Big 15??

[Anonymous]

1. STA
2. NCS
3. Sidwell
4. GDS
5. Potomac
6. Maret
7. Holton
8. Madeira
9. Landon
10. Gonzaga
11. St Stephens St. Agnes
12. Prep
13. St. Johns
14. Bullis
15. Episcopal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:STA is not sought after enough or selective enough anymore to be considered top tier. Even the poster who accidently listed them 'first' admitted it was an error. STA still a solid school and great option for all boys, non-Catholic experience. Landon has closed gap significantly.

STA is definitely the top of the top tier - it had the most applications for 9th in the area the past 5 years. Had below 10 percent acceptance rate.

[Anonymous]

An honest overall ranking would be:

1. Sidwell
T-2. NCS
T-2. GDS
4. STA
T-5. Holton
T-5. Potomac
7. Maret

T-8. Prep
T-8. Visi
10. Stone Ridge
11. Madeira
T-12. Landon
T-12. SAES
T-12. Bullis
T-12. Gonzaga
16. SJC
17. SSSAS
18. Flint Hill
19. Holy Child
20. AHC

12-16 have all gotten a much better quality of student post-COVID.

Then you’d have a separate list that would be something like this for the smaller, more speciality schools.

1. St. Anselm
2. WIS
3. Field
4. Burke
5. SSFS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about Good Counsel and SSFS? Dematha?

Irrelevant same with Holy Child and Cross

Laugh if you want but Good Counsel has the happiest, most well rounded kids and a long wait list.

GC has a long wait list because it's an affordable option, is large, and has lower admissions standards than most prep schools.

The waitlist for GC is long because it's a backup for people who don't want their kids to go to their lower-ranked MCPS zoned school (eg, anything besides W schools, BCC, QO, etc) and their kid didn't get into a magnet program, Catholic kids who didn't make the cut for Prep/Visi/etc, and Catholic kids who wanted co-ed and either didn't get in or didn't want to commute to SJC.

Class sizes are huge and it doesn't offer anything more than a high-SES public school has. Outside of devout Catholics, no one's paying for GC and commuting out to Olney if they live in bounds for Whitman, Churchill, etc. Same can't be said for Sidwell, GDS, STA/NCS, Prep, etc.

It's not a bad school by any stretch of the imagination, but it's nowhere near T15 status.

+1, no one in dc even applies or thinks about applying there... I'm sure Foxcroft or Blair in NJ would come to mind first lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about Good Counsel and SSFS? Dematha?

Irrelevant same with Holy Child and Cross

Laugh if you want but Good Counsel has the happiest, most well rounded kids and a long wait list.

GC has a long wait list because it's an affordable option, is large, and has lower admissions standards than most prep schools.

The waitlist for GC is long because it's a backup for people who don't want their kids to go to their lower-ranked MCPS zoned school (eg, anything besides W schools, BCC, QO, etc) and their kid didn't get into a magnet program, Catholic kids who didn't make the cut for Prep/Visi/etc, and Catholic kids who wanted co-ed and either didn't get in or didn't want to commute to SJC.

Class sizes are huge and it doesn't offer anything more than a high-SES public school has. Outside of devout Catholics, no one's paying for GC and commuting out to Olney if they live in bounds for Whitman, Churchill, etc. Same can't be said for Sidwell, GDS, STA/NCS, Prep, etc.

It's not a bad school by any stretch of the imagination, but it's nowhere near T15 status.

We are zoned for Whitman (MCPS “W” or whatever people say) got into SJC as well, but chose Good Counsel because my DC liked the vibe and we thought it was a good fit.

We value the religious background and not into high status or aiming Ivy leagues… simply want my DC to be in a safer environment, have cohorts and spend a well balanced 4 years of high school.

So basically GC is the more affordable and closest to home option for you. You are not even in the Big 20 relax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An honest overall ranking would be:

1. Sidwell
T-2. NCS
T-2. GDS
4. STA
T-5. Holton
T-5. Potomac
7. Maret

T-8. Prep
T-8. Visi
10. Stone Ridge
11. Madeira
T-12. Landon
T-12. SAES
T-12. Bullis
T-12. Gonzaga
16. SJC
17. SSSAS
18. Flint Hill
19. Holy Child
20. AHC

12-16 have all gotten a much better quality of student post-COVID.

Then you’d have a separate list that would be something like this for the smaller, more speciality schools.

1. St. Anselm
2. WIS
3. Field
4. Burke
5. SSFS

The specialty school list is smart. However Visi and Prep as T-8 is delusion. Madeira, Stone Ridge, SAES, Bullis and Landon are way higher than them.

[Anonymous]

From this I've gathered Maret has fell down over the past couple of years from #3 GDS, Potomac and Holton has risen above them, very surprising.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about Good Counsel and SSFS? Dematha?

Irrelevant same with Holy Child and Cross

Laugh if you want but Good Counsel has the happiest, most well rounded kids and a long wait list.

GC has a long wait list because it's an affordable option, is large, and has lower admissions standards than most prep schools.

The waitlist for GC is long because it's a backup for people who don't want their kids to go to their lower-ranked MCPS zoned school (eg, anything besides W schools, BCC, QO, etc) and their kid didn't get into a magnet program, Catholic kids who didn't make the cut for Prep/Visi/etc, and Catholic kids who wanted co-ed and either didn't get in or didn't want to commute to SJC.

Class sizes are huge and it doesn't offer anything more than a high-SES public school has. Outside of devout Catholics, no one's paying for GC and commuting out to Olney if they live in bounds for Whitman, Churchill, etc. Same can't be said for Sidwell, GDS, STA/NCS, Prep, etc.

It's not a bad school by any stretch of the imagination, but it's nowhere near T15 status.

We are zoned for Whitman (MCPS “W” or whatever people say) got into SJC as well, but chose Good Counsel because my DC liked the vibe and we thought it was a good fit.

We value the religious background and not into high status or aiming Ivy leagues… simply want my DC to be in a safer environment, have cohorts and spend a well balanced 4 years of high school.

You value the religious background, so... it's exactly what I said.

Non-religious people in the Whitman/Churchill districts who can afford private aren't looking at GC, but they will consider STA/NCS, Prep, and Visi. Even Gonzaga/SR/HCA if you really want single gender but Holton/Landon doesn't pan out.

Among private schools it's only a top choice for people who want co-ed Catholic and don't want to do the SJC commute, and people fleeing weaker MCPS schools who want affordable tuition/low stress admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1. STA
2. NCS
3. Sidwell
4. GDS
5. Potomac
6. Maret
7. Holton
8. Madeira
9. Landon
10. Gonzaga
11. St Stephens St. Agnes
12. Prep
13. St. Johns
14. Bullis
15. Episcopal

How can SJC be on this list, and not SR and VISI. Both are higher than SJC. Does the author have a bias against Catholic all girls schools?

[Anonymous]

Holton is overrated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s more like there are groupings and some room for reshuffling within each group.

1-4. NCS/STA/Sidwell/GDS
5-9. Holton/Madeira/Potomac/Maret/St. Anselms
10-13. Visi/SR/Prep/Landon
14-17. Gonzaga/SJC/SAES/Bullis

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From this I've gathered Maret has fell down over the past couple of years from #3 GDS, Potomac and Holton has risen above them, very surprising.

Check out the recent thread on admissions experiences. Maret was initially high on our list, but their admissions process did absolutely nothing to make us want to send our kid there (let alone pay for it). We did end up applying just in case, but weren't thrilled about the prospect of sending DD there.

Didn't apply to GDS; top choices were Sidwell (waitlist) and NCS (have been there for two years now; love it and have no regrets).

Had she not gotten in to NCS, we would have picked Potomac or SSSAS over Maret, despite Maret being a far shorter commute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. STA
2. NCS
3. Sidwell
4. GDS
5. Potomac
6. Maret
7. Holton
8. Madeira
9. Landon
10. Gonzaga
11. St Stephens St. Agnes
12. Prep
13. St. Johns
14. Bullis
15. Episcopal

How can SJC be on this list, and not SR and VISI. Both are higher than SJC. Does the author have a bias against Catholic all girls schools?

Clearly. And as much as people are trying to BULLIS and SSSA are not worthy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An honest overall ranking would be:

1. Sidwell
T-2. NCS
T-2. GDS
4. STA
T-5. Holton
T-5. Potomac
7. Maret

T-8. Prep
T-8. Visi
10. Stone Ridge
11. Madeira
T-12. Landon
T-12. SAES
T-12. Bullis
T-12. Gonzaga
16. SJC
17. SSSAS
18. Flint Hill
19. Holy Child
20. AHC

12-16 have all gotten a much better quality of student post-COVID.

Then you’d have a separate list that would be something like this for the smaller, more speciality schools.

1. St. Anselm
2. WIS
3. Field
4. Burke
5. SSFS

I agree with this list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1. STA
2. NCS
3. Sidwell
4. GDS
5. Potomac
6. Maret
7. Holton
8. Madeira
9. Landon
10. Gonzaga
11. St Stephens St. Agnes
12. Prep
13. St. Johns
14. Bullis
15. Episcopal

No, this is definitely not it.