Is Holton-Arms the most rigorous school in the state of Maryland?

[Anonymous]

IMHO, it's silly to try to rank them. One reason it's silly is because of constantly moving goal posts.

1. Is Holton better than any other school?
2. But it's unfair to compare Holton to an entire public school, so what if we compare Holton's school to specific IB/magnet programs at other schools?
3. But it's unfair to compare Holton's whole school to just the top performers at the public schools, so what if we compare Holton's top honors classes to those IB/magnet programs?
4. But it's unfair to compare those handful of top girls to an entire IB/magnet program, so maybe we should compare Holton's top 5 students to the IB/magnet's top 5 students?

It's an ever-escalating arms race, which leaves us comparing smaller and smaller subsets of students, which makes it harder to draw any general conclusions.

Ultimately, college and academic success begins with your individual child, so it's better to focus on which school will bring out the best in your individual child. IMHO the comparison of rigor is just a blunt instrument for generating a short list of programs you can investigate more closely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IMHO, it's silly to try to rank them. One reason it's silly is because of constantly moving goal posts.

1. Is Holton better than any other school?
2. But it's unfair to compare Holton to an entire public school, so what if we compare Holton's school to specific IB/magnet programs at other schools?
3. But it's unfair to compare Holton's whole school to just the top performers at the public schools, so what if we compare Holton's top honors classes to those IB/magnet programs?
4. But it's unfair to compare those handful of top girls to an entire IB/magnet program, so maybe we should compare Holton's top 5 students to the IB/magnet's top 5 students?

It's an ever-escalating arms race, which leaves us comparing smaller and smaller subsets of students, which makes it harder to draw any general conclusions.

Ultimately, college and academic success begins with your individual child, so it's better to focus on which school will bring out the best in your individual child. IMHO the comparison of rigor is just a blunt instrument for generating a short list of programs you can investigate more closely.

I find this comparison thing silly. What's the point and what would you do with it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s very difficult to compare private schools to magnet programs at public schools. Probably fair to say that Holton is the most rigorous private school in Maryland (with Landon, Georgetown Prep and Stone Ridge in the conversation). How these to private schools stack up against the magnet programs at some public schools is an open question.

Holton does offer 9th grade Algebra, so there are some kids taking "less rigorous" classes ... it also offers Algebra 2/Trig for 9th graders which is in line with a "rigorous" course selection.

I think this is also similar to most private and public schools.

Could you point to something in Holton's course offerings that suggest that their whole student body is taking a "more rigorous" work load than any other student in any other private school in MD? I even would venture to guess that a top student at Whitman is taking just as rigorous a workload as the top student at Holton.

This is a very myopic way to look at schools.

The question is, what is your child's specific goal and does Holton offer courses (and an environment) that will help your child attain those goals. Are there other schools in MD that would also foster your child and ensure she could attain her goals.

You are only comparing K/3-12 schools. Norwood has a K-8 program that is also academically rigorous and competitive with the equivalent lower and middle schools in other Maryland and DC privates.
Obviously Landon and GP are not going to do that, if you have a daughter. Could Stone Ridge? Could another MD school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s very difficult to compare private schools to magnet programs at public schools. Probably fair to say that Holton is the most rigorous private school in Maryland (with Landon, Georgetown Prep and Stone Ridge in the conversation). How these to private schools stack up against the magnet programs at some public schools is an open question.

Holton does offer 9th grade Algebra, so there are some kids taking "less rigorous" classes ... it also offers Algebra 2/Trig for 9th graders which is in line with a "rigorous" course selection.

I think this is also similar to most private and public schools.

Could you point to something in Holton's course offerings that suggest that their whole student body is taking a "more rigorous" work load than any other student in any other private school in MD? I even would venture to guess that a top student at Whitman is taking just as rigorous a workload as the top student at Holton.

This is a very myopic way to look at schools.

The question is, what is your child's specific goal and does Holton offer courses (and an environment) that will help your child attain those goals. Are there other schools in MD that would also foster your child and ensure she could attain her goals.

You are only comparing K/3-12 schools. Norwood has a K-8 program that is also academically rigorous and competitive with the equivalent lower and middle schools in other Maryland and DC privates.
Obviously Landon and GP are not going to do that, if you have a daughter. Could Stone Ridge? Could another MD school?

Sorry, posted in the middle of the previous post. Reposting:

You are only comparing K/3-12 schools. Norwood has a K-8 program that is also academically rigorous and competitive with the equivalent lower and middle schools in other Maryland and DC privates.

[Anonymous]

Holton-Arms doesn't weed out average students. The point of the Washington Post's Challenge Index (where Holton-Arms is #19 in the nation and tops in Maryland) is to identify schools that have done the best job in persuading average students to take college-level courses and tests.

Of course, Holton-Arms has its high achievers with more than 30% of the students recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Program (about 8% NMSF semi-finalists) and an average ACT of 33. As for being "spoiled," that is a subjective judgment that usually comes from a place of envy, but it is undeniable that Holton girls (especially the 25% receiving financial aid) are privileged to have access to a fine education and the 25%. The real measure of the school is the final product and the Holton Alum list speaks volumes about the school, but the same can be said for Stone Ridge.

[Anonymous]

Is it application season already? Time to bump up the old Holton boosting threads!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Holton-Arms is the highest ranked Maryland school on this list:

http://apps.washingtonpost.com/local/highschoolchallenge/schools/2014/list/private/holton-arms-p-bethesda-md/

The linked report also claims that Holton has an AVERAGE ACT composite score of 33, which, if true, would be astounding because a composite ACT score of 33 puts a student in the 99% of college bound students.

No, that's not right. it's the highest ranked private school in MD. Index of 4.765 is below - PHS, RM, Churchill, and BCC.

[Anonymous]

DD goes to Holton and there is no way it could be the most rigorous in MD.

[Anonymous]

The data in this ranking is dated, but they have Holton-Arms second in Maryland to Gilman School, an all boys school in Baltimore.

http://www.elegantbrain.com/edu4/classes/readings/edu-eliteschools.htm

[Anonymous]

who. cares.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The data in this ranking is dated, but they have Holton-Arms second in Maryland to Gilman School, an all boys school in Baltimore.

http://www.elegantbrain.com/edu4/classes/readings/edu-eliteschools.htm

More up to date Wall Street Journal ranking, with Holton-Arms #1 in MD:

http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-COLLEGE0711-sort.html

[Anonymous]

If we are being very parochial - can we just have the stats on the Asians/Indians in Holton-Arms?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If we are being very parochial - can we just have the stats on the Asians/Indians in Holton-Arms?

News Flash: India is part of Asia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If we are being very parochial - can we just have the stats on the Asians/Indians in Holton-Arms?

let's not bite the bait

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If we are being very parochial - can we just have the stats on the Asians/Indians in Holton-Arms?

News Flash: India is part of Asia.

What? Noooooooooo...

ok - how about break it into Indians, Chinese and Korean students? That will work!