Gamble on Lowell?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lowell has strong outplacement. I wouldn’t worry to much about it.

Too*

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I am confused about what the gamble is. If your kid had gotten into a K-12, choosing a K-8 is something of a gamble because you could end up without a high school placement. But if you don’t have a K-12 option, I don’t get it.

OP here. I'm not going to say what my public option is. TMI. What I will say is that we're talking about starting Lowell in the early grades. We weren't really thinking about high school when we applied to lower schools because it seemed so far away but now that we're in we're wondering if it's worth paying for 8+ years only to be shut out of the better privates for high school. We are knew to this.

NP. If you like Lowell more than your public option, you can start there for the early grades and apply out to your preferred K-12s at middle school or sooner (depending on the entry years of your preferred school). We are at another K-8, but we have friends at Lowell who rave about it, especially for the early years.

This is good advice. If you have a k-12 option take it. If you are deciding between public vs Lowell, Try Lowell and then switch back to public or switch to another private at 4th or 6th or 7th, or be okay with the possibility of Burke or the like (or public which can be a great fit for some kids by high school) if your kid doesn’t get into one of the most competitive private schools applying for 9th. We thought Lowell was best for pp-3rd grade. I have three kids. One graduated and two left early and one went to public for high school.

What do you mean by Burke or the like?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am confused about what the gamble is. If your kid had gotten into a K-12, choosing a K-8 is something of a gamble because you could end up without a high school placement. But if you don’t have a K-12 option, I don’t get it.

OP here. I'm not going to say what my public option is. TMI. What I will say is that we're talking about starting Lowell in the early grades. We weren't really thinking about high school when we applied to lower schools because it seemed so far away but now that we're in we're wondering if it's worth paying for 8+ years only to be shut out of the better privates for high school. We are knew to this.

NP. If you like Lowell more than your public option, you can start there for the early grades and apply out to your preferred K-12s at middle school or sooner (depending on the entry years of your preferred school). We are at another K-8, but we have friends at Lowell who rave about it, especially for the early years.

This is good advice. If you have a k-12 option take it. If you are deciding between public vs Lowell, Try Lowell and then switch back to public or switch to another private at 4th or 6th or 7th, or be okay with the possibility of Burke or the like (or public which can be a great fit for some kids by high school) if your kid doesn’t get into one of the most competitive private schools applying for 9th. We thought Lowell was best for pp-3rd grade. I have three kids. One graduated and two left early and one went to public for high school.

What do you mean by Burke or the like?

Schools that have historically large number of Lowell students attend for HS and that are not as competitive to gain admission in, say in comparison to Maret or Sidwell etc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am confused about what the gamble is. If your kid had gotten into a K-12, choosing a K-8 is something of a gamble because you could end up without a high school placement. But if you don’t have a K-12 option, I don’t get it.

OP here. I'm not going to say what my public option is. TMI. What I will say is that we're talking about starting Lowell in the early grades. We weren't really thinking about high school when we applied to lower schools because it seemed so far away but now that we're in we're wondering if it's worth paying for 8+ years only to be shut out of the better privates for high school. We are knew to this.

NP. If you like Lowell more than your public option, you can start there for the early grades and apply out to your preferred K-12s at middle school or sooner (depending on the entry years of your preferred school). We are at another K-8, but we have friends at Lowell who rave about it, especially for the early years.

This is good advice. If you have a k-12 option take it. If you are deciding between public vs Lowell, Try Lowell and then switch back to public or switch to another private at 4th or 6th or 7th, or be okay with the possibility of Burke or the like (or public which can be a great fit for some kids by high school) if your kid doesn’t get into one of the most competitive private schools applying for 9th. We thought Lowell was best for pp-3rd grade. I have three kids. One graduated and two left early and one went to public for high school.

What do you mean by Burke or the like?

Schools that have historically large number of Lowell students attend for HS and that are not as competitive to gain admission in, say in comparison to Maret or Sidwell etc

Do Lowell grads ever get into Sidwell, GDS or Maret?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am confused about what the gamble is. If your kid had gotten into a K-12, choosing a K-8 is something of a gamble because you could end up without a high school placement. But if you don’t have a K-12 option, I don’t get it.

OP here. I'm not going to say what my public option is. TMI. What I will say is that we're talking about starting Lowell in the early grades. We weren't really thinking about high school when we applied to lower schools because it seemed so far away but now that we're in we're wondering if it's worth paying for 8+ years only to be shut out of the better privates for high school. We are knew to this.

NP. If you like Lowell more than your public option, you can start there for the early grades and apply out to your preferred K-12s at middle school or sooner (depending on the entry years of your preferred school). We are at another K-8, but we have friends at Lowell who rave about it, especially for the early years.

This is good advice. If you have a k-12 option take it. If you are deciding between public vs Lowell, Try Lowell and then switch back to public or switch to another private at 4th or 6th or 7th, or be okay with the possibility of Burke or the like (or public which can be a great fit for some kids by high school) if your kid doesn’t get into one of the most competitive private schools applying for 9th. We thought Lowell was best for pp-3rd grade. I have three kids. One graduated and two left early and one went to public for high school.

Yes of course

What do you mean by Burke or the like?

Schools that have historically large number of Lowell students attend for HS and that are not as competitive to gain admission in, say in comparison to Maret or Sidwell etc

Do Lowell grads ever get into Sidwell, GDS or Maret?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am confused about what the gamble is. If your kid had gotten into a K-12, choosing a K-8 is something of a gamble because you could end up without a high school placement. But if you don’t have a K-12 option, I don’t get it.

OP here. I'm not going to say what my public option is. TMI. What I will say is that we're talking about starting Lowell in the early grades. We weren't really thinking about high school when we applied to lower schools because it seemed so far away but now that we're in we're wondering if it's worth paying for 8+ years only to be shut out of the better privates for high school. We are knew to this.

NP. If you like Lowell more than your public option, you can start there for the early grades and apply out to your preferred K-12s at middle school or sooner (depending on the entry years of your preferred school). We are at another K-8, but we have friends at Lowell who rave about it, especially for the early years.

This is good advice. If you have a k-12 option take it. If you are deciding between public vs Lowell, Try Lowell and then switch back to public or switch to another private at 4th or 6th or 7th, or be okay with the possibility of Burke or the like (or public which can be a great fit for some kids by high school) if your kid doesn’t get into one of the most competitive private schools applying for 9th. We thought Lowell was best for pp-3rd grade. I have three kids. One graduated and two left early and one went to public for high school.

Yes of course

Yes of course

What do you mean by Burke or the like?

Schools that have historically large number of Lowell students attend for HS and that are not as competitive to gain admission in, say in comparison to Maret or Sidwell etc

Do Lowell grads ever get into Sidwell, GDS or Maret?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am confused about what the gamble is. If your kid had gotten into a K-12, choosing a K-8 is something of a gamble because you could end up without a high school placement. But if you don’t have a K-12 option, I don’t get it.

OP here. I'm not going to say what my public option is. TMI. What I will say is that we're talking about starting Lowell in the early grades. We weren't really thinking about high school when we applied to lower schools because it seemed so far away but now that we're in we're wondering if it's worth paying for 8+ years only to be shut out of the better privates for high school. We are knew to this.

NP. If you like Lowell more than your public option, you can start there for the early grades and apply out to your preferred K-12s at middle school or sooner (depending on the entry years of your preferred school). We are at another K-8, but we have friends at Lowell who rave about it, especially for the early years.

This is good advice. If you have a k-12 option take it. If you are deciding between public vs Lowell, Try Lowell and then switch back to public or switch to another private at 4th or 6th or 7th, or be okay with the possibility of Burke or the like (or public which can be a great fit for some kids by high school) if your kid doesn’t get into one of the most competitive private schools applying for 9th. We thought Lowell was best for pp-3rd grade. I have three kids. One graduated and two left early and one went to public for high school.

Schools that have historically large number of Lowell students attend for HS and that are not as competitive to gain admission in, say in comparison to Maret or Sidwell etc

Do Lowell grads ever get into Sidwell, GDS or Maret?

I clearly don’t know how to use this thing. Trying to say yes lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Should we gamble on Lowell even though it doesn't have an Upper School? Does it have any clout with the better Upper Schools? Is it considered prestigious? It might end up being our only private school option and we're worried about what comes next. We are full pay and wonder if we'd be spending all that money for nothing.

So your goal for private school is admission to a prestigious high school? It's funny, people always go on and on about how they'd pay all that money for private school because the education is so much better and it's valuable in itself. It's always refreshing when people admit the truth.

I mean, Lowell is well-regarded, but there are no guarantees. If you'll feel like you wasted your money if your kid doesn't get into Sidwell for HS, then you're probably better off sending your kid to public school.

[Anonymous]

Honest question- why did you apply to Lowell if you felt it would be taking a gamble?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am confused about what the gamble is. If your kid had gotten into a K-12, choosing a K-8 is something of a gamble because you could end up without a high school placement. But if you don’t have a K-12 option, I don’t get it.

OP here. I'm not going to say what my public option is. TMI. What I will say is that we're talking about starting Lowell in the early grades. We weren't really thinking about high school when we applied to lower schools because it seemed so far away but now that we're in we're wondering if it's worth paying for 8+ years only to be shut out of the better privates for high school. We are knew to this.

NP. If you like Lowell more than your public option, you can start there for the early grades and apply out to your preferred K-12s at middle school or sooner (depending on the entry years of your preferred school). We are at another K-8, but we have friends at Lowell who rave about it, especially for the early years.

This is good advice. If you have a k-12 option take it. If you are deciding between public vs Lowell, Try Lowell and then switch back to public or switch to another private at 4th or 6th or 7th, or be okay with the possibility of Burke or the like (or public which can be a great fit for some kids by high school) if your kid doesn’t get into one of the most competitive private schools applying for 9th. We thought Lowell was best for pp-3rd grade. I have three kids. One graduated and two left early and one went to public for high school.

What do you mean by Burke or the like?

Schools that have historically large number of Lowell students attend for HS and that are not as competitive to gain admission in, say in comparison to Maret or Sidwell etc

Do Lowell grads ever get into Sidwell, GDS or Maret?

Current 8th grade family at Lowell. Our class faced the same competitive high school placement issues that everyone else did. Still, out of 35 kids, three kids got accepted to Sidwell, one to Maret, a couple to GDS, and a few to very competitive public magnets (two to Blair CAP, one to the RM IB program, and one to the Visual Arts magnet). And also, yes, Burke and Sandy Spring, as well as Catholic schools. And those are just the ones I know about.

Still, I would only go if it feels like the right environment for your child. For my kid it absolutely was.

[Anonymous]

Burke and Sandy Springs are both great schools! Plenty of kids are happy and thriving at both schools!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

wondering if it's worth paying for 8+ years only to be shut out of the better privates for high school.

You will only be "shut out" if your kid does not do well in middle school. Otherwise you will have just as much chance as the next high achiever. These schools don't provide an on-ramp to the next place, they provide a solid education and what the outcomes will be are kid-dependent. Sure, the school can put in a good word, but a strong A student with good SSAT will be competitive no matter where they come from. That said, there are far more competitive kids in DC than spaces in schools. That is just the landscape...and get used to that because it plays put exactly the same way four years after they enter high school. The high school you attend does not guarantee the next step.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not after the admissions cycle of the past years. Huge risk.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lowell has strong outplacement. I wouldn’t worry to much about it.

+1. No one is getting shut out coming from Lowell. All these threads asking who got into GDS? Lowell kids.

[Anonymous]

I’m not totally following the logic of your thinking.
How is going to Lowell any more of a “gamble” in terms of eventual 9th grade admissions than your local public or any other options you have? It’s obviously far more expensive but more of a gamble? This is a question that would make more sense if you were comparing to a K-12 option.
That said, as a parent at a different but similar K-8, I would not suggest you accept admissions if you aren’t excited about the school and community. I understand that exmissions are worth taking into consideration but there’s a whole lot of life that happens before then. If your choice is based on that, go elsewhere.