St. John's and Good Counsel
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Anonymous
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No political differences they are both Catholic schools mostly maga/conservative politically.
SJ is a tier below Good Counsel always has been. Good Counsel isn't as academic as publics, which makes sense because they have religious education ie, indoctrination as part of the curriculum. Rightly so, given they are religion-based. Parents send their kids for that reason, obviously, but that means less academic in the long run. Lots of small religious privates feed to both getting kids that didn't have great lower school academics. College acceptances are nowhere near public. Good Counsel would be my choice over SJ. Much more qualified staff. |
Anonymous
This has to be the most ridiculous DCUM post I've seen in a long time. I don't even know how to begin to respond. Say what you want about Catholic schools and religion and "indoctrination," but that's generally NOT why many parents send their kids there. They do it for the perceived academics and the discipline. |
Anonymous
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I think what it comes down to is do either of these schools have a program that you’re interested in.
For example, do you want a marching band? Do you have a cheerleader in your family? Or do you want art classes? Do you want an engineering program? Do your kids have learning disabilities? Would you like to be recruited for a sport? Do you want international baccalaureate? I think you can’t measure either. School is better or worse as a whole hole but you could say one is better at a certain aspect. |
Anonymous
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Someone posted this thread to hate on SJC
SJC gets kids from all the privates in the area and some public. My DS loves the changes to the schedule. Loves being able to eat with friends, loves being able to play sports on the field during flex time. The changes are very positive. |
Anonymous
LOL |
Anonymous
Yeah, some very weird and random generalizations in the above post that are not based in reality. The best school for your DC depends on your DC’s interests and personality. Bonus points for a smooth commute! For our family, SJC offered my DS the opportunity to participate in certain activities that he would not have at the other schools he was looking at (he did not apply to GC bc it’s too far). My DS got into all schools he applied to with academic scholarships but chose SJC because it felt right. The school community is very down-to-earth, DS liked the big-school vibe after coming from a smaller K-8, and SJC gave DS the chance to jump right into activities and classes that build upon his skills and talents. I can’t speak to GC specifically, but every school has pros and cons. What might be a perfect fit for one kid, might not be as good for another. Visit as much as you can, take your DC’s shadow day feedback seriously, map out what your DC’s first year would look like at each school and go from there. |
Anonymous
+100 |
Anonymous
If Blair can manage all 3300 of their kids eating lunch at the same time without issue - I'm sure St Johns can figure it out. |
Anonymous
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I have no experience with Good Counsel, but we generally like SJC. The biggest complaint is that the SJC Scholars program is pretty unfair to kids who aren't in the program. Only Scholars can take honors religion freshman year, which gives them a GPA bump over the rest of the students. If honors religion was harder than regular freshman religion, then perhaps that would be fair. Honors freshman religion isn't any more difficult than regular freshman religion though, which means the Scholars get an artificial GPA bump. The senior seminar that Scholars take is also not a particularly difficult class, but they get a GPA bump for that class as well.
It's also ridiculous that only Scholars can automatically get two teacher recommendations for the college applications. Other students are only allowed one teacher recommendation, unless they can show that a college requires more than one rec. My child is a Scholar, so she benefits from the program, but I still think it's completely unfair to the rest of the kids. |
Anonymous
Because all schools everywhere have the same floor plans and resources? I’m also sure that St John’s can figure it out — but their ability to do so has nothing to do with a County school several miles away. |
Anonymous
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My kids have graduated, but I have direct experience with both schools as a parent. They have some obvious similarities - large, co-ed Catholic schools, sporty atmosphere with a focus on athletics and competitive sports, and they both draw from a variety of Catholic and public schools in the area. SJC draws from DC and VA in addition to MD. GC is mainly MoCo, Howard County, some Frederick County, and some PG County, including the Bowie area.
It’s been a few years since I’ve dealt with admissions to either, so I won’t address the competitive question from that angle. However, if you take a look at college placements, they seem similar. They’ve placed kids into highly competitive top 50 colleges and universities. At SJC, the Scholars get more individualized college counseling, which is a benefit. Politically, I think SJC is a little more diverse. My child, who’s right leaning, occasionally felt like his beliefs and positions were questioned a little more directly. It’s not a bad thing to be exposed to people who think differently than you. GC felt more cohesively conservative to me. Both schools have some population of LGBTQ+ and I believe both are a welcoming environment. The philosophies are both Catholic, but affiliated with different orders of Catholic Brothers. SJC is Lasallian, which is an older order that is more focused on social justice and serving the poor. GC is Xaverian and focused on finding God in the ordinary and relationships with others and with God. This comes out in nuanced ways, but won’t demonstrate huge differences because it’s the same Catholic Church. I agree with the recommendation about looking if there is something niche your child is interested in - the Arts, performing arts and theater, a STEM program, cheerleading, the cadet corps, an IB diploma a specific sport that isn’t at both, etc. That may be the deciding factor for you. If your student is interested in AP classes, I’ve heard it’s harder to get approval to take at SJC unless your child is in the Scholars Program. Attend both open houses this fall. If your child is a senior, shadow at both. The campuses are different and you can get a sense of the general vibe from visiting. Good luck. |
Anonymous
I’m not op or a parent at either of these schools but this is an excellent comment. |
Anonymous
I agree, although I think “right leaning” teenagers are odd. |
Anonymous
| What percentage of SJC kids get into the Scholar's Program? |
Anonymous
About 50 students each year. The prerequisite is usually scoring a 95% or higher on the HSPT. |