Is SJCHS Easier Than Gonzaga For 9th Admissions?

[Anonymous]

It seems that Gonzaga has a ton of seats reserved for catholic feeder schools, athletes, legacies, and connected people. This makes admissions much harder for the unconnected than at first glance, because the 250 admitted students aren't open seats. Would St. John's be an easier admit for an unconnected applicant?

[Anonymous]

Yes

[Anonymous]

Yes- but it is more difficult than it was in years past.

[Anonymous]

Possibly but SJC is also looking for a balanced male female class, so there are about 150 spots for boys.

[Anonymous]

Yes, but the gap is tighter than it used to be. SJC used to be the safety school for kids applying to Gonzaga, GP and Visi. That’s no longer the case, particularly for kids drawn to a coed experience, and the price point in some cases is considerably lower (especially with the honors merit).

[Anonymous]

St John’s has legacies too. Significant contributions from alumni have made SJCs resurgence possible.

But, because the school has changed so much from when these alums went there, there isn’t the same level of pressure exerted on legacy admissions as there is at Gonzaga. These fathers recognize the school isn’t the same experience, so they are willing to consider other schools for their kids.

Gonzaga, on the other hand, is bigger than it was, but still essentially the same experience. And the Admissions people and leadership know they are inviting a mini-furor among the alums if they reject a member of a loyal Gonzaga family.

[Anonymous]

They have a 45% acceptance rate. They received about 1300 applications for 300 spots in 9th grade.

[Anonymous]

Gonzaga has a 42-45% acceptance rate

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Gonzaga has a 42-45% acceptance rate

Yeah, but this number is misleading because of the high amount of earmarked seats for Catholic feeder schools, legacies, recruited athletes, etc. Gonzaga is often the very first choice for DMV Catholic families.

If you aren't in one of these groups, my guess is that your odds are around 20%

[Anonymous]

SJC is definitely an easier admit than Gonzaga, but much less so than it used to be. There are plenty of families that see SJC as their top choice, even Gonzaga legacy families that don't want to send their son and daughter to separate schools.

SJC has a more open, relaxed lifestyle than Gonzaga and that's partially due to the co-ed education. While Gonzaga is not known as an academic pressure cooker, SJC has a reputation of being basically like a public school in regards to how lax it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes- but it is more difficult than it was in years past.

+1. We know a number of boys who applied to both. We know boys who were waitlisted or declined at Gonzaga and admitted at SJC and do not know anyone with the opposite result. But both schools are competitive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gonzaga has a 42-45% acceptance rate

Yeah, but this number is misleading because of the high amount of earmarked seats for Catholic feeder schools, legacies, recruited athletes, etc. Gonzaga is often the very first choice for DMV Catholic families.

If you aren't in one of these groups, my guess is that your odds are around 20%

That’s correct. The average acceptance rate tells you nothing.

Your chances depend on how many boxes you check. A legacy who attends one of the Catholic feeder schools who is an athlete and a good student has a 100% chance.

It seems like the high quality and relative low price attract applicants who are competing for the relatively small number of spots left after all the traditional groups are served.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gonzaga has a 42-45% acceptance rate

Yeah, but this number is misleading because of the high amount of earmarked seats for Catholic feeder schools, legacies, recruited athletes, etc. Gonzaga is often the very first choice for DMV Catholic families.

If you aren't in one of these groups, my guess is that your odds are around 20%

That’s correct. The average acceptance rate tells you nothing.

Your chances depend on how many boxes you check. A legacy who attends one of the Catholic feeder schools who is an athlete and a good student has a 100% chance.

It seems like the high quality and relative low price attract applicants who are competing for the relatively small number of spots left after all the traditional groups are served.

Exactly. Many non-Catholic families would love to pay $30k/year for Gonzaga vs $60k/year for the "Big 3" schools. It's still an excellent education, and the internal academic competition won't be as fierce when it comes time for college application season.

[Anonymous]

Nope. Not any longer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gonzaga has a 42-45% acceptance rate

Yeah, but this number is misleading because of the high amount of earmarked seats for Catholic feeder schools, legacies, recruited athletes, etc. Gonzaga is often the very first choice for DMV Catholic families.

If you aren't in one of these groups, my guess is that your odds are around 20%

That’s correct. The average acceptance rate tells you nothing.

Your chances depend on how many boxes you check. A legacy who attends one of the Catholic feeder schools who is an athlete and a good student has a 100% chance.

It seems like the high quality and relative low price attract applicants who are competing for the relatively small number of spots left after all the traditional groups are served.

In recent years, I've witnessed families stunned when their 90+ HSPT/straight-A 8th grade boy gets rejected. They don't realize that since they aren't Catholic or aren't in the right feeder schools, their chances are just significantly lower, because they're competing with the other high-stats, non-Catholic DMV families for a limited share of seats. Gonzaga, being Catholic, also seems to care about having a decent amount of disadvantaged and low-income students in their class, so they also give those kids a moderate boost.

I definitely wouldn't look at Gonzaga as simply a "backup plan" or "cheaper option." They know that because of their price, they get a lot of families that want prestige at a discount. They really, really take into account demonstrated interest and want families that have them as a clear first choice. If they know you're shopping around, and looking at mostly non-Catholic schools, you're probably getting rejected no matter how impressive your kid is.