Potomac vs St. Albans

[Anonymous]

STA, but bear in mind it is a pressure cooker. I know three families that got burnt out by the commute and their children's exhaustion.

[Anonymous]

Sorry Potomac. Those facilities!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry Potomac. Those facilities!

STA has the National Cathedral

[Anonymous]

My son was accepted by 4 top schools, including STA and Potomac. Chose STA, without any doubt.

[Anonymous]

They are such different schools. All boys StA is very elitist. Potomac is a serious pressure cooker. People on here telling you StA is 'better' is just because of reputation and not because of what they actually know. Girls or no girls would be a pretty important consideration too. I have had kids go through Potomac and NCS, but not StA--so can't comment on it that way, but because of the NCS connection, I know what being in that environment is like. It is NOT down to earth at the Cathedral Schools. But, as I said, Potomac is a real pressure cooker right now, so it's not like your son would be escaping that by choosing Potomac.

[Anonymous]

The academics are pretty equal but I think STA has a better overall vision about its curriculum - a benefit of tradition. Of late, Potomac seems to be flailing around with respect to its curriculum without any obvious goal or route to get there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:STA, but bear in mind it is a pressure cooker. I know three families that got burnt out by the commute and their children's exhaustion.

This is true for many dmv schools. You couldn’t pay me to commute in with their school schedules, and I wouldn’t want to add that to my kids’ (already heavy) load. That means, in our case, we wouldn’t even consider Potomac because we live and work in nwdc. We took work and schools into account when we bought our house. You might be in a different situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are such different schools. All boys StA is very elitist. Potomac is a serious pressure cooker. People on here telling you StA is 'better' is just because of reputation and not because of what they actually know. Girls or no girls would be a pretty important consideration too. I have had kids go through Potomac and NCS, but not StA--so can't comment on it that way, but because of the NCS connection, I know what being in that environment is like. It is NOT down to earth at the Cathedral Schools. But, as I said, Potomac is a real pressure cooker right now, so it's not like your son would be escaping that by choosing Potomac.

How do you define “down to earth”? I ask because both of these schools are full of wealthy families who live in a bubble. We’re at one of them, and we know we’re in a bubble, along with other families at all these privates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If having religious school teach him science doesn’t make you cringe, St. Albans is the better school. But both great options. Congrats!

Plus commute. Keep in under 30 mins or move

[Anonymous]

OP here. We're in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We're in DC.

This is not a choice then.

[Anonymous]

Agreed
Commuting from DC to go to Potomac makes no sense

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agreed
Commuting from DC to go to Potomac makes no sense

That completely depends where you are. Palisades? Just as easy to get to Potomac as St. Albans.

[Anonymous]

In your position, with a similar kid, we chose STA. I actually wanted Potomac because it seemed less compressed and competitive, but was overruled. I’m so glad. STA has been a perfect fit for my son.

Are college placements similar for the top 20% or so?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agreed
Commuting from DC to go to Potomac makes no sense

That completely depends where you are. Palisades? Just as easy to get to Potomac as St. Albans.

If you also work in dc then no the palisades doesn’t help.