BASIS high school versus middle school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why were the Basis College matriculations so mediocre last year?
I just watched the commencement video.
Most "honors" grads going to places like Temple, Penn State, Michigan State.
Valedictorian to Duke
Salutatorian to NW
Only Ivy admits were Brown (URM), Yale (URM), Yale (kid who had done years of Latin quiz bowl competitions at Yale).
Less than 5% of the class to top 20 schools.

I know that college isn't everything but why take years of AP classes if you're going to end up at Penn State?
You could make it there on much, much less.

E
Dumb analysis. You just have a chip on your shoulder for some weird reason.

If you look at, say, Whitman High in Maryland (one of the top public high schools in the DMV), the percentage who get into a top 20 college is about the same.

Stupid comparison. Those kids are not all taking APs. Many take none.

Agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why were the Basis College matriculations so mediocre last year?
I just watched the commencement video.
Most "honors" grads going to places like Temple, Penn State, Michigan State.
Valedictorian to Duke
Salutatorian to NW
Only Ivy admits were Brown (URM), Yale (URM), Yale (kid who had done years of Latin quiz bowl competitions at Yale).
Less than 5% of the class to top 20 schools.

I know that college isn't everything but why take years of AP classes if you're going to end up at Penn State?
You could make it there on much, much less.

You seem like a crazed stalker.

Feel free to share the college results of the DC public school your kids attend.

Well, I'm not a crazy stalker. I'm your garden variety UMC BASIS high school parent. To my knowledge, the above list is accurate.

Most stakeholders would argue that 20% to top colleges in fantastic; better result than any other program in the area, public or private.

From my perspective, too many BASIS students sacrifice too much without a real chance to shine or enjoy HS. Their experience is reflected in the less than stellar college admissions results BASIS gets.

Sounds like you are not getting your money's worth. Oh, wait, BASIS DC is free.

Maybe consider private school?

No need to be nasty. My eldest has scored 5s on BC Calc, Physics C and AP Spanish (we paid for immersion camps and tutoring). But she has less academic pals, some low SES, who mostly score 3s. They would have benefitted from 4 years of high school classes. These "average" kids are wonderfully talented, artists, actors, musicians, athletes etc. Their parents didn't want to move to the burbs and couldn't afford privates. BASIS admins, the lead college counselor and some of their teachers don't seem to give a hoot about these kids.

+1

I know some kids who took ap calc in 8th grade and scored a 2. What is gained from that experience besides acceleration just for the sake of acceleration?

[Anonymous]

+1. They gained shame, supposed to make them work harder going forward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You all have too much money to see what’s actually going on.

Temple, Penn, and MSU all offer significant merit discounts, and AP credits act as another form of discount.

And yes, top schools promise to “meet demonstrated need.” But there’s a lot of families in DC with little to no “demonstrated need” who nevertheless can’t stomach the idea of paying an extra $200k for WUSL or Tufts over Penn State.

+1 Exactly this - and it’s not even getting the credit for APs, it’s the demonstrated ability that gets many BASIS students merit money. Demonstrated need is only good if you are truly poor. Merit money is the name of the game at BASIS and the students rake it in. Plus, they don’t even have to pay to take the AP tests, which is a big savings for the families.

Now these result would be surprising from Sidwell, but they are very good in comparison to other DC publics. Also the actual BASIS graduation rate, for that matter.

[Anonymous]

Whatever. Too bad no more MIT or Harvard acceptances. It was an impressive pipeline for a few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why were the Basis College matriculations so mediocre last year?
I just watched the commencement video.
Most "honors" grads going to places like Temple, Penn State, Michigan State.
Valedictorian to Duke
Salutatorian to NW
Only Ivy admits were Brown (URM), Yale (URM), Yale (kid who had done years of Latin quiz bowl competitions at Yale).
Less than 5% of the class to top 20 schools.

I know that college isn't everything but why take years of AP classes if you're going to end up at Penn State?
You could make it there on much, much less.

I don't see a high school education as simply punching a ticket for college. For example, even if there are two paths to Penn State, the more rigorous high school education will make the student better prepared for college and life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A BASIS parent just pointed that out above. The analysis that the program can be a dreary grind for kids who don't move on to elite colleges is fair.

That wasn’t a Basis parent. Don’t believe everything you read on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why were the Basis College matriculations so mediocre last year?
I just watched the commencement video.
Most "honors" grads going to places like Temple, Penn State, Michigan State.
Valedictorian to Duke
Salutatorian to NW
Only Ivy admits were Brown (URM), Yale (URM), Yale (kid who had done years of Latin quiz bowl competitions at Yale).
Less than 5% of the class to top 20 schools.

I know that college isn't everything but why take years of AP classes if you're going to end up at Penn State?
You could make it there on much, much less.

E
Dumb analysis. You just have a chip on your shoulder for some weird reason.

If you look at, say, Whitman High in Maryland (one of the top public high schools in the DMV), the percentage who get into a top 20 college is about the same.

Stupid comparison. Those kids are not all taking APs. Many take none.

Lol. Even dumber comment. Maybe sit this one out, pal.

Plenty of those kids take APs.

[Anonymous]

Two kids went to Yale last year from Whitman.

Two kids went to Yale last year from BASIS DC, even though the BASIS senior class size was about 10% that of Whitman and BASIS DC is only about 10 years old (Whitman dates back to 1962).

Seems impressive to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why were the Basis College matriculations so mediocre last year?
I just watched the commencement video.
Most "honors" grads going to places like Temple, Penn State, Michigan State.
Valedictorian to Duke
Salutatorian to NW
Only Ivy admits were Brown (URM), Yale (URM), Yale (kid who had done years of Latin quiz bowl competitions at Yale).
Less than 5% of the class to top 20 schools.

I know that college isn't everything but why take years of AP classes if you're going to end up at Penn State?
You could make it there on much, much less.

I don't see a high school education as simply punching a ticket for college. For example, even if there are two paths to Penn State, the more rigorous high school education will make the student better prepared for college and life.

Thank you. I’m a happy basis high school parent, and I’m appalled by the discussion above. Do people really think this way? And if so, were they all first generation college attendees themselves? I can guarantee that when I was on a Big Law recruitment committee we never even looked at undergrad choices. I choose my children’s educational path by what will make them thrive, not by some ridiculous ranking for an interim educational facility.

[Anonymous]

People do really think this way. Especially Olga and Michael Block, BASIS founders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A BASIS parent just pointed that out above. The analysis that the program can be a dreary grind for kids who don't move on to elite colleges is fair.

That wasn’t a Basis parent. Don’t believe everything you read on DCUM.

This actual BASIS parent believes the dreary grind part.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why were the Basis College matriculations so mediocre last year?
I just watched the commencement video.
Most "honors" grads going to places like Temple, Penn State, Michigan State.
Valedictorian to Duke
Salutatorian to NW
Only Ivy admits were Brown (URM), Yale (URM), Yale (kid who had done years of Latin quiz bowl competitions at Yale).
Less than 5% of the class to top 20 schools.

I know that college isn't everything but why take years of AP classes if you're going to end up at Penn State?
You could make it there on much, much less.

BASIS DC has 100% acceptance into 4 year colleges and universities, with an average merit scholarship of $150,000 per student. You clearly grew up in privilege where mommy or daddy paid for college. My guess is that you are now surrounded by similarly situated friends. Were you to venture outside your bubble you'd meet people who are still paying for college and grad school into their 30s and 40s. Ask those people if they could go back in time and borrow less money what they'd do.

P.S. Please don't come back with some revisionist history garbage about how you grew up on a dirt patch in poor rural America. No one who had to pay for their own college education would have viewed matriculations through such a lens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why were the Basis College matriculations so mediocre last year?
I just watched the commencement video.
Most "honors" grads going to places like Temple, Penn State, Michigan State.
Valedictorian to Duke
Salutatorian to NW
Only Ivy admits were Brown (URM), Yale (URM), Yale (kid who had done years of Latin quiz bowl competitions at Yale).
Less than 5% of the class to top 20 schools.

I know that college isn't everything but why take years of AP classes if you're going to end up at Penn State?
You could make it there on much, much less.

BASIS DC has 100% acceptance into 4 year colleges and universities, with an average merit scholarship of $150,000 per student. You clearly grew up in privilege where mommy or daddy paid for college. My guess is that you are now surrounded by similarly situated friends. Were you to venture outside your bubble you'd meet people who are still paying for college and grad school into their 30s and 40s. Ask those people if they could go back in time and borrow less money what they'd do.

P.S. Please don't come back with some revisionist history garbage about how you grew up on a dirt patch in poor rural America. No one who had to pay for their own college education would have viewed matriculations through such a lens.

I'm not the person you're responding to, but I'm here to recommend that you dial back your holier than thou rant. Plenty of us went to college on boatloads of fi aid. I attended an Ivy on a Pell Grant, graduating in the early 90s, when the debt burden for Ivy grads from low-income backgrounds was much higher than it is now.

Something went a bit wrong at BASIS DC in admissions to the very most competitive colleges this past spring. Plenty of chatter in the school community about it.

Who knows if the dip was a blip, or will develop into a pattern. I'm guessing the later. The issues should be discussed, analyzed and addressed, vs. whitewashed with the sort of knee-jerk cheerleading you bring to the conversation.

[Anonymous]

the latter