What private schools for high school are the hardest to get into?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sidwell
Holton
STA/NCS
Maret
Potomac

GDS is very selective in admissions.

[Anonymous]

People are confusing hard to get into because the school is a top school and only takes the very best students (Maret, Sidwell, STA/NCS) with schools that cater to a niche that is underserved and so has limited spots (St Anselms and Field). The later group of school are fantastic but really serve a very specific populAction, not the traditional neuro-typical academic superstar.

[Anonymous]

OK, OP, why are you asking this question. What possible difference can this make in where anyone decides to send a child or even apply? If odds of getting in school no. 1 are 1 /4 and school no 2 are 1/5, are you really going to decide to apply or not to either school on that basis?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People are confusing hard to get into because the school is a top school and only takes the very best students (Maret, Sidwell, STA/NCS) with schools that cater to a niche that is underserved and so has limited spots (St Anselms and Field). The later group of school are fantastic but really serve a very specific populAction, not the traditional neuro-typical academic superstar.

Are you saying that the kids at St Anselm's are not neurotypical. Seriously? They take kids who can pass their entrance test which translates into having high IQ. Not sure how that translates into NOT being a "neuro-typical academic superstar".

Agree about Field.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you saying that the kids at St Anselm's are not neurotypical. Seriously? They take kids who can pass their entrance test which translates into having high IQ. Not sure how that translates into NOT being a "neuro-typical academic superstar".

Agree about Field.

You are proving the accuracy of post at 10:15

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St Anselm's is not hard to get into.

Incorrect. Read the post above yours. Plus, it's tiny like Maret.

NP here. According to St. Anselm's Great Schools profile, 50% of applicants are admitted. Sorry, that's not hard to get into by anyone's standards. further, a school is not like Maret simply because it's tiny. Maret is tiny AND has a large applicant pool, which St. Anselm's does not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People are confusing hard to get into because the school is a top school and only takes the very best students (Maret, Sidwell, STA/NCS) with schools that cater to a niche that is underserved and so has limited spots (St Anselms and Field). The later group of school are fantastic but really serve a very specific populAction, not the traditional neuro-typical academic superstar.

It's now clear that you are not familiar with St Anselms and who attends St Anselms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St Anselm's is not hard to get into.

Incorrect. Read the post above yours. Plus, it's tiny like Maret.

NP here. According to St. Anselm's Great Schools profile, 50% of applicants are admitted. Sorry, that's not hard to get into by anyone's standards. further, a school is not like Maret simply because it's tiny. Maret is tiny AND has a large applicant pool, which St. Anselm's does not.

According to their admission office, the figure is nowhere that high. Sorry you rely on Great Schools, which is really a social media / crowd source site serving fairfax public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People are confusing hard to get into because the school is a top school and only takes the very best students (Maret, Sidwell, STA/NCS) with schools that cater to a niche that is underserved and so has limited spots (St Anselms and Field). The later group of school are fantastic but really serve a very specific populAction, not the traditional neuro-typical academic superstar.

It's now clear that you are not familiar with St Anselms and who attends St Anselms.

Since when has st. a's hard to get into? Curious bc in the late 80s, it wasn't. I know, I'm dating myself, but I'm curious. The guys is knew who went to St. A weren't that smart.

[Anonymous]

Really people, this thread is getting more absurd by the page. Every private school in DC will be harder to get into than any similar school in the burbs in the sense that it will have more applicants per slot --not necessarily because it is "better" in some way-- but because the DC public school options are deemed generally worse than in the burbs. Similarly,older schools are harder to get into than younger schools because of the larger numbers of alums / legacy applicants. And, as others suggest, smaller schools are harder to get into than larger schools all else equal. Of
course,this all varies a lot year to year since the schools are so much smaller than say, most colleges. So what is the point?

[Anonymous]

Maret (size) and St. Patrick's (they care most about connections).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St Anselm's is not hard to get into.

Incorrect. Read the post above yours. Plus, it's tiny like Maret.

NP here. According to St. Anselm's Great Schools profile, 50% of applicants are admitted. Sorry, that's not hard to get into by anyone's standards. further, a school is not like Maret simply because it's tiny. Maret is tiny AND has a large applicant pool, which St. Anselm's does not.

According to their admission office, the figure is nowhere that high. Sorry you rely on Great Schools, which is really a social media / crowd source site serving fairfax public schools.

You're just showing your ignorance. Great Schools is a national site that was started with funding from the Gates Foundation, as part of their efforts to increase accountability in education. While the comments/reviews are indeed "crowd-sourced," school profiles, including admissions data, is submitted by the school itself. Admittedly, the 50% rate was for the 2012-2013 admissions year, but I find it hard to believe admissions rates have changed so dramatically in 2 years.

You sound rather pathetic in your attempts to boost St. Anselm's, as you are completely exaggerating its competitiveness and standing in the DMV. It's a good, solid school for intellectually oriented boys, but it is not in as high demand as other schools in the area and is certainly not the hardest to get into. As a Benedictine, all-boys school, it serves a relatively small niche.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People are confusing hard to get into because the school is a top school and only takes the very best students (Maret, Sidwell, STA/NCS) with schools that cater to a niche that is underserved and so has limited spots (St Anselms and Field). The later group of school are fantastic but really serve a very specific populAction, not the traditional neuro-typical academic superstar.

Are you saying that the kids at St Anselm's are not neurotypical. Seriously? They take kids who can pass their entrance test which translates into having high IQ. Not sure how that translates into NOT being a "neuro-typical academic superstar".

Agree about Field.

You are wrong about Field. It is not a special needs school and I get really tired of people assuming it is. Field is probably more welcoming than most schools of kids with mild learning differences (and, BTW, so is Maret whose admissions is definitely not focused on "the very best students"). Its become a hot school because it does things differently in a way that more and more parents are appreciating, including parents of kids with strong academics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People are confusing hard to get into because the school is a top school and only takes the very best students (Maret, Sidwell, STA/NCS) with schools that cater to a niche that is underserved and so has limited spots (St Anselms and Field). The later group of school are fantastic but really serve a very specific populAction, not the traditional neuro-typical academic superstar.

Are you saying that the kids at St Anselm's are not neurotypical. Seriously? They take kids who can pass their entrance test which translates into having high IQ. Not sure how that translates into NOT being a "neuro-typical academic superstar".

Agree about Field.

You are wrong about Field. It is not a special needs school and I get really tired of people assuming it is. Field is probably more welcoming than most schools of kids with mild learning differences (and, BTW, so is Maret whose admissions is definitely not focused on "the very best students"). Its become a hot school because it does things differently in a way that more and more parents are appreciating, including parents of kids with strong academics.

I've hear wonderful things about Field -- namely that it allows bright kids to excel and reach their full potential without the pressure cooker environment of the Big 3. We will consider it for DC in the future because of its nurturing reputation. DC is not special needs and neither are most of the Field students.

[Anonymous]

18:36 - pretty obvious to me that the whole post was a set up for yet another fight as to which school is best/hardest/sportiest etc. I find it hard to believe that anyone, even a newbie to DCUM can't find 10,000 posts on ever school in the Washington area.