Sidwell College Admissions This Year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pins and needles waiting to see how these exceptionally privileged children with money, legacy, and social capital will continue getting an education that will open even more doors for them. Sigh.

There are plenty of FA kids at Sidwell. Don't be such an asshole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Email today from the head of the CCO implies a good amount of frustration bubbling up.

Also strange that the CCO would need to send an email at this late stage clarifying their role. Maybe they should have spent more time talking about that kind of thing in the grade level meetings instead of just going over checklists that anyone could look at online.

They said it a million times at meetings in 10th and 11th grade. Sorry if you don't recall that. They were crystal clear. Having to send that email today should be an embarrassment to the parents who are complaining.

PP here. I am not a parent who has complained. I do disagree that they ever clearly explained their role to parents or that they said it a million times at meetings in 10th and 11th grade. Rather than saying parents should be embarrassed, maybe the CCO should be embarrassed that their role is not crystal clear to everyone. The fact that there are apparently enough parents with different expectations that an email is necessary should be evidence of the confusion.

They said in meetings in 10th and 11th grade that they do not make the decisions, they cannot call and lobby Admissions officers, etc. They can advocate for an applicant if an AO calls and they can make sure all of the paperwork is in on time and they can help develop lists based on the questions asked of the parents and students in 11th grade.

I don't know what to tell you or the people who apparently are complaining to the CCO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Email today from the head of the CCO implies a good amount of frustration bubbling up.

Also strange that the CCO would need to send an email at this late stage clarifying their role. Maybe they should have spent more time talking about that kind of thing in the grade level meetings instead of just going over checklists that anyone could look at online.

They said it a million times at meetings in 10th and 11th grade. Sorry if you don't recall that. They were crystal clear. Having to send that email today should be an embarrassment to the parents who are complaining.

PP here. I am not a parent who has complained. I do disagree that they ever clearly explained their role to parents or that they said it a million times at meetings in 10th and 11th grade. Rather than saying parents should be embarrassed, maybe the CCO should be embarrassed that their role is not crystal clear to everyone. The fact that there are apparently enough parents with different expectations that an email is necessary should be evidence of the confusion.

They said in meetings in 10th and 11th grade that they do not make the decisions, they cannot call and lobby Admissions officers, etc. They can advocate for an applicant if an AO calls and they can make sure all of the paperwork is in on time and they can help develop lists based on the questions asked of the parents and students in 11th grade.

I don't know what to tell you or the people who apparently are complaining to the CCO.

Except, they can and do call and lobby admissions officers. Even today's email says that they can advocate. And there is no indication that the advocacy is only responsive and never proactive. Perhaps that is where the confusion lies.

[Anonymous]

They made it pretty clear in previous meetings that they cannot call AOs and lobby for applicants - those days are long passed.

They said if an AO calls them, then of course they will lobby for SFS applicants.

[Anonymous]

there was no confusion about this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:there was no confusion about this

I understand that is what you say. But then why are enough parents confused that Lauren needed to send an email out about it today?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:there was no confusion about this

I understand that is what you say. But then why are enough parents confused that Lauren needed to send an email out about it today?

They're not confused. They're worried because their kids aren't placed yet and are pushing the CCO to do more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:there was no confusion about this

I understand that is what you say. But then why are enough parents confused that Lauren needed to send an email out about it today?

They're not confused. They're worried because their kids aren't placed yet and are pushing the CCO to do more.

They aren’t confused. They are entitled and pushy and obnoxious. But unsurprising.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pins and needles waiting to see how these exceptionally privileged children with money, legacy, and social capital will continue getting an education that will open even more doors for them. Sigh.

There are plenty of FA kids at Sidwell. Don't be such an asshole.

Who are then going to pay $250,000 for an undergraduate degree? Please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:there was no confusion about this

I understand that is what you say. But then why are enough parents confused that Lauren needed to send an email out about it today?

They're not confused. They're worried because their kids aren't placed yet and are pushing the CCO to do more.

They aren’t confused. They are entitled and pushy and obnoxious. But unsurprising.

Are you a Sidwell parent? If not, how would you know if they are confused? If you are, that's a nice way to talk about parents in your community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What happened with Brown? Why a washout?

An oversized number of kids applied ED and none were admitted and several were rejected outright.

Seems like Brown is sending a message to the Sidwell - you're letting too many apply.

I heard that something like 15 kids from Sidwell applied early to Brown. There's no way that all 15 were in the top 20% of the class (or whatever a reasonable cut-off for an Ivy acceptance is).
So basically you had a lot of kids/parents with inflated sense of their own desirability and Brown responded by cancelling out the entire group.
Sidwell should really limit where kids can apply (like Andover and Exeter do) if this is what happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:there was no confusion about this

I understand that is what you say. But then why are enough parents confused that Lauren needed to send an email out about it today?

They're not confused. They're worried because their kids aren't placed yet and are pushing the CCO to do more.

Could you imagine dealing with Sidwell parents?? Dear Lord.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What happened with Brown? Why a washout?

An oversized number of kids applied ED and none were admitted and several were rejected outright.

Seems like Brown is sending a message to the Sidwell - you're letting too many apply.

I heard that something like 15 kids from Sidwell applied early to Brown. There's no way that all 15 were in the top 20% of the class (or whatever a reasonable cut-off for an Ivy acceptance is).
So basically you had a lot of kids/parents with inflated sense of their own desirability and Brown responded by cancelling out the entire group.
Sidwell should really limit where kids can apply (like Andover and Exeter do) if this is what happens.

Yes, it was 0 for 15 I heard.

Sidwell provides very little information for kids/parents to know where they fall in the class. It is much more a lack of information and context than an inflated sense of desirability. And on top of that there is very little advising from the counseling office that might dispense a dose of reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What happened with Brown? Why a washout?

An oversized number of kids applied ED and none were admitted and several were rejected outright.

Seems like Brown is sending a message to the Sidwell - you're letting too many apply.

I heard that something like 15 kids from Sidwell applied early to Brown. There's no way that all 15 were in the top 20% of the class (or whatever a reasonable cut-off for an Ivy acceptance is).
So basically you had a lot of kids/parents with inflated sense of their own desirability and Brown responded by cancelling out the entire group.
Sidwell should really limit where kids can apply (like Andover and Exeter do) if this is what happens.

Why? Each application is evaluated on its own. Colleges do not send messages to schools or groups of students like this. They are happy to take the application fee and read anything that they want to submit. There is no way that a HS should ever limit who or how many kids can apply to one school. If Johnny wants to blow his ED on a school that he is not really qualified for, who else's business is that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:there was no confusion about this

I understand that is what you say. But then why are enough parents confused that Lauren needed to send an email out about it today?

They're not confused. They're worried because their kids aren't placed yet and are pushing the CCO to do more.

Could you imagine dealing with Sidwell parents?? Dear Lord.

99% of them are absolutely lovely. The moms that I know, at least.