does everyone who applied to flint hill get in

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:8:54 again. Admitting "merely average" children is not in and of itself a bad thing ... all children benefit from having a good school to go to if publics are not meeting their needs. The question in whether the teaching and program are meeting needs that publics are not ... at such a high tuition rate, I think it is a fair question. Surely an average child could gain admission to Radford coming from nearly ANY school!!!

I think we are sort of on the same page, but I don't like the tone of 22:25's comment ... seems very disparaging of average kids. Hate to break it to you, but their are a lot of such kids around and they are adorable even if they don't belong at super elite schools.

I'm 22:25. I didn't say anything disparaging about average kids. Who ever said average kids can't be adorable? You're jumping to all sorts of conclusions here, beginning with my tone and ending with saying I've disparaged average kids and said they weren't adorable. My own child has learning issues so why would I disparage average kids? I'm just speaking factually. If a school starts with a pool of children who are average in academics more than likely they will graduate children who are average. Yes, some may improve themselves to be above average and even some may get accepted to the elite colleges. But we're talking averages and statistics here and my guess is that most remain relatively average. That's all I'm saying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: The other schools Sidwell, Potomac, etc..have stringent admissions criteria to begin with so they'll only accept very bright[b] kids.

Not exactly.

[Anonymous]

LOL

[Anonymous]

I feel that descriptors like "merely average" "mediocre" and "dismal" are all disparaging rather than factual in nature particularly when discussing other people's children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: The other schools Sidwell, Potomac, etc..have stringent admissions criteria to begin with so they'll only accept very bright[b] kids.

Not exactly.

Flint Hill draws from a different geographic area than Sidwell for most applicants. Sidwell has few children from Virginia while Flint Hill is in a geographic area well outside the Beltway. Flint Hill admits individuals while Sidwell admits based on mommy/daddy. Sorry - went through the process at both schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel that descriptors like "merely average" "mediocre" and "dismal" are all disparaging rather than factual in nature particularly when discussing other people's children.

The dismal was in reference to their exmissions, which you agreed was terrible. The merely average was in reference to the academic level. Medicore was in reference to, again, their academic level. My words might be more descriptive and show disapproval for it. But so does this:
"BUT I cannot fathom spending that much money on FH and then having my child attend Radford, Virginia Tech, James Madison, or George Mason..." This comment shows disapproval in those children who can only attend Radford, VT, JM, and GM. Then this comment, "But again, maybe those schools would not have been attained without good individualized teaching for those particular students" shows that you feel the academic potential of those children was likely so low and so poor that even with individualized teaching Radford, VT, JM, and GM was all they could achieve.

Lets move on and focus on the merits of this discussion - does everybody who applied to FH get in, what is FH like, is it worth it?

[Anonymous]

The only way to really know if Sidwell consists of just a bunch of average kids too is to check their SAT scores. Many children accepted at Sidwell score quite well on WPPSI. Do you think it is the same at FH? One has to wonder why FH has a differentiation department whereas Sidwell does not

[Anonymous]

The differentiation department at many schools is parents paying for tutoring. It's the Invisible Differentiation Department.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only way to really know if Sidwell consists of just a bunch of average kids too is to check their SAT scores. Many children accepted at Sidwell score quite well on WPPSI. Do you think it is the same at FH? One has to wonder why FH has a differentiation department whereas Sidwell does not

Average: 1400

[Anonymous]

I can't answer your question if everyone gets in. I don't know who can except admissions. I can tell you my DD did very well on WPPSI, was accepted at every school (nine) applied including "big 3" and attends FHS. Two important points for any parent considering FHS to know: academics continue to meet with my high standards and my DD loves school. Learning and thriving. What more could a parent ask?

And to answer the question about spending the money, it's worth it. And to answer the question about a good college, I have no doubt my DD will be at a top-college/university post-FHS.

[Anonymous]

FHS is a marginal school and there's no getting around that. Part of it is a self-fulfilling prophecy: the school doesn't have the reputation of any of the "big schools", so they don't attract the brightest kids, and not having the brightest kids perpetuates the reputation for being a marginal school.

If your child wants to go to school in VA, isn't the strongest student but is a good athlete, it may be a good fit. They have strengthened their athletics big time over the past 5 years - admitting a lot of athletes with marginal academic credentials.

Personally, I can only go back what I hear from current/past FH parents. They don't think their children are getting a good enough education at the local school (e.g. Oakton) and have the means to pay for something better. The college placement record for FH is pretty mediocre - few kids, if any, go to top-tier colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FHS is a marginal school and there's no getting around that. Part of it is a self-fulfilling prophecy: the school doesn't have the reputation of any of the "big schools", so they don't attract the brightest kids, and not having the brightest kids perpetuates the reputation for being a marginal school.

If your child wants to go to school in VA, isn't the strongest student but is a good athlete, it may be a good fit. They have strengthened their athletics big time over the past 5 years - admitting a lot of athletes with marginal academic credentials.

Personally, I can only go back what I hear from current/past FH parents. They don't think their children are getting a good enough education at the local school (e.g. Oakton) and have the means to pay for something better. The college placement record for FH is pretty mediocre - few kids, if any, go to top-tier colleges.

this is ridiculous on the face of it since Oakton exmissions are far more impressive than Flint Hill's.
I have never heard anything from anyone including anything on this thread to convince me Flint Hill is worth the 30K a year.

[Anonymous]

That's my point. Oakton is a good HS and FH is not worth $30K. If I lived in that area and I was dissatisfied with the prospect of my child attending a public school like Oakton, I'd either move or apply somewhere else. As someone else said, a lot of people looking for a private school education choose FH because the choices are limited in that area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FHS is a marginal school and there's no getting around that. Part of it is a self-fulfilling prophecy: the school doesn't have the reputation of any of the "big schools", so they don't attract the brightest kids, and not having the brightest kids perpetuates the reputation for being a marginal school.

If your child wants to go to school in VA, isn't the strongest student but is a good athlete, it may be a good fit. They have strengthened their athletics big time over the past 5 years - admitting a lot of athletes with marginal academic credentials.

Personally, I can only go back what I hear from current/past FH parents. They don't think their children are getting a good enough education at the local school (e.g. Oakton) and have the means to pay for something better. The college placement record for FH is pretty mediocre - few kids, if any, go to top-tier colleges.

Snob.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's my point. Oakton is a good HS and FH is not worth $30K. If I lived in that area and I was dissatisfied with the prospect of my child attending a public school like Oakton, I'd either move or apply somewhere else. As someone else said, a lot of people looking for a private school education choose FH because the choices are limited in that area.

sorry if I misunderstood you. Nothing wrong with Oakton or Madison compared to Flint Hill. Yes the choices in this area are quite limited. Paul IV doesn't have the geatest reputation eitherr.