How Tough Is It To Get A's In Sidwell Math I-IV Track And Chem 1A?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd like my son to attend Sidwell for 9th grade, but I've heard horror stories about the Math I-IV track and Chem 1A. I've heard Math I-IV is unreasonably difficult and only truly mathematically brilliant students (not simply accelerated by a few grade levels), can get A's. I've heard of students getting C's/D's in the Math I-IV track, yet getting A's in Calculus II. Is advanced math that tough at Sidwell?

I've also heard that Chem 1A doesn't actually teach students through lecture, and they're expected to figure out the work with "reasoning skills". I've heard some parents would just hire tutors to actually teach their kids Chemistry outside of class, so they can actually do the work.

I want my son to be competitive for top 10/Ivy League admissions when he applies for college. I know that a 3.9+ GPA is expected for the most competitive colleges. How realistic is this at Sidwell?

If you didn't give your kid super smart genes, you're going to have a tough road ahead. Sorry!

.

Intelligence is only about 50-60% genetic. The average South Korean kid will perform as well as the top US kids in math. Their math curriculum is a helluva lot better at teaching math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd like my son to attend Sidwell for 9th grade, but I've heard horror stories about the Math I-IV track and Chem 1A. I've heard Math I-IV is unreasonably difficult and only truly mathematically brilliant students (not simply accelerated by a few grade levels), can get A's. I've heard of students getting C's/D's in the Math I-IV track, yet getting A's in Calculus II. Is advanced math that tough at Sidwell?

I've also heard that Chem 1A doesn't actually teach students through lecture, and they're expected to figure out the work with "reasoning skills". I've heard some parents would just hire tutors to actually teach their kids Chemistry outside of class, so they can actually do the work.

I want my son to be competitive for top 10/Ivy League admissions when he applies for college. I know that a 3.9+ GPA is expected for the most competitive colleges. How realistic is this at Sidwell?

.

OP I say this kindly. (And I have Sidwell kids/ grad): if your son is going to be competitive for admission to a top 10/ Ivy, you would know that by middle school.

You haven’t told us anything about your son. Is this his goal or yours?

[Anonymous]

Honestly, if it's all about getting the highest gpa, do not go to private school, certainly not Sidwell. Send your kid there for a good education, not to play the numbers. You will drive him and all his teachers crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, if it's all about getting the highest gpa, do not go to private school, certainly not Sidwell. Send your kid there for a good education, not to play the numbers. You will drive him and all his teachers crazy.

This. Please follow this advice. If your goal is a top10 university, do not attend Sidwell or other Big3 private. Your kid will have a much easier time coming from a public. The grading at Sidwell, STA, NCS is very unpredictable, especially in the humanities. A kid can write phenomenally well and still get Bs because some teachers simply don't give As. Others do but a kid has no ability to pick which teachers he/she gets. What I'm trying to say is that there a s decent amount of luck involved in who does super well.

Then your child will be in a class with kids who are almost all Ivy legacies. Many multi-generational and/or the children of VIPs. He/she can be the top student in the class and still get shut out of the top 10 schools. It's all a crap shoot.

Choose Sidwell because you want a fantastic education for your kid. Not because of any college goals. In fact, be 100% prepared for a lesser college outcome vs. attending public school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, if it's all about getting the highest gpa, do not go to private school, certainly not Sidwell. Send your kid there for a good education, not to play the numbers. You will drive him and all his teachers crazy.

Nope. Compare the college admissions results of the W public schools with those from the Big 3/5/7. The private schools routinely send a larger percentage of their students to Ivies and top 25 universities. I’m willing to bet the W school students have a higher average GPA than NCS/STA/Sidwell/GDS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, if it's all about getting the highest gpa, do not go to private school, certainly not Sidwell. Send your kid there for a good education, not to play the numbers. You will drive him and all his teachers crazy.

Nope. Compare the college admissions results of the W public schools with those from the Big 3/5/7. The private schools routinely send a larger percentage of their students to Ivies and top 25 universities. I’m willing to bet the W school students have a higher average GPA than NCS/STA/Sidwell/GDS.

For the one millionth time: Public and private results can't be directly compared. The privates have different grading scales. They don't weight for honors or APs. They don't give many As period. Etc Etc. There are a zillion Ivy legacies and VIPs in the private school mix. They assemble classes of mostly high achievers whereas public have all-comers.

If you are a high achieving, unhooked kid with Ivy or similar goals I would bet a LOT that your admissions chances would be higher in public. You can either listen to this advice up front by the dozens of us who have given it or figure it out during senior year when your kid is applying to college.

[Anonymous]

But really, you need to believe it when you hear DCUM parents say that the Ivies and T10 (even T20) are mostly hooked at Sidwell. They all elbow out the high performing high rigor non-hooked kids.

Do not come to Sidwell if your (unhealthy!) goal (prior to 9th grade!) is T10/Ivy for your child.

Go because you like the school and the curriculum and are willing to deal with their "baggage".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, if it's all about getting the highest gpa, do not go to private school, certainly not Sidwell. Send your kid there for a good education, not to play the numbers. You will drive him and all his teachers crazy.

Nope. Compare the college admissions results of the W public schools with those from the Big 3/5/7. The private schools routinely send a larger percentage of their students to Ivies and top 25 universities. I’m willing to bet the W school students have a higher average GPA than NCS/STA/Sidwell/GDS.

For the one millionth time: Public and private results can't be directly compared. The privates have different grading scales. They don't weight for honors or APs. They don't give many As period. Etc Etc. There are a zillion Ivy legacies and VIPs in the private school mix. They assemble classes of mostly high achievers whereas public have all-comers.

If you are a high achieving, unhooked kid with Ivy or similar goals I would bet a LOT that your admissions chances would be higher in public. You can either listen to this advice up front by the dozens of us who have given it or figure it out during senior year when your kid is applying to college.

Yet here you are trying to compare public GPAs to private GPAs. Which is it? You can’t have it both ways. Btw, there are many Sidwell students who are not Ivy legacies. Stop trying to perpetuate that myth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But really, you need to believe it when you hear DCUM parents say that the Ivies and T10 (even T20) are mostly hooked at Sidwell. They all elbow out the high performing high rigor non-hooked kids.

Do not come to Sidwell if your (unhealthy!) goal (prior to 9th grade!) is T10/Ivy for your child.

Go because you like the school and the curriculum and are willing to deal with their "baggage".

I know of 2 current Sidwell seniors who are headed to Ivies. They are not hooked (not legacy, athlete, or URM). Now what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, if it's all about getting the highest gpa, do not go to private school, certainly not Sidwell. Send your kid there for a good education, not to play the numbers. You will drive him and all his teachers crazy.

Nope. Compare the college admissions results of the W public schools with those from the Big 3/5/7. The private schools routinely send a larger percentage of their students to Ivies and top 25 universities. I’m willing to bet the W school students have a higher average GPA than NCS/STA/Sidwell/GDS.

The point isn't college admissions. The point is the gpa expectations. You have to expect B's at this caliber of school. B' s on work that would earn A's elsewhere bc a school like Sidwell can work with students and expect more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, if it's all about getting the highest gpa, do not go to private school, certainly not Sidwell. Send your kid there for a good education, not to play the numbers. You will drive him and all his teachers crazy.

Nope. Compare the college admissions results of the W public schools with those from the Big 3/5/7. The private schools routinely send a larger percentage of their students to Ivies and top 25 universities. I’m willing to bet the W school students have a higher average GPA than NCS/STA/Sidwell/GDS.

For the one millionth time: Public and private results can't be directly compared. The privates have different grading scales. They don't weight for honors or APs. They don't give many As period. Etc Etc. There are a zillion Ivy legacies and VIPs in the private school mix. They assemble classes of mostly high achievers whereas public have all-comers.

If you are a high achieving, unhooked kid with Ivy or similar goals I would bet a LOT that your admissions chances would be higher in public. You can either listen to this advice up front by the dozens of us who have given it or figure it out during senior year when your kid is applying to college.

Yet here you are trying to compare public GPAs to private GPAs. Which is it? You can’t have it both ways. Btw, there are many Sidwell students who are not Ivy legacies. Stop trying to perpetuate that myth.

I don't know exactly. The Sidwell kids I know all happen to be Ivy legacies (between both parents). I have kids at two different Big3 schools and at the one I know best I'd estimate that 75% of the kids in my child's class have one parent who is an Ivy legacy. It's an extraordinarily high percentage.

Listen, I'm not making this stuff up. My kids are not Ivy legacies. We actually went to a decent school that no longer gives any legacy preference. So my kids are in the general pool of applicants. And as I talk to other parents and look at the Instagram posts and look at Scoir data it all paints a pretty grim picture (if top 20 results are the goal) for unhooked kids. It depends on the year and the class. I've been following the Ivy admits to one of my children's schools for a few years. Two years ago there was ONE unhooked Ivy admit. Last year there were maybe 3-4. So it varies depending on who is in the mix, what their grades are, what the fancies of the admissions officers are that year. But I'm just here to say that overall it's pretty grim is you're a top student at a Big3 school and not a legacy. Your top 20 school odds can be very, very low if there are VIPs or multi-generational Ivy kids in the mix who have decent grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, if it's all about getting the highest gpa, do not go to private school, certainly not Sidwell. Send your kid there for a good education, not to play the numbers. You will drive him and all his teachers crazy.

Nope. Compare the college admissions results of the W public schools with those from the Big 3/5/7. The private schools routinely send a larger percentage of their students to Ivies and top 25 universities. I’m willing to bet the W school students have a higher average GPA than NCS/STA/Sidwell/GDS.

For the one millionth time: Public and private results can't be directly compared. The privates have different grading scales. They don't weight for honors or APs. They don't give many As period. Etc Etc. There are a zillion Ivy legacies and VIPs in the private school mix. They assemble classes of mostly high achievers whereas public have all-comers.

If you are a high achieving, unhooked kid with Ivy or similar goals I would bet a LOT that your admissions chances would be higher in public. You can either listen to this advice up front by the dozens of us who have given it or figure it out during senior year when your kid is applying to college.

Yet here you are trying to compare public GPAs to private GPAs. Which is it? You can’t have it both ways. Btw, there are many Sidwell students who are not Ivy legacies. Stop trying to perpetuate that myth.

I don't know exactly. The Sidwell kids I know all happen to be Ivy legacies (between both parents). I have kids at two different Big3 schools and at the one I know best I'd estimate that 75% of the kids in my child's class have one parent who is an Ivy legacy. It's an extraordinarily high percentage.

Listen, I'm not making this stuff up. My kids are not Ivy legacies. We actually went to a decent school that no longer gives any legacy preference. So my kids are in the general pool of applicants. And as I talk to other parents and look at the Instagram posts and look at Scoir data it all paints a pretty grim picture (if top 20 results are the goal) for unhooked kids. It depends on the year and the class. I've been following the Ivy admits to one of my children's schools for a few years. Two years ago there was ONE unhooked Ivy admit. Last year there were maybe 3-4. So it varies depending on who is in the mix, what their grades are, what the fancies of the admissions officers are that year. But I'm just here to say that overall it's pretty grim is you're a top student at a Big3 school and not a legacy. Your top 20 school odds can be very, very low if there are VIPs or multi-generational Ivy kids in the mix who have decent grades.

And BTW by posting this I'm not being an A$$. Quite the opposite--I'm hoping to provoke others to really think this through.
My kids are both in high school and their high schooling decision is done. (We're not going to pull them.) However, I wish I had given this some more thought prior to spending all this money. Or at least had gone in with my eyes open. I'm not sure I would have chosen something else but it always feels better to know as much as you can about a purchase before making the purchase. We didn't choose Big3 schools for the college outcomes but when you really pause and look at who is getting in, it's sobering to see that you can almost be locked out of top colleges at a Big3, regardless of how well your kid does. I'm not particularly comfortable with this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, if it's all about getting the highest gpa, do not go to private school, certainly not Sidwell. Send your kid there for a good education, not to play the numbers. You will drive him and all his teachers crazy.

Nope. Compare the college admissions results of the W public schools with those from the Big 3/5/7. The private schools routinely send a larger percentage of their students to Ivies and top 25 universities. I’m willing to bet the W school students have a higher average GPA than NCS/STA/Sidwell/GDS.

For the one millionth time: Public and private results can't be directly compared. The privates have different grading scales. They don't weight for honors or APs. They don't give many As period. Etc Etc. There are a zillion Ivy legacies and VIPs in the private school mix. They assemble classes of mostly high achievers whereas public have all-comers.

If you are a high achieving, unhooked kid with Ivy or similar goals I would bet a LOT that your admissions chances would be higher in public. You can either listen to this advice up front by the dozens of us who have given it or figure it out during senior year when your kid is applying to college.

Yet here you are trying to compare public GPAs to private GPAs. Which is it? You can’t have it both ways. Btw, there are many Sidwell students who are not Ivy legacies. Stop trying to perpetuate that myth.

I don't know exactly. The Sidwell kids I know all happen to be Ivy legacies (between both parents). I have kids at two different Big3 schools and at the one I know best I'd estimate that 75% of the kids in my child's class have one parent who is an Ivy legacy. It's an extraordinarily high percentage.

Listen, I'm not making this stuff up. My kids are not Ivy legacies. We actually went to a decent school that no longer gives any legacy preference. So my kids are in the general pool of applicants. And as I talk to other parents and look at the Instagram posts and look at Scoir data it all paints a pretty grim picture (if top 20 results are the goal) for unhooked kids. It depends on the year and the class. I've been following the Ivy admits to one of my children's schools for a few years. Two years ago there was ONE unhooked Ivy admit. Last year there were maybe 3-4. So it varies depending on who is in the mix, what their grades are, what the fancies of the admissions officers are that year. But I'm just here to say that overall it's pretty grim is you're a top student at a Big3 school and not a legacy. Your top 20 school odds can be very, very low if there are VIPs or multi-generational Ivy kids in the mix who have decent grades.

And BTW by posting this I'm not being an A$$. Quite the opposite--I'm hoping to provoke others to really think this through.
My kids are both in high school and their high schooling decision is done. (We're not going to pull them.) However, I wish I had given this some more thought prior to spending all this money. Or at least had gone in with my eyes open. I'm not sure I would have chosen something else but it always feels better to know as much as you can about a purchase before making the purchase. We didn't choose Big3 schools for the college outcomes but when you really pause and look at who is getting in, it's sobering to see that you can almost be locked out of top colleges at a Big3, regardless of how well your kid does. I'm not particularly comfortable with this.

Your posts are unnecessarily alarmist. If your child has high stats, great ECs, and top notch essays, they won’t be locked out of a top college—hooked or not. Your child may not get into an Ivy, but if they apply broadly (state flagships, SLACs, geographic diversity) and strategically (not just colleges with single digit admissions rates), they will get into a top school.
Calm down.

[Anonymous]

OP, if your goal is T10/Ivy, move to Wyoming or Idaho and send your kid to the local public and make sure they are doing some national math/science activities that will draw distinction.

[Anonymous]

Chem 1A is not that hard. I got an A- and am not a super strong math/science person. I made it to Math III but asked to drop down mid-way through the first semester as a junior. School was happy for me to stay in Math III, I was on track to get a C+ / B- and was really doing my best, which I was told was fine. But I was miserable. It was impossibly hard and I was spending so much time on it just to get those grades. Dropped down a track, still worked hard, had more time for other classes, and got an A instead. It was well worth it for me due to my mental state.