GDS vs NCS

[Anonymous]

*Fourth thru sixth

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am familiar with NCS and think highly of it and would not say it is more prestigious academically than GDS -- that may have been the case 25 years ago but I think both are comparable now.

NCS's strongest suit is probably the humanities and teaching writing, and GDS is definitely known for having an excellent math program in particular. With that said, a number of NCS girls in recent years have gotten into MIT and are pursuing STEM academically, so it's not like it is discouraged. Although NCS is smaller than GDS and thus can be expected to have fewer courses, they have the benefit of cross-registration with St. Albans for upper level math and science courses and STEM electives such as the popular Biotechnology elective. There are also NCS girls who have undertaken independent studies in STEM subjects with St. Albans teachers.

Bottom line: two great options academically. Thus, the co-ed vs. single sex and cultural stuff is actually important.

Thanks a lot for the information. For a NCS girl who want to registered math or science course with St. albans, is it as easy as a girl in GDS taking math or science class? Will the teacher in st albans treat the girl from NCS the same as the boy in st. albans? I guess I am afraid the attention she might get is not as much as the boys in st. albans. Thanks.

Hi again. The cross-registration process is very easy. The two schools have the same schedule for the academic day, and there are spaces reserved in courses for the students from the other school (so there are also spaces reserved for boys in science and other electives offered at NCS -- they have some excellent ones that the boys seek out, so it's not just a one-way flow of students). My experience is that the girls really like taking the classes at St. Albans -- change of pace and all that -- and the St. Albans teachers very much enjoy having the NCS students in the classes and are good about mentoring them. (This isn't math/science, but an NCS family actually donated money to have a theater at Mount Vernon named after a St. Albans economics teacher who had mentored their daughter.)

Eh. I had a very negative experience in two sta classes - as the only girl in an sta English class and as one of several girls in a religion class there. Most girls would try to go over to sta in groups so as to have safety in numbers. When a girl walks down the hall, the boys stare, sometimes make comments etc, and the same staring and snickering happens in class room settings too.

Some of the teachers are there because they want to teach boys, and they may or may not make much of an effort to make the girl feel welcome in the class.

But I don't think that's relevant for your question really, bc ncs offers bc ap calc and vector calc and all the ap science options on its own campus. Chances are that will be sufficent.

When did you graduate? I think the vector Calc is at STA now, and also all the girls I've talked to like having classes at STA. So maybe times have changed?

[Anonymous]

Just because you had a bad experience 30 years ago doesn't mean it is the same now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just because you had a bad experience 30 years ago doesn't mean it is the same now.

It wasn't thirty years ago.

Hopefully things have improved. But I know young women who have worked/lived there more recently who've said the boys are much the same wrt to staring, comments etc.

That kind of behavior tends to happen in all make environments. I once worked with a bunch of military guys and it reminded me of walking down the hall at St. Albans

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think just for Upper School; I believe for Lower School the main joint activity is theater. I'm not sure that is a bad thing though, with active boys at that age!

The point isn't to spare the girls from the " active boys" . The point is to spare the clueless and still very much boys from the maturing faster and social life planning girls. I am sure the boys eventually catch up to the girls , but in middle school the boys are still in the play pen and the girls are well, who is queen bee and what boy is "theirs" .

I am glad my son has soem sapce from that for a few years.

[Anonymous]

All girls school MS girls are pretty darn focused on academics in class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think just for Upper School; I believe for Lower School the main joint activity is theater. I'm not sure that is a bad thing though, with active boys at that age!

The point isn't to spare the girls from the " active boys" . The point is to spare the clueless and still very much boys from the maturing faster and social life planning girls. I am sure the boys eventually catch up to the girls , but in middle school the boys are still in the play pen and the girls are well, who is queen bee and what boy is "theirs" .

I am glad my son has soem sapce from that for a few years.

I don't think the original post was negative about the boys -- it easily can be read to suggest that they benefit from their own space.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just because you had a bad experience 30 years ago doesn't mean it is the same now.

It wasn't thirty years ago.

Hopefully things have improved. But I know young women who have worked/lived there more recently who've said the boys are much the same wrt to staring, comments etc.

That kind of behavior tends to happen in all make environments. I once worked with a bunch of military guys and it reminded me of walking down the hall at St. Albans

My friend works there (woman teacher) and says good things about the atmosphere and also says there are a lot of NCS girls who take classes; it is nothing out of the ordinary and the teachers enjoy having girls in class when it occurs. This comports with what current NCS students say. With that said, this is not to diminish what sounds like a negative experience for you, nor to suggest that every student at St. Albans is always a model of behavior or decorum. However, every girl I talk to speaks well of the coordinate experience -- it was surprising to me. So perhaps there really has been a sea change.

[Anonymous]

When I was there, sta only allowed three ncs girls in each class. I've heard the English classes now allow more girls so maybe that is better.

[Anonymous]

The way it works there now is that English classes during junior year are designed to be 50/50 co-ed. For other electives, there are four spaces reserved in all classes for students from the other school (so 4 spaces in NCS classes for St. Albans boys and vice versa), and if there is room in the class (max enrollment is something like 16-18) more students from the other school can cross-enroll.

[Anonymous]

I like the idea of girls having boys in their classes and vice versa, but I'd choose GDS.

My friend's daughters at NCS like it, but there is a lot of materialism and social stuff, perhaps made more intense by the school being all girls. I think people choose single sex schools to get away from social pressure, but does it accomplish that?

[Anonymous]

NCS is a solid school, but in hindsight, we probably would have chosen another school.

[Anonymous]

There is a lot of materialism at GDS too. I think it's just the nature of putting the elitest kids together in a highly selective setting. And this is DC after all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I like the idea of girls having boys in their classes and vice versa, but I'd choose GDS.

My friend's daughters at NCS like it, but there is a lot of materialism and social stuff, perhaps made more intense by the school being all girls. I think people choose single sex schools to get away from social pressure, but does it accomplish that?

I found it nice not to have boys in class. I dated them plenty, but I can't imagine going through a break up or an unrequited crush or the throes of teen love with someone you have to sit in math class with. How the heck do you concentrate?? Plus you'd probably be worried about your looks, etc.

[Anonymous]

So NSC help girls concentrate in class?