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Open Houses versus Private Tours
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Anonymous
| Okay, is this the start of bashing schools season? On this thread we've got the rude admission folks at St. Patrick's, Lowell, GDS. On another thread we've got Sidwell's cattle call and Beauvoir's scandal(s). On another thread we've got not enough gays or minorities or too many elite/wealthy or too many connected. Everyone is not going to have a wonderfully charming experience during the admission process...and yes, even ADs have a bad day or find a family off-putting. Every school is not going to mirror your family....you actually might have to be the minority or only and that's okay too. What's the point of bad mouthing a school or providing a one-off experience that is likely not to be the norm or even likely to impact the quality of education that your child might receive? Is it to ruin the school's reputation? To get people not to apply? To get people not to accept offers of admission? Schools are, as we are, imperfect. When you find that you have achieved utopia within yourself, then perhaps you can/should cast the stones in expecting to find it elsewhere. |
Anonymous
| Why so suspicious? I haven't posted on this thread previously, but I think posters are just venting. In your world is everything done with some evil ulterior motive? |
Anonymous
|
I agree
It's an open foru, where people can compare their experiences dealing with a stressful admissions process Especially when, in seeking the privilege of paying 17-30K/yr, you're not made to feel like a valued consumer, but an untouchable... |
Anonymous
|
I decided against the River School (well, for lots of reasons) but mostly because of a guy at the front desk who has zero emotional intelligence. It was shocking.
I have to think that if a school doesn't take more care to think about who is greeting parents and children, then it has other problems as well. |
Anonymous
Not suspicious at all. I wasn't suggesting that there is some ulterior motive. Just suggesting that in "venting" one does impact the reputation of schools. I'm all for presenting facts, and not at all into censorship. But, I also recognize that it's perceptions that fuel misconceptions and skew things such that it's difficult to ascertain what's just noise and what's a valid issue/concern. And, I still don't understand the point of bashing a school. Perhaps this "venting" somehow makes one feel better about the situation. |
Anonymous
| I think the guy at the front desk at river is one of the founders. |
Anonymous
| If I were an administrator at GDS (or a concerned parent) I'd want to know that the AD was turning off prospective families. |
Anonymous
|
I don't know what you're talking about, I think the gentleman at the front desk at River was engaging and kind. If you want rude, look at Sidwell/Beauvoir. I'm still waiting for the AD and Beauvoir to respond to my two emails from the beginning of summer...and Erby at Sidwell never responded to my follow-up questions after our tour (which he promised to due during the "cattle call.") I'll take polite and interested over rude and arrogant anytime.
By the way, that was a really nasty comment about the River School front desk guy considering everyone will know who you are talking about - if you want to pass a deliberate nasty comment like that they you should do so without hiding behind a anonymous posting. Shame on you. |
Anonymous
Hysterical. "Rude and arrogant" isn't exactly a compliment, and you named specific people. |
Anonymous
| True, I'm just the same as the rest of you, spineless and unwilling to post under my own name. I really think this forum should require a log-in, it would get rid of a lot of the garbage that is posted. |
Anonymous
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I think it's a good thing to know that other people are having bad experiences with staffers at these schools
until I saw this forum, I thought that racism was the reason for poor treatment... |
Anonymous
Agreed If the AD/Receptionists are not personable (and they are the public face of the institution) you have to wonder what else is behind that facade... |
Anonymous
Do you know the front desk guy at River SO well? |
Anonymous
| I've heard that the lower school admissions director at GDS is gone this year. We had an unpleasant experience with her, too. |
Anonymous
|
We had a great experience on our tour and interview at St. Patrick's but did not apply for other reasons. It was not the only school we toured and didn't end up applying to, but it was the only one we received a survey from later on. The survey was anonymous and asked for feedback on the admissions experience and wanted information about why we ultimatley chose not to apply.
I found that type of outreach to be quite impressive and a great way to get honest feedback and have some accountability. |