Applying to Walls from private middle school

[Anonymous]

What;s the GPA needed from an IB school? Would you need all 7s?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is something truly wrong with an application school admissions process for a supposedly academic school that favors “easy As” from grade inflated schools rather than potentially lower grades from much tougher courses/schools. Where is the incentive for students to challenge themselves? Why is it better to exclude the more capable students? Certainly not all will be excluded, but it seems a great many.

Wow. Don’t assume the kids coming from public middle schools are taking “easy A” classes and not challenging themselves. Many of the admitted students from DCPS middles took high school math in 7th and 8th.

But it's crazy that a kid at SH makes the choice to turn down school-recommended math acceleration to guarantee an A in order to meet the Walls cut-off. I know 2 kids who did exactly that last year. That's a terrible incentive to create for DCPS students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid went to a DCPS elementary then a private middle school. They are interested in applying to Walls for high school for the opportunity to participate in an extracurricular that they really love. Their middle school was quite academically intense, and I think their 6th and 7th grade grades would translate into a 3.8 GPA on a 4.0 scale. My understanding is that the Walls admission process can fluctuate a great deal from year to year, but is it likely that they would make the shortlist for the second round of interview/essay with a 3.8 GPA? They would likely have quite good teacher recommendations, but they are probably in the "good" (not "best ever") tier of students their middle school teachers have encountered.

Would love any thoughts - thank you!

This was my kid and she is doing well and happy at Walls. You should apply and ignore all the noise. You have as good a chance as anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is something truly wrong with an application school admissions process for a supposedly academic school that favors “easy As” from grade inflated schools rather than potentially lower grades from much tougher courses/schools. Where is the incentive for students to challenge themselves? Why is it better to exclude the more capable students? Certainly not all will be excluded, but it seems a great many.

Wow. Don’t assume the kids coming from public middle schools are taking “easy A” classes and not challenging themselves. Many of the admitted students from DCPS middles took high school math in 7th and 8th.

But it's crazy that a kid at SH makes the choice to turn down school-recommended math acceleration to guarantee an A in order to meet the Walls cut-off. I know 2 kids who did exactly that last year. That's a terrible incentive to create for DCPS students.

Agree that this is crazy. I also wonder about the adults in the lives of these children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is something truly wrong with an application school admissions process for a supposedly academic school that favors “easy As” from grade inflated schools rather than potentially lower grades from much tougher courses/schools. Where is the incentive for students to challenge themselves? Why is it better to exclude the more capable students? Certainly not all will be excluded, but it seems a great many.

Wow. Don’t assume the kids coming from public middle schools are taking “easy A” classes and not challenging themselves. Many of the admitted students from DCPS middles took high school math in 7th and 8th.

But it's crazy that a kid at SH makes the choice to turn down school-recommended math acceleration to guarantee an A in order to meet the Walls cut-off. I know 2 kids who did exactly that last year. That's a terrible incentive to create for DCPS students.

Agree that this is crazy. I also wonder about the adults in the lives of these children.

If you are attending SH - your feeder is Eastern. This is your default option.
If you need to take a different math in 7th grade to improve your options - it is a smart decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a 9th grader at Walls and can confirm there are some kids from private middles there. I can’t really comment pre/post interview and essay, but it does seem like the kids who got in (who my kid knew prior) are good at ELA/writing.

Given that Walls is a Humanities focused application high school - this makes sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is something truly wrong with an application school admissions process for a supposedly academic school that favors “easy As” from grade inflated schools rather than potentially lower grades from much tougher courses/schools. Where is the incentive for students to challenge themselves? Why is it better to exclude the more capable students? Certainly not all will be excluded, but it seems a great many.

Wow. Don’t assume the kids coming from public middle schools are taking “easy A” classes and not challenging themselves. Many of the admitted students from DCPS middles took high school math in 7th and 8th.

But it's crazy that a kid at SH makes the choice to turn down school-recommended math acceleration to guarantee an A in order to meet the Walls cut-off. I know 2 kids who did exactly that last year. That's a terrible incentive to create for DCPS students.

Agree that this is crazy. I also wonder about the adults in the lives of these children.

If you are attending SH - your feeder is Eastern. This is your default option.
If you need to take a different math in 7th grade to improve your options - it is a smart decision.

Point taken. Still sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m confused- they’d rather have kids who get A grades despite taking easy classes? My child is taking high school math and language courses, but might end up with something like a 3.8. Are you telling me they’d rather kids who didn’t challenge themselves?

Yes. Though a 3.8 might be enough. Walls isn’t a private college. There’s no admissions department. They’re trying to find a low-effort way to sort through a high volume of applications for a small number of seats, and GPA is simple and fast.

It is a shame that they no longer require the minimum of a "4" on the DC Standardized test. This was also a way that was simple and fast.

[Anonymous]

Complaining about this problem on this board will get you no where.

Yes, it is a problem, and not just for private school kids. Some years the cut off is higher and some years it is lower.

Every year exceptionally qualified students don't make it in. There just aren't enough spaces for all who are qualified.

The current process for admissions does not particularly select for the absolute best students.

Bringing back the requirement for an admissions test (any admissions test) would be one way to have an apples to apples means to test for entrance.

As it is now, lots of good students are admitted.

It's also possible now that certain schools are privileged over others regardless of whether they are better at educating their students.

Schools that don't have teachers who write good admissions letters are not setting their students up for success.

Schools like Basis who tend to give worse grades (perhaps in part so that their kids won't leave for greener pastures) are also not helping their students get into SWW (or other application schools).

[Anonymous]

You will have to wait and see if the kids who passed on math acceleration get in. I suspect kids who did advanced math will on average do slightly better on recommendations, interviews, and ultimately admissions. Skipping the more advanced middle math path is likely to long-term hold most students back (no Algebra in 8th means no calculus before college).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is something truly wrong with an application school admissions process for a supposedly academic school that favors “easy As” from grade inflated schools rather than potentially lower grades from much tougher courses/schools. Where is the incentive for students to challenge themselves? Why is it better to exclude the more capable students? Certainly not all will be excluded, but it seems a great many.

Wow. Don’t assume the kids coming from public middle schools are taking “easy A” classes and not challenging themselves. Many of the admitted students from DCPS middles took high school math in 7th and 8th.

But it's crazy that a kid at SH makes the choice to turn down school-recommended math acceleration to guarantee an A in order to meet the Walls cut-off. I know 2 kids who did exactly that last year. That's a terrible incentive to create for DCPS students.

Agree that this is crazy. I also wonder about the adults in the lives of these children.

If you are attending SH - your feeder is Eastern. This is your default option.
If you need to take a different math in 7th grade to improve your options - it is a smart decision.

That’s crazy. So have your kid cruise and basically waste 3 years doing so instead of learning more so he has a chance to get into Walls.

It’s not a smart decision and your goals are all wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is something truly wrong with an application school admissions process for a supposedly academic school that favors “easy As” from grade inflated schools rather than potentially lower grades from much tougher courses/schools. Where is the incentive for students to challenge themselves? Why is it better to exclude the more capable students? Certainly not all will be excluded, but it seems a great many.

Wow. Don’t assume the kids coming from public middle schools are taking “easy A” classes and not challenging themselves. Many of the admitted students from DCPS middles took high school math in 7th and 8th.

But it's crazy that a kid at SH makes the choice to turn down school-recommended math acceleration to guarantee an A in order to meet the Walls cut-off. I know 2 kids who did exactly that last year. That's a terrible incentive to create for DCPS students.

Agree that this is crazy. I also wonder about the adults in the lives of these children.

If you are attending SH - your feeder is Eastern. This is your default option.
If you need to take a different math in 7th grade to improve your options - it is a smart decision.

That’s crazy. So have your kid cruise and basically waste 3 years doing so instead of learning more so he has a chance to get into Walls.

It’s not a smart decision and your goals are all wrong.

That seems nutty, especially since it's not guaranteed even with a "perfect" GPA. Hard to believe people would do that.

[Anonymous]

Math acceleration has gone overboard anyway. Perhaps those parents don’t want their kids in calculus as sophomores or juniors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You will have to wait and see if the kids who passed on math acceleration get in. I suspect kids who did advanced math will on average do slightly better on recommendations, interviews, and ultimately admissions. Skipping the more advanced middle math path is likely to long-term hold most students back (no Algebra in 8th means no calculus before college).

Most privates require Algebra by 8th. I know we're talking about Walls, but passing on math acceleration hurts these kids for private applications (if that was your backup).

[Anonymous]

They need to make sure they admit kids from every neighborhood so they water down requirements. They should do it like NYC Public Schools.