Are the new 9th graders the top of the class?

[Anonymous]

Thinking about applications to various schools next year and how to think about the later grades and whether to do K8 or K12. Not sure if there is any way to know this, but are the kids who enter at 9th grade typically the strongest academically in the more competitive schools? I mean, in a K12, does it generally track that the later the student enters, the stronger academically they have to be? Or does it not really work like that because the more competitive schools are really good at teaching the kids they have so they all kind of even out?

[Anonymous]

I've had kids at two Big3 schools and honestly most of the top kids are lifers or close to it. it's very hard to perform (I.e catch up) to the level required to get As in English and history if you arrive in 9th. it's such a giant gap between public and private in these subjects and many 9th grade admits are from public. the public kids are usually accelerated in math but that only gets you so far and sometimes it's not a great foundation.

I'd say 75% of the top kids arrive earlier than 9th. Maybe 85%. My own kids arrived in 9th so I've experienced this first hand.

[Anonymous]

I have two kids at a top private and the lifers bridge from 8th to 9th with very little problem. New kids from public seem shocked that every grade isn’t an A, there are no retakes, no extra credit, and you need to be efficient in class and study hall if you don’t want to spend your entire evening doing homework. Of course the B students in middle school are still B students in high school, but the top solid a students seem to have come up through the entire system and know how to succeed at our school the first day of high school, whereas it takes even the smartest public school transfers some time to figure things out.

[Anonymous]

What about transfers from other privates?

[Anonymous]

At our private, new 9th graders are slightly above new 6th graders in terms of academic performance on average by the time of graduation. They spend 9th grade catching up on expectations on homework, but are normally very smart. New 6th graders are on average better than kids that started in K. There is a sizable percentage of the class that started in kindergarten that would not get in if they applied for 9th grade and may have some trouble in 6th grade admissions. I’m actually glad they don’t counsel them out because I don’t want an entire class of gunners. Transfers from K-8 privates tend to be strong.

[Anonymous]

Not at DC’s school. About half of the top 10 percent kids have been there since lower school. The others joined at various points along the way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have two kids at a top private and the lifers bridge from 8th to 9th with very little problem. New kids from public seem shocked that every grade isn’t an A, there are no retakes, no extra credit, and you need to be efficient in class and study hall if you don’t want to spend your entire evening doing homework. Of course the B students in middle school are still B students in high school, but the top solid a students seem to have come up through the entire system and know how to succeed at our school the first day of high school, whereas it takes even the smartest public school transfers some time to figure things out.

+1
My kids are lifers at a k-12. The kids who need more specialized instruction or who have learning differences or who just find it to be too much work leave bf 9th. Some are counseled out, and some just find a better fit. Not to stereotype, but a lot of the kids who enter from public have a wake up call bc there’s no curve, no retakes, etc. You can’t get by on memorization, and the writing level that’s expected is incredibly high. This seems surprising to some kids who come from smaller privates, too. The standard for writing is high in non-English classes in high school, and many seem surprised that this matters for science and history classes.

[Anonymous]

At our Big 3, the academically strongest students tend to be new 9th graders (unless they’re athletic recruits). I have yet to come across an athletic recruit who was also a top student academically. The recruits tend to be average students, at best.

[Anonymous]

How do parents know all this information? Seems like broad generalizations with little to no way to verify accuracy.

[Anonymous]

What’s a lifer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At our Big 3, the academically strongest students tend to be new 9th graders (unless they’re athletic recruits). I have yet to come across an athletic recruit who was also a top student academically. The recruits tend to be average students, at best.

Kids from our k-8 tend to graduate in the top quartile (or better) in their high schools. Several have become national merit finalists and/or valedictorians (in schools where that is measured). A Big 3 admissions officer came to DC's school and told the 8th graders that not only do the kids from DC's school thrive in high school, they tend to excel while there. Certainly that does not apply for every kid graduating coming from the school, but those who go on to the top schools typically end up at a T20/25 college. It makes sense because 9th grade admissions is the most rigorous out there. Kids have to have a track record that demonstrates they can handle the school's rigor and they really have to step things up in middle school in anticipation of that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What’s a lifer?

Someone who has been at the school since PK or K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do parents know all this information? Seems like broad generalizations with little to no way to verify accuracy.

I know because I talk to my children. At my child’s Big 3, grade comparison is rampant (for better or worse). Kids discuss their grades with each other. In turn, children who talk to their parents identify top students (as part of a typical conversation when discussing one’s day and/or how one did on a quiz/test/paper).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s a lifer?

Someone who has been at the school since PK or K.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thinking about applications to various schools next year and how to think about the later grades and whether to do K8 or K12. Not sure if there is any way to know this, but are the kids who enter at 9th grade typically the strongest academically in the more competitive schools? I mean, in a K12, does it generally track that the later the student enters, the stronger academically they have to be? Or does it not really work like that because the more competitive schools are really good at teaching the kids they have so they all kind of even out?

Yes. It is very clear in everything not just academics. The new kids entering in 9th grade push the lifers to the side. It is not even close. The most competitive schools are picking the very top students and athletes.