Is NCS actually a pressure cooker?

[Anonymous]

In my opinion as parent of a senior, NCS has become softer over the past 2 years. This is probably due in part to the departure of 3-4 of the English faculty (for non NCS reasons) who were known for giving As at the rate of about one per class (and it was generally an A minus). The new faculty are much easier.

Also, the lower 50% of the class (fully one half) has had pretty disappointing college admits in recent years. I assume they're trying to fix that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In my opinion as parent of a senior, NCS has become softer over the past 2 years. This is probably due in part to the departure of 3-4 of the English faculty (for non NCS reasons) who were known for giving As at the rate of about one per class (and it was generally an A minus). The new faculty are much easier.

Also, the lower 50% of the class (fully one half) has had pretty disappointing college admits in recent years. I assume they're trying to fix that.

Excuse me, but who are you to call anyone else’s college admit “disappointing?” Does it ever occur to some of you that some girls WANT to go to Alabama, Clemson or TCU?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my opinion as parent of a senior, NCS has become softer over the past 2 years. This is probably due in part to the departure of 3-4 of the English faculty (for non NCS reasons) who were known for giving As at the rate of about one per class (and it was generally an A minus). The new faculty are much easier.

Also, the lower 50% of the class (fully one half) has had pretty disappointing college admits in recent years. I assume they're trying to fix that.

Excuse me, but who are you to call anyone else’s college admit “disappointing?” Does it ever occur to some of you that some girls WANT to go to Alabama, Clemson or TCU?

More often than not, the parents and their unreasonable expectations for their children (4.0 or bust!) are the origin of the stress.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my opinion as parent of a senior, NCS has become softer over the past 2 years. This is probably due in part to the departure of 3-4 of the English faculty (for non NCS reasons) who were known for giving As at the rate of about one per class (and it was generally an A minus). The new faculty are much easier.

Also, the lower 50% of the class (fully one half) has had pretty disappointing college admits in recent years. I assume they're trying to fix that.

Excuse me, but who are you to call anyone else’s college admit “disappointing?” Does it ever occur to some of you that some girls WANT to go to Alabama, Clemson or TCU?

thanks for revealing the way that NCS people think

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Or is it a myth?

Lots of schools, including publics, have super competitive kids who create pressure cooker environments.

I’ve heard NCS alum talk about the pressure cooker environment but wouldn’t one say they have nothing to compare it to?

Also, why work so hard just to get into Clemson or Alabama?

But is it more of a pressure cooker than Holton, Sidwell in HS? How can any of these schools NOT a pressure cooker when only 20% kids admitted to top 20 and nearly half of all parents are legacy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or is it a myth?

Lots of schools, including publics, have super competitive kids who create pressure cooker environments.

I’ve heard NCS alum talk about the pressure cooker environment but wouldn’t one say they have nothing to compare it to?

Also, why work so hard just to get into Clemson or Alabama?

But is it more of a pressure cooker than Holton, Sidwell in HS? How can any of these schools NOT a pressure cooker when only 20% kids admitted to top 20 and nearly half of all parents are legacy?

Yes and no. No in the sense that at Sidwell and maybe less so at Holton the kids are all striving for top spots so the competition exists everywhere (the percentage of classmates you are competing with is a factor) and added to this is the grading A’s are very hard to come by. I don’t know about grading at Sidwell and Holton but from what I hear it’s not as difficult at Holton.

[Anonymous]

If your kid wants to be at the top, then yes. If they don't care about that and are content with being in the median, then they'll likely not feel that much pressure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my opinion as parent of a senior, NCS has become softer over the past 2 years. This is probably due in part to the departure of 3-4 of the English faculty (for non NCS reasons) who were known for giving As at the rate of about one per class (and it was generally an A minus). The new faculty are much easier.

Also, the lower 50% of the class (fully one half) has had pretty disappointing college admits in recent years. I assume they're trying to fix that.

Excuse me, but who are you to call anyone else’s college admit “disappointing?” Does it ever occur to some of you that some girls WANT to go to Alabama, Clemson or TCU?

thanks for revealing the way that NCS people think

+1. Unbelievable.

[Anonymous]

Yes.

I went to NCS and have friends with kids there.

I also have kids who go/have gone to a "top" local public high school.

There is absolutely no comparison in the work load, pressure, stress, rigor, and level of worth ethic and standards expected from the kids.

NCS is much harder, more rigorous, and more demanding.

[Anonymous]

I would definitely say yes--my daughter works hard. The jump from 8th to 9th grade was WAY too hard and Physics in 9th was a disaster in our opinion.

[Anonymous]

What the hell is TCU?

-NCS grad

[Anonymous]

PP, you are charming.

[Anonymous]

Respectfully, the "pressure cooker" starts at home and is ultimately fostered there. Yes, there is competition among students, and pressures to go to a "good school." But it's on us as parents to help release that pressure.

If your motive to send your child to NCS/SFS/STA, etc., is college placement above all -- and you see anything lower than T20 as a failure/academic shortcoming/waste of money -- your child is getting that vibe.

Tons of great students go to schools like Alabama, Georgia, Delaware, Pitt, UWV, etc., and do amazing things. Not everyone wants to go to an Ivy. Some want the larger vibe, some get amazing financial packages, some want to live in that area, some pursue specialty programs that these schools are known for, some don't want to be taught by TAs as undergrads. Some kids are still growing emotionally. They're 17/18 for god's sake.

Stop judging or making assumptions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My friend with a daughter at NCS told me that the motto of the school should be something along the lines of: Where the excellent go to feel like they suck

!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would definitely say yes--my daughter works hard. The jump from 8th to 9th grade was WAY too hard and Physics in 9th was a disaster in our opinion.

Why is it a diaster? Are they not prepared? How. many years do they learn Physics?