St Albans vs St Anselm's

[Anonymous]

The lady doth protest too much on the acceptance rate. I don't think anyone would put SAAS in the list of the most competitive admits in the area. Probably not in the top 15. It doesn't make it bad or "lesser than," but pretending otherwise doesn't make it somehow more desirable.

[Anonymous]

St. Anselm's offers a world class education. Anybody who knows anything about independent schools in the region knows that it is one of the best Catholic high schools in the country. It could probably even challenge for title of best all-boys Catholic school. It was even featured in the Post some years ago for its rigorous curriculum. They don't churn out D-1 athletes and do not have the resources, facilities, or social pedigree of St. Albans (also, of course, an excellent school), but the notion that St. Anselm's is some second-tier scrub school is preposterous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those who love SAAS tout it's rigorous academics. There is nothing wrong with that, obviously, but few would describe it as a well-rounded school. Their athletics are poor, their facilities are bare bones, the location is brutally inconvenient for most. There is not a "sister school," and most describe the social scene as, well, a bunch of academically focused boys. Again, for some, this is ideal. For those looking for a more traditional high school environment, not so much. It's not quite as single-typed as BASIS, but not far off.

STA is exactly what everyone else is saying. It's elite (and all that is good and bad with that), acadmically challenging, a bit bro-ey, has a more robust social scene, focus and support for sports and the arts and a higher price tag.

Admissions acceptance % is also night and day. Regardless of SAAS parents talking about it being "for special boys" or "only for those who can withstand the rigor," if your check clears and your kid is remotely able to color between the lines, they'll get in.

Always amazing how some people act like the sun revolves around upper NWDC. There are plenty of families that live closer to SAAS than STA. To say it’s inconvenient to most is wild.

[Anonymous]

Inconvenient to most who would be somehow be comparing St. Albans to St. Anselm's.

For folks who live in NE DC or nearby PG County, yes, St. Anselm's is closer.

And for the poster who declared it to "be maybe the best all-boys Catholic school in the country," um, well, it's great that you are happy there.

[Anonymous]

Abbey parent here. I believe there are multiple teachers at St. Anselm’s who went to STA. I think the schools have a lot more in common than most people would assume.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Inconvenient to most who would be somehow be comparing St. Albans to St. Anselm's.

For folks who live in NE DC or nearby PG County, yes, St. Anselm's is closer.

And for the poster who declared it to "be maybe the best all-boys Catholic school in the country," um, well, it's great that you are happy there.

I’m not sure who you feel would be likely to compare these two schools but SAAS is probably more convenient to most neighborhoods east of Rock Creek including capital hill, eastern Montgomery county including Takoma Park and all of PG county. There are families in all of these areas that would theoretically be comparing which high performing school would be best for their child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Inconvenient to most who would be somehow be comparing St. Albans to St. Anselm's.

For folks who live in NE DC or nearby PG County, yes, St. Anselm's is closer.

And for the poster who declared it to "be maybe the best all-boys Catholic school in the country," um, well, it's great that you are happy there.

NP. These types of responses are so strange. Not sure though why some posters are so insecure that they clutch at their pearls that someone mentioned SAAS in the same breath as STA. If STA is so awesome (I know the school well enough to think it’s a great place), why are you here getting your panties in a knot? Just go live your best life.

SAAS serves a very different demographic than STA but both have a reputation of academic rigor and are both all boys school. Perhaps that’s why OP sought to compare. There are many things that SAAS falls short when compared to STA but the school has other merits, although those merits may not rate high for some. And yes, my DS is happy at SAAS, and I’m happy that he’s happy. Is it perfect? Absolutely not. I also think he would be very happy at STA and would fit there perfectly fine. But that’s not the choice we made.

[Anonymous]

My impression is that the faculty at STA, especially from middle school on, is more impressive than SAAS. I think the quality of the faculty and instruction is one of the most outstanding characteristics of STA, and my son has found that many of his high school teachers are at least as impressive as his college professors.

[Anonymous]

Although St Albans would have been an easier commute for us we never considered it for our SAAS graduate because it is not a Catholic school. We are very happy with our decision as our son made great friends at SAAS, graduated from an Ivy with a 4.0 GPA, and is now doing well in medical school. We attribute much of his academic success in college to the learning environment, small classes, and great instruction he received at SAAS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My impression is that the faculty at STA, especially from middle school on, is more impressive than SAAS. I think the quality of the faculty and instruction is one of the most outstanding characteristics of STA, and my son has found that many of his high school teachers are at least as impressive as his college professors.

Some have taught at both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone really cross-shop these?

We did. St. Alban's is closer, but we are Catholic, and liked St. Anselm's a lot for our boys. There is a bus, so that makes the location easier. Boys take the metro home and walk from the red line stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Inconvenient to most who would be somehow be comparing St. Albans to St. Anselm's.

For folks who live in NE DC or nearby PG County, yes, St. Anselm's is closer.

And for the poster who declared it to "be maybe the best all-boys Catholic school in the country," um, well, it's great that you are happy there.

https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/a12008388/best-catholic-high-schools/#

[Anonymous]

https://wjla.com/news/local/eight-local-schools-among-post-s-100-most-challenging-87514

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Inconvenient to most who would be somehow be comparing St. Albans to St. Anselm's.

For folks who live in NE DC or nearby PG County, yes, St. Anselm's is closer.

And for the poster who declared it to "be maybe the best all-boys Catholic school in the country," um, well, it's great that you are happy there.

https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/a12008388/best-catholic-high-schools/#

This article is from 2017 and uses Niche's rankings. Simply based on today's rankings, Georgetown Prep is arguably the all-boys Catholic School in D.C.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone really cross-shop these?

We did. St. Alban's is closer, but we are Catholic, and liked St. Anselm's a lot for our boys. There is a bus, so that makes the location easier. Boys take the metro home and walk from the red line stop.

We also did also, and St. Albans is also closer, and we are actually Anglican/Episcopalian (like St. Albans, not Catholic like St. Anselms), but we also chose St. Anselms for our son, because we value the culture of high academic rigor infused with character, humility, service, simplicity. Our son also remarked at how similar the schools are, and how many teachers have taught or been educated at the other. They are both great schools, and we liked them both, but we decided St. Anselms was more consistent with our values and how we want our son to define "success" in his life beyond high school.