Jesuit schools

[Anonymous]

It’s a different story for non-Catholic colleges, especially the “better” ones. Gonzaga probably wouldn’t improve your son’s chance of admission over a good Fairfax County high school.

Gonzaga is a great experience and school, but attending isn’t an automatic ticket to a top non-Catholic college.

[Anonymous]

Going to Gonzaga or Prep will absolutely increase your odds of getting into a Jesuit college. If Georgetown is your son’s goal and he is EXTREMELY smart, both high schools will help provide him with that opportunity. He will not automatically get into Georgetown because you are a legacy and he went to Gonzaga or Prep though. He’s going to need to be a top student.

[Anonymous]

Prep mom here. If your son is a bright student and can score well on the SSAT (90% +) and interviews well, he should be able to get into Prep. Just make sure to tell Prep that they are your very FIRST choice. They are extremely careful about their yield (much more than any school we applied to). Prep also recruits a lot of athletes who might not have the the best academics, so they'll intentionally seek out very bright students to balance out the class.
If your son is among the top students at Prep, he should have a good shot at getting into Georgetown and other good Catholic Schools that Prep has connections to. Looking at our Naviance data, the acceptance rate from Prep to Georgetown University is close to 40% which is 4 times GU's acceptance rate. Hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

If I had middle schoolers in Fairfax County, I'd be trying to find out everything I could about the Virginia State colleges. For VA residents they are a huge bargain and they are excellent starting with UVA, VT and Wm & Mary.

I have to believe that the Fairfax County school systems admissions staff are very good at getting their kids into these schools and have longstanding relationships with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, he is not in public high school; he is only in middle school now so I'm planning ahead. My question was why send him to a Jesuit private high school vs. him attending our local public HS in Fairfax county. Does attending a Jesuit high school improve chances of attending better universities like Georgetown? Or would he have a similar chance if he did well in public HS.

yes but there's a whole lot more to getting into Georgetown, even as a legacy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If I had middle schoolers in Fairfax County, I'd be trying to find out everything I could about the Virginia State colleges. For VA residents they are a huge bargain and they are excellent starting with UVA, VT and Wm & Mary.

I have to believe that the Fairfax County school systems admissions staff are very good at getting their kids into these schools and have longstanding relationships with them.[/quote

Getting into UVA is near impossible if you are coming from Fairfax County Public Schools. They want to make sure they have geographical diversity and have kids from all over the Commonwealth enroll, so bright students from FCPS constantly get shut out. I know so many kids who got into Top 25 schools from FCPS and were flat out rejected by UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If I had middle schoolers in Fairfax County, I'd be trying to find out everything I could about the Virginia State colleges. For VA residents they are a huge bargain and they are excellent starting with UVA, VT and Wm & Mary.

I have to believe that the Fairfax County school systems admissions staff are very good at getting their kids into these schools and have longstanding relationships with them.

Getting into UVA is near impossible if you are coming from Fairfax County Public Schools. They want to make sure they have geographical diversity and have kids from all over the Commonwealth enroll, so bright students from FCPS constantly get shut out. I know so many kids who got into Top 25 schools from FCPS and were flat out rejected by UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, he is not in public high school; he is only in middle school now so I'm planning ahead. My question was why send him to a Jesuit private high school vs. him attending our local public HS in Fairfax county. Does attending a Jesuit high school improve chances of attending better universities like Georgetown? Or would he have a similar chance if he did well in public HS. [/quote

Gonzaga has 20+ boys accepted to BC every year. That's a huge advantage compared to any public school. They'll also have boys accepted to Villanova and ND every year, but not in that large a number. I still think there's an advantage in knowing some boys are definitely getting accepted. The nice thing to me was that there are a number of lower ranked schools that are safeties. When you find one your DS likes, it takes the pressure off the whole process. Schools like Marquette, St. Joes, Fairfield, etc are pretty much a guarantee (this is all assuming your student is not wasting his opportunities at Gonzaga).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I had middle schoolers in Fairfax County, I'd be trying to find out everything I could about the Virginia State colleges. For VA residents they are a huge bargain and they are excellent starting with UVA, VT and Wm & Mary.

I have to believe that the Fairfax County school systems admissions staff are very good at getting their kids into these schools and have longstanding relationships with them.

Getting into UVA is near impossible if you are coming from Fairfax County Public Schools. They want to make sure they have geographical diversity and have kids from all over the Commonwealth enroll, so bright students from FCPS constantly get shut out. I know so many kids who got into Top 25 schools from FCPS and were flat out rejected by UVA.

Tell that to the 1,071 Fairfax County high school seniors admitted to UVA from the class of 2025.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I had middle schoolers in Fairfax County, I'd be trying to find out everything I could about the Virginia State colleges. For VA residents they are a huge bargain and they are excellent starting with UVA, VT and Wm & Mary.

I have to believe that the Fairfax County school systems admissions staff are very good at getting their kids into these schools and have longstanding relationships with them.

Getting into UVA is near impossible if you are coming from Fairfax County Public Schools. They want to make sure they have geographical diversity and have kids from all over the Commonwealth enroll, so bright students from FCPS constantly get shut out. I know so many kids who got into Top 25 schools from FCPS and were flat out rejected by UVA.

Tell that to the 1,071 Fairfax County high school seniors admitted to UVA from the class of 2025.

I don’t think PP really means it’s near impossible, more that it’s a crap-shoot. How many other fcps seniors have similar credentials to the 1,000 or so admitted to UVA? A lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:St. John’s is not Jesuit.

Going to a Catholic middle school does help.

Going to mater dei guarantees admission to one. The others don’t guarantee admissions though it increases you chances.

The Heights, Woods and St Anselm’s have better admissions chances.

Being an athlete increases your chance.

The heights is extremely difficult to get into right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I had middle schoolers in Fairfax County, I'd be trying to find out everything I could about the Virginia State colleges. For VA residents they are a huge bargain and they are excellent starting with UVA, VT and Wm & Mary.

I have to believe that the Fairfax County school systems admissions staff are very good at getting their kids into these schools and have longstanding relationships with them.

Getting into UVA is near impossible if you are coming from Fairfax County Public Schools. They want to make sure they have geographical diversity and have kids from all over the Commonwealth enroll, so bright students from FCPS constantly get shut out. I know so many kids who got into Top 25 schools from FCPS and were flat out rejected by UVA.

Tell that to the 1,071 Fairfax County high school seniors admitted to UVA from the class of 2025.

I don’t think PP really means it’s near impossible, more that it’s a crap-shoot. How many other fcps seniors have similar credentials to the 1,000 or so admitted to UVA? A lot.

Bullshit, ahe’s suggesting that it’s harder to get in from Fairfax County than other jurisdictions and that’s total bullshit. For example, I just looked at the city of Petersburg, which is actually pretty large, and it showed that only eight students applied in 2025 yet only two of the eight got in. That’s the same ratio as Fairfax County. You’d think that with so few applying from that poor city that UVA would take them all, but they’re not. I am tired of the privileged rich people in Fairfax County whining about how much harder they have it, they just plain don’t.

If you want to make these kinds of claims, back them up. That’s all I’m saying. Back them the hell up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I had middle schoolers in Fairfax County, I'd be trying to find out everything I could about the Virginia State colleges. For VA residents they are a huge bargain and they are excellent starting with UVA, VT and Wm & Mary.

I have to believe that the Fairfax County school systems admissions staff are very good at getting their kids into these schools and have longstanding relationships with them.

Getting into UVA is near impossible if you are coming from Fairfax County Public Schools. They want to make sure they have geographical diversity and have kids from all over the Commonwealth enroll, so bright students from FCPS constantly get shut out. I know so many kids who got into Top 25 schools from FCPS and were flat out rejected by UVA.

Tell that to the 1,071 Fairfax County high school seniors admitted to UVA from the class of 2025.

I don’t think PP really means it’s near impossible, more that it’s a crap-shoot. How many other fcps seniors have similar credentials to the 1,000 or so admitted to UVA? A lot.

Bullshit, ahe’s suggesting that it’s harder to get in from Fairfax County than other jurisdictions and that’s total bullshit. For example, I just looked at the city of Petersburg, which is actually pretty large, and it showed that only eight students applied in 2025 yet only two of the eight got in. That’s the same ratio as Fairfax County. You’d think that with so few applying from that poor city that UVA would take them all, but they’re not. I am tired of the privileged rich people in Fairfax County whining about how much harder they have it, they just plain don’t.

If you want to make these kinds of claims, back them up. That’s all I’m saying. Back them the hell up.

But what are the stats of the 2 from Petersburg? They certainly had the best stats of their cohort but I think PP is saying it’s harder from places in NOVA because you can have super high states but not be in the top 10-20 of your class so you’re out of luck at UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St. John’s is not Jesuit.

Going to a Catholic middle school does help.

Going to mater dei guarantees admission to one. The others don’t guarantee admissions though it increases you chances.

The Heights, Woods and St Anselm’s have better admissions chances.

Being an athlete increases your chance.

The heights is extremely difficult to get into right now.

Only bc the city has a lot more MAGA than usual right now.

[Anonymous]

My son attends a different Jesuit college.
Going to Catholic high did help him in the admissions process.

Some catholic colleges offered additional merit aid due to his coming from a Catholic school.

The AMDG philosophy will come through in his essays and in the list of activities he submits if he attends a school like Gonzaga.