Sidwell College Admissions This Year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So sick of this fake fairness argument. On the one hand, SFS CCO strongly advises against getting a private Counsellor. On the other, they appear not to be providing the kind of services applicants need. Provide the high level of service to all that ask for it, problem solved. There, got that off my chest….

I completely agree. As the parent of a senior, we regretted not hiring one.

what kind of services do they provide that you regret not seeking out?
thx for any thoughts (current underclass parent here).

Help student strategize where to apply ED/SCEA and EA. Recommend which activities and in what order should be listed on the CA. Share essays of prior clients that worked. Brainstorming essay prompts. Prioritize which essays to work on for the next meeting. Tell kids when an essay doesn’t work and help them go in a different directions. A friend’s kid, had a college counselor that created a spread sheet where item’s went from red to green as they were completed.

+1

They need to be more direct. Tell kids and parents the unvarnished truth early and get the family agitation out of the way -- better than learning it at the end. CCO also needs to think more holistically -- what are the implications of so many colleges going test-optional? Tell families that too. Definitely get the sense they think their only obligation is to send out email reminders, send transcripts to colleges, and do the usual "condescending Sidwell employee" routine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a sophomore parent I was impressed by the initial presentation and follow-up materials shared by the Director of CCO. Disheartening to see some of the posts by senior parents. Surprised also by the early results reported here about the top 5-10% performing students w/o a hook.

And here, in a nutshell, is the problem.

PP, if you are a sophomore class parent, you need to read and understand this now. It should not come as a "surprise" that top-performing students at Sidwell are not getting into top schools ED unless they have a hook. That should not come as a surprise to anyone, because that is the reality now. If the school is at fault for anything, it is for not constantly articulating that but, as I'm afraid is displayed here, parents simply do not want to hear it.

This will be your child in 2 years. It will be extremely difficult to get into any top school in the country unless your child is a direct legacy or a coveted athlete. Please accept that now and plan accordingly.

+1

Even legacies are not locks. Best advice is to get an outside counselor. OC is paid to be a straight shooter and it's money well spent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So sick of this fake fairness argument. On the one hand, SFS CCO strongly advises against getting a private Counsellor. On the other, they appear not to be providing the kind of services applicants need. Provide the high level of service to all that ask for it, problem solved. There, got that off my chest….

I completely agree. As the parent of a senior, we regretted not hiring one.

what kind of services do they provide that you regret not seeking out?
thx for any thoughts (current underclass parent here).

Help student strategize where to apply ED/SCEA and EA. Recommend which activities and in what order should be listed on the CA. Share essays of prior clients that worked. Brainstorming essay prompts. Prioritize which essays to work on for the next meeting. Tell kids when an essay doesn’t work and help them go in a different directions. A friend’s kid, had a college counselor that created a spread sheet where item’s went from red to green as they were completed.

+1

They need to be more direct. Tell kids and parents the unvarnished truth early and get the family agitation out of the way -- better than learning it at the end. CCO also needs to think more holistically -- what are the implications of so many colleges going test-optional? Tell families that too. Definitely get the sense they think their only obligation is to send out email reminders, send transcripts to colleges, and do the usual "condescending Sidwell employee" routine.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Publish the high school profile to parents. Provide the past years' matriculation lists (even if it's anonymous if privacy is really the concern). Make Naviance accessible to families outside the CCO. These are pieces of information that a school could provide in order to help families develop reasonable expectations. Sidwell does not do any of them.

I agree

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a sophomore parent I was impressed by the initial presentation and follow-up materials shared by the Director of CCO. Disheartening to see some of the posts by senior parents. Surprised also by the early results reported here about the top 5-10% performing students w/o a hook.

And here, in a nutshell, is the problem.

PP, if you are a sophomore class parent, you need to read and understand this now. It should not come as a "surprise" that top-performing students at Sidwell are not getting into top schools ED unless they have a hook. That should not come as a surprise to anyone, because that is the reality now. If the school is at fault for anything, it is for not constantly articulating that but, as I'm afraid is displayed here, parents simply do not want to hear it.

This will be your child in 2 years. It will be extremely difficult to get into any top school in the country unless your child is a direct legacy or a coveted athlete. Please accept that now and plan accordingly.

I've been watching the admissions closely at two of the Big3 schools (that my kids attend) over the past 2 years and legacy is not enough. Kids need legacy plus something else. 1)URM, 2)very top student or top student plus super impressive extracurricular 3)VIP--i.e. the legacy parent is a nationally known politician or sports figure or doctor or judge or something. A household name.

+1

Yup. And if CCO at any private school (not just Sidwell) is doing their job they would mention this starting in the family's junior year. Just be honest, we know on an intellectual level that Ivies are really competitive but it would help if they actually said it more forcefully.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Publish the high school profile to parents. Provide the past years' matriculation lists (even if it's anonymous if privacy is really the concern). Make Naviance accessible to families outside the CCO. These are pieces of information that a school could provide in order to help families develop reasonable expectations. Sidwell does not do any of them.

I agree

We are at another big 3 and we get all of the above information. Our CCO is very transparent and frankly has already been extremely useful to our Junior, I would not see any reason to get an outside resource. It seems there is a large disconnect between the Sidwell parents and the Sidwell CCO. I do think it would be best for the school if the laundry was not being so publicly aired and they took these issues in-house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Publish the high school profile to parents. Provide the past years' matriculation lists (even if it's anonymous if privacy is really the concern). Make Naviance accessible to families outside the CCO. These are pieces of information that a school could provide in order to help families develop reasonable expectations. Sidwell does not do any of them.

I agree

But frankly, this information is totally irrelevant to the majority of the high school students. For example, so far this year XX Big3 school is sending 4 kids to Harvard. Three of these 4 are URM, one is not but is a double legacy.
The fact that XX school is sending any number of kids to Harvard IS COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT TO MY KID who has none of those hooks.

[Anonymous]

No, it is somewhat helpful in that Sidwell is deliberately opaque about all of this and when parents even politely request more transparency they get lectured by CCO and the administration. Which leads to DCUM threads like this one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Publish the high school profile to parents. Provide the past years' matriculation lists (even if it's anonymous if privacy is really the concern). Make Naviance accessible to families outside the CCO. These are pieces of information that a school could provide in order to help families develop reasonable expectations. Sidwell does not do any of them.

I agree

Also agree with the above.

I also think that CCO needs to take a more proactive approach where they clearly state what they can do and then give each student/family real counseling (not just functional support with some counseling) that includes solid advice and meaningful feedback throughout the process, and where the counselor understands each student's needs. They currently seem like they are walking on eggshells to be positive, and lighthearted to bring the temperature down but much of the messaging is softball/flimsy and then they mostly act on a purely functional level. And, honestly, if it turns that's all they have time for and all they will/can actually accomplish - then tell parents so we know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Publish the high school profile to parents. Provide the past years' matriculation lists (even if it's anonymous if privacy is really the concern). Make Naviance accessible to families outside the CCO. These are pieces of information that a school could provide in order to help families develop reasonable expectations. Sidwell does not do any of them.

I agree

But frankly, this information is totally irrelevant to the majority of the high school students. For example, so far this year XX Big3 school is sending 4 kids to Harvard. Three of these 4 are URM, one is not but is a double legacy.
The fact that XX school is sending any number of kids to Harvard IS COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT TO MY KID who has none of those hooks.

It will be helpful. It is a piece of educated information. It is better than none. A private school charging parents $50K+ should provide this basic information that’s available to public schools and most of the private schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sidwell and the other private schools should tell parents when they apply to high school "not to expect to get a leg up in college admissions by being here." Maybe it would turn away some families, but this is where it should start.

High school? How about when they apply to Kindergarten?

My DC was at NCRC years ago. I will never forget the adorable little 5-year-old girl there who told me so excitedly, "Guess what, Mrs X! I got into Sidwell!"

What 5-year-old talks like that, except one that has been primed from day one by parents who have set this as a goal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Publish the high school profile to parents. Provide the past years' matriculation lists (even if it's anonymous if privacy is really the concern). Make Naviance accessible to families outside the CCO. These are pieces of information that a school could provide in order to help families develop reasonable expectations. Sidwell does not do any of them.

I agree

But frankly, this information is totally irrelevant to the majority of the high school students. For example, so far this year XX Big3 school is sending 4 kids to Harvard. Three of these 4 are URM, one is not but is a double legacy.
The fact that XX school is sending any number of kids to Harvard IS COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT TO MY KID who has none of those hooks.

It will be helpful. It is a piece of educated information. It is better than none. A private school charging parents $50K+ should provide this basic information that’s available to public schools and most of the private schools.

You are telling us that one of the most expensive schools in this area does not provide or publish a school profile or share any matriculation data, and you did not know this before sending your DC there? And that you have no access to Naviance outside of the CCO office -- you cannot access it yourself from home? Wow.

[Anonymous]

The lack of access to Naviance data us absolutely ridiculous and symbolizes the abuse of the power that the school has over its students/parents. Exit is an option, I know. But...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Publish the high school profile to parents. Provide the past years' matriculation lists (even if it's anonymous if privacy is really the concern). Make Naviance accessible to families outside the CCO. These are pieces of information that a school could provide in order to help families develop reasonable expectations. Sidwell does not do any of them.

I agree

But frankly, this information is totally irrelevant to the majority of the high school students. For example, so far this year XX Big3 school is sending 4 kids to Harvard. Three of these 4 are URM, one is not but is a double legacy.
The fact that XX school is sending any number of kids to Harvard IS COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT TO MY KID who has none of those hooks.

It will be helpful. It is a piece of educated information. It is better than none. A private school charging parents $50K+ should provide this basic information that’s available to public schools and most of the private schools.

You are telling us that one of the most expensive schools in this area does not provide or publish a school profile or share any matriculation data, and you did not know this before sending your DC there? And that you have no access to Naviance outside of the CCO office -- you cannot access it yourself from home? Wow.

No Naviance data for parents or students.

[Anonymous]

Admission game is hook based, even for top applicants.