NCS, Sidwell, Holton, GDS, Maret, Visi -- does this ranking order make sense for HS girl applicant?

[Anonymous]

OP, is this the kind of thing that you $400 an hour attorneys sit around discussing? Which of your clients is being billed for this time?

[Anonymous]

jealous a little PP? Green suits you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NCS is for hardworking girls who are smart but not brilliant and who work best under pressure and with clear direction. I'd send a brilliant and driven girl to Sidwell or GDS.

I agree, this is complete BS. I didn't even quote the part where this poster calls NCS a "grind", completely omitting to mention that Sidwell is just as much of a grind, if not more. And in her third para this poster goes on to disparage religion at NCS. So clearly she has an axe to grind against NCS (and no, I don't have a kid there). When a poster is this obviously biased, it's easy to suggest that you take her advice with a huge grain of salt.

FWIW, a dad posted about a year ago to say that he sent his brilliant but driven kid to an MCPS public. And his kid who needed a push, and structure, he sent to Sidwell. Clearly public isn't your interest, but I'm just repeating this to show how everybody's mileage may vary (and especially if like PP they have not-so-hidden agendas).

OP, follow the advice to take your daughter on a tour. All of these are great schools, but they have very different personalities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, is this the kind of thing that you $400 an hour attorneys sit around discussing? Which of your clients is being billed for this time?

To paraphrase Linda Evangelista, the lawyers I know don't get out of bed for $400 an hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: NCS is for hardworking girls who are smart but not brilliant and who work best under pressure and with clear direction. I'd send a brilliant and driven girl to Sidwell or GDS.

I agree, this is complete BS. I didn't even quote the part where this poster calls NCS a "grind", completely omitting to mention that Sidwell is just as much of a grind, if not more. And in her third para this poster goes on to disparage religion at NCS. So clearly she has an axe to grind against NCS (and no, I don't have a kid there). When a poster is this obviously biased, it's easy to suggest that you take her advice with a huge grain of salt.

FWIW, a dad posted about a year ago to say that he sent his brilliant but driven kid to an MCPS public. And his kid who needed a push, and structure, he sent to Sidwell. Clearly public isn't your interest, but I'm just repeating this to show how everybody's mileage may vary (and especially if like PP they have not-so-hidden agendas).

OP, follow the advice to take your daughter on a tour. All of these are great schools, but they have very different personalities.

Funny how one PP assumes I have a bias against Holton (because I don't call it a grind) and another assumes I have a bias against NCS (because I do)! Any of these schools can be a grind (for a girl whose personality inclines her in that direction), but at NCS more than Holton the grind seems compulsory. Certainly Sidwell is a grind for many kids. But I've also seen (by virtue of doing Ivy interviewing) Sidwell kids at the top of their class for whom Sidwell is not a grind in the sense that they are charting their own (hyper Type-A) courses rather than just trying to conquer the mountainload of work placed in front of them by the school.

And since I'm an atheist, the fact that NCS is less religious than Visi would actually be a plus for me -- not something I'm disparaging. I certainly think it's easier/less alienating to be an atheist or non-Christian at NCS than at Visi. If you think I'm imagining this, check out the school's websites: From NCS's website: "NCS strives to be a truly ecumenical and interfaith community" vs. from Visi's website: "Christian Life, based on the powerful Salesian virtues given to us by St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal, forms the core of community life on the Visitation campus. The Campus Ministry and the Christian Service Programs are designed to complement the curriculum and to foster a Christian lifestyle marked by service to others and nourished by liturgical and personal prayer." And those different orientations match what I've seen about which friends went to which school and/or sent their daughters to which school. (FWIW, I know other Catholic schools (elsewhere in the US) where non-Catholics (especially male athletes) are quite comfortable, so I'm not making a generalization about Catholic schools but an observation about Visi.)

I wholeheartedly agree with the "take your daughter on a tour/for a visit" approach. And I haven't ranked the schools -- just given my sense of what kind of environment each provides. Depending on what you prize (or want for your daughter), your perceptions as to which is the best choice will vary. As two PPs have already demonstrated, LOL -- each assumed a different rank order from my description and neither order reflects how I'd order them for my daughter. School choice is a subjective and value-laden process and what's best depends on who is being educated and what she (and her parents) want from a school.

[Anonymous]

And why do you think you are such an expert PP?

[Anonymous]

Someone asked a question. I gave an answer. Feel free to disagree -- but substantively and with reasons. As I stated earlier, my answer is based on having a daughter at one of the schools (a process that lead me to look at some but not all of the others) and knowing friends and friends' kids at all of the others. I've also taught college in the region and have done interviewing for an Ivy which is another kind of window (but smaller and hazier) on who goes and thrives where. I'm not pushing one school or another -- just telling you my impressions based on what I've seen and heard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG, people are actually ranking these schools! In terms of what? Which ones your children go to? Obama's children? Sad, very sad.

I just want DD to get through her private with sanity, ethics, body not a random piece of meat. Keep her morals and expectations high.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:jealous a little PP? Green suits you.

Not jealous. Just amused.

[Anonymous]

I take pretty strong objection to the PP who keeps saying that Sidwell kids are brilliant and NCS kids are just hard-working grinds. I'm guessing her kid goes to Sidwell??

Not fair at all. I know some dull, truly dull, Sidwell kids. And and I know some brilliant NCS kids. A lot of it depends on when the kid entered the school, because screening at kindergarten has many well-discussed flaws.

Both schools have both types of kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I take pretty strong objection to the PP who keeps saying that Sidwell kids are brilliant and NCS kids are just hard-working grinds. I'm guessing her kid goes to Sidwell??

Not fair at all. I know some dull, truly dull, Sidwell kids. And and I know some brilliant NCS kids. A lot of it depends on when the kid entered the school, because screening at kindergarten has many well-discussed flaws.

Both schools have both types of kids.

Not that PP but I do have a Sidwell kid, and I would agree that both schools have both types of kids.

On the other hand, almost everyone I have talked to who has a basis for comparison says that the work load at NCS is much heavier, especially in Middle School but also in High School. It's not light at Sidwell, just heavier at NCS.

[Anonymous]

FWIW, I don't have a kid at Sidwell. And I was talking about which environment seemed best for which kind of kid. Yes, both kinds of kids (and many others) go to all of these schools.

We may also have different standards of what constitutes brilliance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: NCS is for hardworking girls who are smart but not brilliant and who work best under pressure and with clear direction. I'd send a brilliant and driven girl to Sidwell or GDS.

Funny how one PP assumes I have a bias against Holton (because I don't call it a grind) and another assumes I have a bias against NCS (because I do)! Any of these schools can be a grind (for a girl whose personality inclines her in that direction), but at NCS more than Holton the grind seems compulsory. Certainly Sidwell is a grind for many kids. But I've also seen (by virtue of doing Ivy interviewing) Sidwell kids at the top of their class for whom Sidwell is not a grind in the sense that they are charting their own (hyper Type-A) courses rather than just trying to conquer the mountainload of work placed in front of them by the school.

I feel very sorry for students you interview on behalf of your Ivy as you clearly already have a bias against students at certain schools and you are not open to learning about the candidates own merits. I realize these are strongs words... but you are a disgrace to the college you represent. As many posters have stated over and over they are all great schools but all different.

Oh.... and BTW... NCS (1366) and Holton (1359) students overall SATs score averages (1359) are higher than those at GDS. The only school in the area with stronger SAT averages than NCS last year was Sidwell (1400). Those numbers alone should make you think twice before dismissing the girls intelligence at those schools.

[Anonymous]

Wow, speaking of tendencies to prejudge based on limited info -- looks like you must be projecting.

I don't judge kids based on schools (if anything, I judge schools based on kids) -- most kids don't get to choose where they go to school. And colleges (unlike parents) are making decisions about individuals not schools. So it's a different inquiry.

Wrt school choice, average SAT scores may or may not be useful info, depending on the kid you have in mind. You might, for example, be more interested in how high the scores go and how many kids are clustered in that top cohort.

[Anonymous]

I don't believe the poster does Ivy interviews anyway. I've done SAT prep for the last 20 years. By far, the smartest girls come from NCS and Holton. For guys -- it's St. Albans by a long shot. This person is either a GDS or Sidwell booster or a troll.