy league? They're not at the top of the class,
recruited athletes or URM. It's NOT HAPPENING. If you look at the schools the previous seniors attended, 85% of them did not attend an Ivy. The ones who did almost universally were one of the above hooks. There were maybe 1-2 who did not and they were the absolute top of the class. And yet there was I was on the sidelines with a random group of 8 families who were all thinking of visiting and then applying. There is some major disconnect. I guess hope does spring eternal.

PP's I hope that in the past few months things have worked out enough that some of this anger being directed at " recruited Athletes" and URM has dissipated.

If not, for future grade level parents, reflect on this to gain a little perspective: Don't assume that recruited Athletes are also not 1600/ 36 ACT, Presidential scholar nominees and in the top 15 % of their Big 3. After All, this IS Washington can you not fathom that loooong ago parents who were reasonably bright and determined enough to get themselves on a successful career track in Washington ( and stay there for decades), can afford Private and be successful getting their kid admitted to a Big 3 Private WOULD play the long game and make sure their kid developed to their potential in a sport that would lead to them being recruited for ED @the Ivy's and the SLACS. Hello Crew programs

Recruited Athlete does not = unqualified who is just " taking a spot " - not in DC where, just to live here and make a go of it in this town the parents likely already probably highly educated, smart and did a lot in college themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This. And if your kid / parent isn’t one of these categories, they are most certainly full pay financing the other categories. Tulane here you come.

And TJ still has much better admissions to top colleges/universities without legacy, connections and donations.

Some of TJ admissions for 2022:

8 Harvard
7 Stanford
9 Princeton
15 MIT
12 UChicago
14 Duke
14 NW
18 Berkeley
18 Cornell
57 CMU
78 Michigan
79 W&M

And congratulations to TJ kids. The parents suck though.

Wow, that's really great. Congrats to them.

What school is CMU though ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This. And if your kid / parent isn’t one of these categories, they are most certainly full pay financing the other categories. Tulane here you come.

And TJ still has much better admissions to top colleges/universities without legacy, connections and donations.

Some of TJ admissions for 2022:

8 Harvard
7 Stanford
9 Princeton
15 MIT
12 UChicago
14 Duke
14 NW
18 Berkeley
18 Cornell
57 CMU
78 Michigan
79 W&M

And congratulations to TJ kids. The parents suck though.

Wow, that's really great. Congrats to them.

What school is CMU though ?

Carnegie Mellon U

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This. And if your kid / parent isn’t one of these categories, they are most certainly full pay financing the other categories. Tulane here you come.

And TJ still has much better admissions to top colleges/universities without legacy, connections and donations.

Some of TJ admissions for 2022:

8 Harvard
7 Stanford
9 Princeton
15 MIT
12 UChicago
14 Duke
14 NW
18 Berkeley
18 Cornell
57 CMU
78 Michigan
79 W&M

And congratulations to TJ kids. The parents suck though.

Wow, that's really great. Congrats to them.

What school is CMU though ?

There is also at least one Yale admit but I guess the pp doesn't think Yale is worth mentioning?

[Anonymous]

There were 10 ED to Yale and 6 RD to Brown

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a sophomore parent I was impressed by the initial presentation and follow-up materials shared by the Director of CCO. Disheartening to see some of the posts by senior parents. Surprised also by the early results reported here about the top 5-10% performing students w/o a hook.

And here, in a nutshell, is the problem.

PP, if you are a sophomore class parent, you need to read and understand this now. It should not come as a "surprise" that top-performing students at Sidwell are not getting into top schools ED unless they have a hook. That should not come as a surprise to anyone, because that is the reality now. If the school is at fault for anything, it is for not constantly articulating that but, as I'm afraid is displayed here, parents simply do not want to hear it.

This will be your child in 2 years. It will be extremely difficult to get into any top school in the country unless your child is a direct legacy or a coveted athlete. Please accept that now and plan accordingly.

Or URM.


I don't know why many parents at the Big3 don't get this. I was at an athletic competition this fall and all the junior/senior parents were talking about college visits and their tours of the Ivies. All I could think was "why the heck do you think your kids are getting into the Ivy league? They're not at the top of the class,
recruited athletes or URM. It's NOT HAPPENING. If you look at the schools the previous seniors attended, 85% of them did not attend an Ivy. The ones who did almost universally were one of the above hooks. There were maybe 1-2 who did not and they were the absolute top of the class. And yet there was I was on the sidelines with a random group of 8 families who were all thinking of visiting and then applying. There is some major disconnect. I guess hope does spring eternal.

PP's I hope that in the past few months things have worked out enough that some of this anger being directed at " recruited Athletes" and URM has dissipated.

If not, for future grade level parents, reflect on this to gain a little perspective: Don't assume that recruited Athletes are also not 1600/ 36 ACT, Presidential scholar nominees and in the top 15 % of their Big 3. After All, this IS Washington can you not fathom that loooong ago parents who were reasonably bright and determined enough to get themselves on a successful career track in Washington ( and stay there for decades), can afford Private and be successful getting their kid admitted to a Big 3 Private WOULD play the long game and make sure their kid developed to their potential in a sport that would lead to them being recruited for ED @the Ivy's and the SLACS. Hello Crew programs

Recruited Athlete does not = unqualified who is just " taking a spot " - not in DC where, just to live here and make a go of it in this town the parents likely already probably highly educated, smart and did a lot in college themselves.

You're not an athlete, are you?