College advising at area privates

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NCS concentrates on the top 10% of the graduating class. They are professional, but not too interested in the rest of the class.

this is untrue. 1) the top 8 girls in the grade essentially all get in early to their top choice. 2)I had a middle of the road kid who was not going to a top 20 school and the counselors spent a good deal of time helping her sort through schools she would have a good chance of getting into... schools ranging from Tulane to Kenyon to IU 3) when she did not get into her top choices they advocated for her at her top choice and she was eventually taken off the wait list. I am so sick of blind NCS bashing on this board. In the Holton post today they jabbed NCS in the second sentence. Its ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

So thus far all we've learned is that NCS seems to have a decent system and that Sidwell's is in transition. Can people be a little more detailed and also refer to their school by name? It would be really helpful to see how school x compares to school y. As the parent of a middle schooler, such info would be helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So thus far all we've learned is that NCS seems to have a decent system and that Sidwell's is in transition. Can people be a little more detailed and also refer to their school by name? It would be really helpful to see how school x compares to school y. As the parent of a middle schooler, such info would be helpful.

People seem wholly irrational on this topic on a frequent basis. I don't see anything helpful coming out of this line of discussion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NCS concentrates on the top 10% of the graduating class. They are professional, but not too interested in the rest of the class.

this is untrue. 1) the top 8 girls in the grade essentially all get in early to their top choice. 2)I had a middle of the road kid who was not going to a top 20 school and the counselors spent a good deal of time helping her sort through schools she would have a good chance of getting into... schools ranging from Tulane to Kenyon to IU 3) when she did not get into her top choices they advocated for her at her top choice and she was eventually taken off the wait list. I am so sick of blind NCS bashing on this board. In the Holton post today they jabbed NCS in the second sentence. Its ridiculous.

This is impressive -- and I'm not an NCS parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:College advising at Field is fantastic.

Advise tailored to what is best for each student, starting with course selection senior, advise on schools and how to get there, great reviewing of college essays. We got pointed toward a scholarship that has been great help.

[Anonymous]

How do you know it's an upgrade already? The new counselor just started. Are there already good signs?

The new counselor I'm referring to started last summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NCS concentrates on the top 10% of the graduating class. They are professional, but not too interested in the rest of the class.

this is untrue. 1) the top 8 girls in the grade essentially all get in early to their top choice. 2)I had a middle of the road kid who was not going to a top 20 school and the counselors spent a good deal of time helping her sort through schools she would have a good chance of getting into... schools ranging from Tulane to Kenyon to IU 3) when she did not get into her top choices they advocated for her at her top choice and she was eventually taken off the wait list. I am so sick of blind NCS bashing on this board. In the Holton post today they jabbed NCS in the second sentence. Its ridiculous.

This is impressive -- and I'm not an NCS parent.

Tulane, Kenton and IU are not impressive for Ncs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NCS concentrates on the top 10% of the graduating class. They are professional, but not too interested in the rest of the class.

this is untrue. 1) the top 8 girls in the grade essentially all get in early to their top choice. 2)I had a middle of the road kid who was not going to a top 20 school and the counselors spent a good deal of time helping her sort through schools she would have a good chance of getting into... schools ranging from Tulane to Kenyon to IU 3) when she did not get into her top choices they advocated for her at her top choice and she was eventually taken off the wait list. I am so sick of blind NCS bashing on this board. In the Holton post today they jabbed NCS in the second sentence. Its ridiculous.

This is impressive -- and I'm not an NCS parent.

Tulane, Kenton and IU are not impressive for Ncs.

Different poster. Were those three schools as brand names the only thing you could take away from that post? They felt the counseling office worked to help find a school that was a good fit for their daughter, including advocating to get her off the wait list at whatever her eventual top choice was. I don't think you can have a college age child or you would realize that there are a wide range of academic abilities at even very strong private schools (yes, 50% of students are not in the top half of the their HS class!), and thus there is a relatively wide range of college destinations. If the family was happy that the school was a good choice for their daughter, that is great and the sooner you can learn not to assume that kids from Sidwell/GDS/NCS/St. Albans/Holton must only attend top 20 colleges or it is something shameful, the better.

[Anonymous]

Of course anyone who relies on DCUM is going to have unrealistic expectations for area privates because people consistently overstate college outcomes.

[Anonymous]

Well some area schools actually publish a list of where students are going - e.g., Holton.

[Anonymous]

We have had success both with our public and a private boarding school. We did use a private college counselor for both, but in hindsight, all her recommendations were just about the same as the counselors at both schools who gave us great advice, suggested schools, helped us through the entire process. Both kids went to very different schools that were exactly right for them, and both were suggested by the counselors. Take advantage of all college visits at the high school, go to any college fairs in the area and get to work on the common app as soon as you can.

[Anonymous]

Kenyon is a good, selective school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NCS concentrates on the top 10% of the graduating class. They are professional, but not too interested in the rest of the class.

this is untrue. 1) the top 8 girls in the grade essentially all get in early to their top choice. 2)I had a middle of the road kid who was not going to a top 20 school and the counselors spent a good deal of time helping her sort through schools she would have a good chance of getting into... schools ranging from Tulane to Kenyon to IU 3) when she did not get into her top choices they advocated for her at her top choice and she was eventually taken off the wait list. I am so sick of blind NCS bashing on this board. In the Holton post today they jabbed NCS in the second sentence. Its ridiculous.

This is impressive -- and I'm not an NCS parent.

Tulane, Kenton and IU are not impressive for Ncs.

Stop it. Bashing a teen's choices while her parent tries to assist others is neither kind, nor adult, nor least of all impressive. You should be ashamed of yourself. Signed, another middle school parent

[Anonymous]

Here's a different perspective -

My DS went to one of the "Top 7" schools in the area and wanted to major in Physics/Math. The counselor and I encouraged him to visit MIT, CalTech, etc. which he did. After visiting, he said it seemed like the kids were miserable and hyper-focused and he didn't want to have that type of college experience.
He applied and was accepted to a smaller, strong science college, had a great experience and is now employed by a wonderful medical-tech firm.

Bottom line - college counselors can't make students apply to HYP's if they don't want to. And if students don't apply, the schools can't end up on the college list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NCS concentrates on the top 10% of the graduating class. They are professional, but not too interested in the rest of the class.

this is untrue. 1) the top 8 girls in the grade essentially all get in early to their top choice. 2)I had a middle of the road kid who was not going to a top 20 school and the counselors spent a good deal of time helping her sort through schools she would have a good chance of getting into... schools ranging from Tulane to Kenyon to IU 3) when she did not get into her top choices they advocated for her at her top choice and she was eventually taken off the wait list. I am so sick of blind NCS bashing on this board. In the Holton post today they jabbed NCS in the second sentence. Its ridiculous.

This is impressive -- and I'm not an NCS parent.

Tulane, Kenton and IU are not impressive for Ncs.

I'm the PP you quoted and I was commenting about the process, not outcomes (though I'd also say that these are fine schools). In the end, the real measure of the outcome is whether the student and her family feel that the counselor helped them figure out what kind of school she wanted and how to present her credentials as effectively as possible.