Rigor (or lack thereof) at St Stephen’s St Agnes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In high school it is different. The do placement tests for a lot of subjects. After that they track grades/GPAs to determine who can take honors and AP. I think it is quite rigorous. My child is working very hard (many hours per day) to get high grades. DC takes and plans to continue taking a full load of rigorous courses. Some children do a lighter load and take multiple study halls and don’t aim for honors. It can be very rigorous or it doesn’t have to be. Up to you and your kid.

Can't speak to the middle school, but this is accurate for the Upper School. We have a junior. Plenty of rigor if the child is capable of testing into it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In high school it is different. The do placement tests for a lot of subjects. After that they track grades/GPAs to determine who can take honors and AP. I think it is quite rigorous. My child is working very hard (many hours per day) to get high grades. DC takes and plans to continue taking a full load of rigorous courses. Some children do a lighter load and take multiple study halls and don’t aim for honors. It can be very rigorous or it doesn’t have to be. Up to you and your kid.

Can't speak to the middle school, but this is accurate for the Upper School. We have a junior. Plenty of rigor if the child is capable of testing into it.

OP again.

I guess if there’s plenty of rigor for the best and brightest…. Why are the college admissions so bad? I’m all about fit, but you’d think at least some of those kids would be attending top liberal arts colleges or Ivies (who weren’t recruited for sports).

Not wanting to attack the school, just trying to understand.

[Anonymous]

The most obvious answer is usually the right one - it just isn't a very good school. We left and had to change for our kids when we found that out. We gave it two years but it was disappointing all around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The most obvious answer is usually the right one - it just isn't a very good school. We left and had to change for our kids when we found that out. We gave it two years but it was disappointing all around.

Where did you move to and for what grade?

I’m a current LS parent who has considered switching for years, but the kid is happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In high school it is different. The do placement tests for a lot of subjects. After that they track grades/GPAs to determine who can take honors and AP. I think it is quite rigorous. My child is working very hard (many hours per day) to get high grades. DC takes and plans to continue taking a full load of rigorous courses. Some children do a lighter load and take multiple study halls and don’t aim for honors. It can be very rigorous or it doesn’t have to be. Up to you and your kid.

Can't speak to the middle school, but this is accurate for the Upper School. We have a junior. Plenty of rigor if the child is capable of testing into it.

OP again.

I guess if there’s plenty of rigor for the best and brightest…. Why are the college admissions so bad? I’m all about fit, but you’d think at least some of those kids would be attending top liberal arts colleges or Ivies (who weren’t recruited for sports).

Not wanting to attack the school, just trying to understand.

In the same boat. Live in Alexandria and would be super convenient for us but the college outcomes give us pause.

[Anonymous]

I really think college outcomes have very little to do with which DMV-area private school a kid is in. A kid capable of getting into Yale is going to be capable of getting into Yale from Sidwell or SSSAS. A kid who really loves the College of Charleston is going to go there from NCS or Flint Hill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really think college outcomes have very little to do with which DMV-area private school a kid is in. A kid capable of getting into Yale is going to be capable of getting into Yale from Sidwell or SSSAS. A kid who really loves the College of Charleston is going to go there from NCS or Flint Hill.

I used to think this. Having a kid at SSSAS has changed my mind (though kid is still in MS). The lower school was great, but the MS teachers and admin mostly seem genuinely uninterested in engaging kids intellectually. It’s cliche at this point to say, but how many emails do we get about the dress code or sports vs what the kids are actually learning?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are lots of AP classes and kids who do well in them that are bright. I just don’t understand why those same type of students can’t get into the same schools as a Potomac kids if they had the same APs and grades. They don’t have good SAT scores? What is it? The college outcomes are just not as good.

Potomac will absolutely accept a kid with lower SSAT if the parents went Ivy or have another solid hook over a kid with higher SSAT and no hook. Potomac is all about the hook. Ask me how I know. Low SSAT will often mean lower SAT and during the test optional craze, that was fine. But that is ebbing and the need for high SAT or AP is surging back. Potomac’s strategy was successful when schools put emphasis on legacy and even more so during test optional. So now the legacy from UVA doesn’t matter but the SAT and APs sure do. So Potomac is absolutely doing some internal deliberations about its 9th grade admissions because it needs to get those kids into college with their low scores. If they think they can overcome mediocre grades/scores with sports, that helps. But it is true that recently it’s strategy does result in better college outcomes but not actually admission of just the brightest kids. This makes the application process to 9th very opaque because the applicant’s grades and tests aren’t the entire picture and often are just a small part.

You clearly have no idea what you are talking about. Did you see the college admissions from Potomac this year. Almost exclusively Ivy and top 25 SLACs and a bunch of UVA anbd Naval Academy admits. They are obviously doing something right. SSAS college admissions isn’t even come close. And yes Potomac has an Instagram college admissions page so that’s what I’m basing this on. Not conjecture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In high school it is different. The do placement tests for a lot of subjects. After that they track grades/GPAs to determine who can take honors and AP. I think it is quite rigorous. My child is working very hard (many hours per day) to get high grades. DC takes and plans to continue taking a full load of rigorous courses. Some children do a lighter load and take multiple study halls and don’t aim for honors. It can be very rigorous or it doesn’t have to be. Up to you and your kid.

Can't speak to the middle school, but this is accurate for the Upper School. We have a junior. Plenty of rigor if the child is capable of testing into it.

OP again.

I guess if there’s plenty of rigor for the best and brightest…. Why are the college admissions so bad? I’m all about fit, but you’d think at least some of those kids would be attending top liberal arts colleges or Ivies (who weren’t recruited for sports).

Not wanting to attack the school, just trying to understand.

hmm. If college outcomes are your top concern then you should probably go public (not at a top public) Have you followed college admissions at all in the last few years? I suggest you tune in. The grades and rigor get you a chance, then it’s a lottery and you are judged against your peers at your school and what your school offers. Again, if your primary objective for your high schooler’s education and experience is Ivy League or t20 then perhaps Potomac, NCS, Sidwell or GDS is a better fit for you - if you can get in. I’m not trying to be nasty, but I think if this is your measuring stick you are going to be genuinely shocked and disappointed in 4-5 years. If you think the high school is going to be the thing that gets your kid in - good luck and I hope your kid has an amazing high school experience!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are lots of AP classes and kids who do well in them that are bright. I just don’t understand why those same type of students can’t get into the same schools as a Potomac kids if they had the same APs and grades. They don’t have good SAT scores? What is it? The college outcomes are just not as good.

Potomac will absolutely accept a kid with lower SSAT if the parents went Ivy or have another solid hook over a kid with higher SSAT and no hook. Potomac is all about the hook. Ask me how I know. Low SSAT will often mean lower SAT and during the test optional craze, that was fine. But that is ebbing and the need for high SAT or AP is surging back. Potomac’s strategy was successful when schools put emphasis on legacy and even more so during test optional. So now the legacy from UVA doesn’t matter but the SAT and APs sure do. So Potomac is absolutely doing some internal deliberations about its 9th grade admissions because it needs to get those kids into college with their low scores. If they think they can overcome mediocre grades/scores with sports, that helps. But it is true that recently it’s strategy does result in better college outcomes but not actually admission of just the brightest kids. This makes the application process to 9th very opaque because the applicant’s grades and tests aren’t the entire picture and often are just a small part.

How do you know?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really think college outcomes have very little to do with which DMV-area private school a kid is in. A kid capable of getting into Yale is going to be capable of getting into Yale from Sidwell or SSSAS. A kid who really loves the College of Charleston is going to go there from NCS or Flint Hill.

This is true; it is kid dependent. However for some reason there are more kids at a school like flint hill who live a school like the college of Charleston, than there are at ncs

Coincidence ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are lots of AP classes and kids who do well in them that are bright. I just don’t understand why those same type of students can’t get into the same schools as a Potomac kids if they had the same APs and grades. They don’t have good SAT scores? What is it? The college outcomes are just not as good.

Potomac may have more parents with better college legacy. Legacy impact cannot be understated in college outcomes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really think college outcomes have very little to do with which DMV-area private school a kid is in. A kid capable of getting into Yale is going to be capable of getting into Yale from Sidwell or SSSAS. A kid who really loves the College of Charleston is going to go there from NCS or Flint Hill.

This is true; it is kid dependent. However for some reason there are more kids at a school like flint hill who live a school like the college of Charleston, than there are at ncs

Coincidence ?

I have a hard time believing there are so many fewer capable kids at an expensive school like SSSAS. I’m not buying that narrative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In high school it is different. The do placement tests for a lot of subjects. After that they track grades/GPAs to determine who can take honors and AP. I think it is quite rigorous. My child is working very hard (many hours per day) to get high grades. DC takes and plans to continue taking a full load of rigorous courses. Some children do a lighter load and take multiple study halls and don’t aim for honors. It can be very rigorous or it doesn’t have to be. Up to you and your kid.

Can't speak to the middle school, but this is accurate for the Upper School. We have a junior. Plenty of rigor if the child is capable of testing into it.

OP again.

I guess if there’s plenty of rigor for the best and brightest…. Why are the college admissions so bad? I’m all about fit, but you’d think at least some of those kids would be attending top liberal arts colleges or Ivies (who weren’t recruited for sports).

Not wanting to attack the school, just trying to understand.

hmm. If college outcomes are your top concern then you should probably go public (not at a top public) Have you followed college admissions at all in the last few years? I suggest you tune in. The grades and rigor get you a chance, then it’s a lottery and you are judged against your peers at your school and what your school offers. Again, if your primary objective for your high schooler’s education and experience is Ivy League or t20 then perhaps Potomac, NCS, Sidwell or GDS is a better fit for you - if you can get in. I’m not trying to be nasty, but I think if this is your measuring stick you are going to be genuinely shocked and disappointed in 4-5 years. If you think the high school is going to be the thing that gets your kid in - good luck and I hope your kid has an amazing high school experience!

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really think college outcomes have very little to do with which DMV-area private school a kid is in. A kid capable of getting into Yale is going to be capable of getting into Yale from Sidwell or SSSAS. A kid who really loves the College of Charleston is going to go there from NCS or Flint Hill.

This is true; it is kid dependent. However for some reason there are more kids at a school like flint hill who live a school like the college of Charleston, than there are at ncs

Coincidence ?

I have a hard time believing there are so many fewer capable kids at an expensive school like SSSAS. I’m not buying that narrative.

Bizarre logic - there are a lot of bad expensive schools. SSSAS a local school whose student body is not remotely competitive with the top schools in the DMV. Completely different leagues.