What exactly is Potomac looking for for 9th grade admissions?

[Anonymous]

DS is a 7th grader at a K-8 and we have been exploring schools for 9th. Potomac is his favorite so far, but I know it's a total crapshoot for 9th grade admissions. The son of a very good friend of mine is a great kid who got into TJ but was flat out rejected from Potomac (not even waitlisted!) a few years ago. Aside from being an academic superstar and an overall nice kid, he is a competitive athlete in an individual sport. He would have been a full pay kid and was not seeking financial aid.
If you have a child who got in for middle or upper school, what was their profile? What exactly is the school looking for?

[Anonymous]

You have to know someone. If you don’t, try to impress an athletic coach maybe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have to know someone. If you don’t, try to impress an athletic coach maybe.

This is not true.

OP, I wonder if the individual sport was a negative for your friend. They are a small school and so they don’t want to give waivers for the sports requirements. They need students to participate in the athletics and extracurricular programs at the school, not be a fencing superstar on their own.

[Anonymous]

I think the student interview is important for Potomac.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to know someone. If you don’t, try to impress an athletic coach maybe.

This is not true.

OP, I wonder if the individual sport was a negative for your friend. They are a small school and so they don’t want to give waivers for the sports requirements. They need students to participate in the athletics and extracurricular programs at the school, not be a fencing superstar on their own.

OP here . Thank you. This is certainly a very valid point. However, the sport he played was offered at Potomac and he could have played it at school. (individual sport that you can also play as a team)

[Anonymous]

The kids who got in from our K-8 were siblings and big $$$$ donors. Honestly, unless your kid is getting coach support or bringing some other unique criteria, I think that’s the formula.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the student interview is important for Potomac.

OP here. I am sure it is, but again, wondering what exactly are they looking for or what should the student allude to during the interview. It's not just our friend's son who seemed to have it all but was rejected. We keep hearing stories of similarly great kids who got rejected or waitlisted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the student interview is important for Potomac.

OP here. I am sure it is, but again, wondering what exactly are they looking for or what should the student allude to during the interview. It's not just our friend's son who seemed to have it all but was rejected. We keep hearing stories of similarly great kids who got rejected or waitlisted.

I think it’s just really competitive. More applicants who have it all than they have room for. So then it comes down to admissions picking the “have it all” kids they feel best complete the existing rising 9th grade- and that’s not something you can predict and also will vary from year to year based on the attributes, gender-balance, etc of the current 8th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The kids who got in from our K-8 were siblings and big $$$$ donors. Honestly, unless your kid is getting coach support or bringing some other unique criteria, I think that’s the formula.

This was true for our k-8 too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the student interview is important for Potomac.

OP here. I am sure it is, but again, wondering what exactly are they looking for or what should the student allude to during the interview. It's not just our friend's son who seemed to have it all but was rejected. We keep hearing stories of similarly great kids who got rejected or waitlisted.

There’s just a lot more awesome, smart, qualified kids than they have space for.

[Anonymous]

The kids from our K-8 who got in were talented athletically or willing to say that Potomac was absolutely their student's first choice.

[Anonymous]

My son got in but ended up choosing another private. He's smart, really outgoing, handsome and a varsity starter in a main sport. Kind of your classic preppy white dude. They seem to like this type. We are full pay but barely.

[Anonymous]

Sports. At our K-8 THE common denominator was sports. Some of the children accepted were significantly less stellar academically. It’s hard to say that but it’s an honest opinion. Potomac waitlisted A students will 90% plus percentile SSAT for white girls who play softball from our school who didn’t test well. Maybe daddy also donated big time. It totally trashed the schools reputation for a large number of families at our K8. Everyone was comfortable with the idea that the school gets many applicants and will have to turn away amazing kids based purely on numbers. Where they lost us is by accepting an UMC white girl who plays mediocre ball. Mediocre grads. Low test scores. Unknown family connections, chosen over very high scores and grads with lesser sports. The phrase don’t crap where you eat comes to mind because we all livid in the area because now it’s just viewed as a sports school. With no APs. Buyer beware. It’s a sports school. Muscles a requirement, intelligence not essential.

[Anonymous]

Agree with PP. Potomac’s bread and butter is nova kids. They seem to be trying to do something else and are rejecting (waitlisting) very qualified NoVA kids for others. The NoVA kids tend to be athletes. The end game is unclear because DC people will NEVER take Potomac over Sidwell or GDS. We were definitely impressed with the campus and the people were nice but based on who we saw admitted and who was not admitted, it is a sports school first and foremost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have to know someone. If you don’t, try to impress an athletic coach maybe.

You'll get in if you know current families and they'll speak up for you - that's absolutely true. You need some kind of hook.