Holton, NCS, Sidwell, Potomac, GDS - admissions for 9th

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We went through the process last year from a K-8. I would add a few safeties, unless you are fine with public HS. I assume that you are from public because K-8 schools have counselors that help students select their schools (kind of like HS guidance counselors). All As are good but kind of standard for the schools she is applying to and really aren’t enough. If your private school counselor is okay with the list, I would be, too. But otherwise consider Madeira, Stone Ridge, Bullis, Field or Burke.

I think this is very good advice. OP, mine was on WL on Holton + GDS + eventually got into both. Chose Holton because they had all her sports (GDS was much closer for us). We knew Board Members at both. Kid ended up at Ivy.

Good luck! It is a stressful process.

It sounds like you went through this process years before covid...
things have changed now and getting off a waitlist is rare these days.

[Anonymous]

Is she potentially more interested in Bullis and St Andrews than her public? If so I'd put applications in there as well. What about Maret - although that might be even tougher/.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We went through the process last year from a K-8. I would add a few safeties, unless you are fine with public HS. I assume that you are from public because K-8 schools have counselors that help students select their schools (kind of like HS guidance counselors). All As are good but kind of standard for the schools she is applying to and really aren’t enough. If your private school counselor is okay with the list, I would be, too. But otherwise consider Madeira, Stone Ridge, Bullis, Field or Burke.

I think this is very good advice. OP, mine was on WL on Holton + GDS + eventually got into both. Chose Holton because they had all her sports (GDS was much closer for us). We knew Board Members at both. Kid ended up at Ivy.

Good luck! It is a stressful process.

Did knowing Board members help you? If so, how exactly did you leverage that relationship?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We went through the process last year from a K-8. I would add a few safeties, unless you are fine with public HS. I assume that you are from public because K-8 schools have counselors that help students select their schools (kind of like HS guidance counselors). All As are good but kind of standard for the schools she is applying to and really aren’t enough. If your private school counselor is okay with the list, I would be, too. But otherwise consider Madeira, Stone Ridge, Bullis, Field or Burke.

I think this is very good advice. OP, mine was on WL on Holton + GDS + eventually got into both. Chose Holton because they had all her sports (GDS was much closer for us). We knew Board Members at both. Kid ended up at Ivy.

Good luck! It is a stressful process.

Did knowing Board members help you? If so, how exactly did you leverage that relationship?

You must be new to DC. I know of several friends of board members that were admitted over alums’ kids to a Big 3. They pushed for them to be admitted. Also know of another that wrote letters for all of their friends’ kids applying from their previous school and they ALL got admitted. Some board members who I do not ever get involved with admissions and have a policy to not do that because they know it is unfair to put that kind of pressure on the Admissions Director.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We went through the process last year from a K-8. I would add a few safeties, unless you are fine with public HS. I assume that you are from public because K-8 schools have counselors that help students select their schools (kind of like HS guidance counselors). All As are good but kind of standard for the schools she is applying to and really aren’t enough. If your private school counselor is okay with the list, I would be, too. But otherwise consider Madeira, Stone Ridge, Bullis, Field or Burke.

I think this is very good advice. OP, mine was on WL on Holton + GDS + eventually got into both. Chose Holton because they had all her sports (GDS was much closer for us). We knew Board Members at both. Kid ended up at Ivy.

Good luck! It is a stressful process.

Did knowing Board members help you? If so, how exactly did you leverage that relationship?

You must be new to DC. I know of several friends of board members that were admitted over alums’ kids to a Big 3. They pushed for them to be admitted. Also know of another that wrote letters for all of their friends’ kids applying from their previous school and they ALL got admitted. Some board members who I do not ever get involved with admissions and have a policy to not do that because they know it is unfair to put that kind of pressure on the Admissions Director.

gross

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. She would be coming from private. She would be fine with our public HS, though she really loves some of these schools.

I have kids at two of the schools you mentioned and have watched 9th grade admissions closely for the past 3 years (as I had kids applying 2 out of the 3).

Your child's biggest competition (by far) is kids coming from her own middle school. Most of these schools will not admit more than 3 kids from any one middle school. It's often 1 kid per sending school.
They love to say "we have kids coming in from 30 different middle schools/Zip codes, etc). I clearly remember this from Potomac's 9th grade accepted student day.

So who else is applying from your daughter's class? If there are siblings, legacy, etc you may very well be out of luck. If your daughter is the strongest kid applying to a high school, she may
have a very good chance of admission.

It's been much more lumpy experience from my experience at our private school. Some years a bunch of kids will get into a single school and other years a smaller number. It depends on the cohort of students. A strong cohort may do very well, a weaker cohort less so. It also depends on how many kids plan to move back to public for HS, whether those are the stronger students in the grade. And it can depend on how many strong students have an older sibling at these highly competitive HS.

Generally, your list is good - definitely show interest in ALL of the schools you apply to. But you do need a back up, whether that be public or a less competitive private. Our DC visited the local HS for a shadow day when making the choice of whether the backup option was public or private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. She would be coming from private. She would be fine with our public HS, though she really loves some of these schools.

I have kids at two of the schools you mentioned and have watched 9th grade admissions closely for the past 3 years (as I had kids applying 2 out of the 3).

Your child's biggest competition (by far) is kids coming from her own middle school. Most of these schools will not admit more than 3 kids from any one middle school. It's often 1 kid per sending school.
They love to say "we have kids coming in from 30 different middle schools/Zip codes, etc). I clearly remember this from Potomac's 9th grade accepted student day.

So who else is applying from your daughter's class? If there are siblings, legacy, etc you may very well be out of luck. If your daughter is the strongest kid applying to a high school, she may
have a very good chance of admission.

It's been much more lumpy experience from my experience at our private school. Some years a bunch of kids will get into a single school and other years a smaller number. It depends on the cohort of students. A strong cohort may do very well, a weaker cohort less so. It also depends on how many kids plan to move back to public for HS, whether those are the stronger students in the grade. And it can depend on how many strong students have an older sibling at these highly competitive HS.

Generally, your list is good - definitely show interest in ALL of the schools you apply to. But you do need a back up, whether that be public or a less competitive private. Our DC visited the local HS for a shadow day when making the choice of whether the backup option was public or private.

Forgot to add that the "zipcode" statement doesn't really apply to our private MS - as you could easily accept 5 kids from a single grade and have them all be from different zipcodes. Also, 5+ acceptances from the same grade has happened from our school to all the schools on your list (not sure of NCS) more than once over the past 6 years or so (but usually not two years in a row....like I said...it's lumpy). Coming from a strong k-8 with good placement office will definitely be a benefit. Be sure to communicate your preferences because they try to put efforts to place kids with a good match.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t listen to these people. It’s a good list. You’ll get into at least one.

If your daughter’s test scores are good and she has some other extracurriculars then I’d tend to agree with this. That being said, I’d recommend adding Flint Hill and Madeira as safeties though.

Our experience is that applying from NoVA is not a hook, but is a plus for the non-Potomac schools on your list. Even more so if you’re full-pay. The reality is that there are plenty of NoVA applicants to all these schools, but unless you’re in N. Arlington or close to Chain Bridge McLean (we’re farther out) the commute sucks and deters many from applying and/or attending. We had two apply to a similar list as yours and they both got in (admittedly pre-Covid) for 9th and 7th. Everyone we knew in DC/inside the beltway said “good luck” and honestly scoffed at their chances, but they were each accepted at two Big 3s + Potomac with similar profiles to yours. And both have thrived academically, athletically and socially (despite complaints that being in Virginia has cramped social life).

To paraphrase Michael Scott (Wayne Gretzky): “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Go for it and I’m sure she will get in somewhere good. Best of luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. She would be coming from private. She would be fine with our public HS, though she really loves some of these schools.

i would think your private would suggest adding a safety school in there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. She would be coming from private. She would be fine with our public HS, though she really loves some of these schools.

Why not just send her to public then? Seems like a waste of money.

[Anonymous]

If coming from private I would put more weight on the recommendations from the school’s placement team rather than this board. They know your daughter best. Good luck!!

[Anonymous]

These schools could not be more different as a group (with the exception of NCS/Holton)

I would suggest you not mention them to admissions as it is going to appear your daughter hasn't really thought about what she wants/needs. And yes- they do ask where else you are applying and yes you need to answer with something or you seem shady.

There seems to be no common thread at her selected schools. So schools may get a bit suspicious that you really havent done your homework and don't 'want' their school as a top priority (if I am a director at a single sex school and see you have applied to coed, that could be a red flag unless there is a narrative about the coeds). But then the coed schools you have could not be more difficult (GDS vs. Potomac is like night and day). Just sometihng to think about.

A student who would be very happy at one of these schools may not be happy at the others so it may be worth you really talking to your daughter about the experience she wants. That might also open up conversation about other schools that meet that critera).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If coming from private I would put more weight on the recommendations from the school’s placement team rather than this board. They know your daughter best. Good luck!!

Any good private would tell this person to add a less competitive school as a backup, unless they are happy using their public as the back up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These schools could not be more different as a group (with the exception of NCS/Holton)

I would suggest you not mention them to admissions as it is going to appear your daughter hasn't really thought about what she wants/needs. And yes- they do ask where else you are applying and yes you need to answer with something or you seem shady.

There seems to be no common thread at her selected schools. So schools may get a bit suspicious that you really havent done your homework and don't 'want' their school as a top priority (if I am a director at a single sex school and see you have applied to coed, that could be a red flag unless there is a narrative about the coeds). But then the coed schools you have could not be more difficult (GDS vs. Potomac is like night and day). Just sometihng to think about.

A student who would be very happy at one of these schools may not be happy at the others so it may be worth you really talking to your daughter about the experience she wants. That might also open up conversation about other schools that meet that critera).

Don't be silly, the thing these schools all have in common is the ability to provide rigorous opportunities for the applicant. Will they all be different social environments? Yes. But even if she DID prefer a specific school, there is nothing close to a guarantee she'd be admitted. You have to apply to multiple schools and these are a set of peer schools. All of these schools know who their peer institutions are and not one of them is going to think this applicant didn't "think it through". They are going to think this is a student who cares about rigor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We went through the process last year from a K-8. I would add a few safeties, unless you are fine with public HS. I assume that you are from public because K-8 schools have counselors that help students select their schools (kind of like HS guidance counselors). All As are good but kind of standard for the schools she is applying to and really aren’t enough. If your private school counselor is okay with the list, I would be, too. But otherwise consider Madeira, Stone Ridge, Bullis, Field or Burke.

I think this is very good advice. OP, mine was on WL on Holton + GDS + eventually got into both. Chose Holton because they had all her sports (GDS was much closer for us). We knew Board Members at both. Kid ended up at Ivy.

Good luck! It is a stressful process.

Did knowing Board members help you? If so, how exactly did you leverage that relationship?

I posed the above about my kid who ended up at Holton. Luckily, both Board Members knew my kid very well. She happened to excel at several sports and thus was desirable to the schools.