Where does a 3.5 Sidwell kid end up going to college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The easy Rosetta Stone between GPAs at different schools is the SAT. Given the huge number of applicants every year, for many years, I'd imagine most colleges have robust databases of scores and SATs, so the can easily translate how a B at Sidwell compares to an A at some other school.

That's exactly why standardized test scores matter. At Sidwell, a 3.5 GPA is strong, while at a school with grade inflation, it could be the bottom of the class. SATs, however unpopular, give colleges a way to judge the candidates. My child, a 3.5 at Sidwell with 99% SATs, is applying to some top schools but has good backups as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The easy Rosetta Stone between GPAs at different schools is the SAT. Given the huge number of applicants every year, for many years, I'd imagine most colleges have robust databases of scores and SATs, so the can easily translate how a B at Sidwell compares to an A at some other school.

That's exactly why standardized test scores matter. At Sidwell, a 3.5 GPA is strong, while at a school with grade inflation, it could be the bottom of the class. SATs, however unpopular, give colleges a way to judge the candidates. My child, a 3.5 at Sidwell with 99% SATs, is applying to some top schools but has good backups as well.

+1 My child also fits this description at a Big 3. He also is AA. It will be interesting to see what happens. Nationally there are very few AA boys with scores like his. The test analysis booklet published by the College Board the says that in 2012, (the lastest year there are data) there were only about 120 AA boys in the US. (This is very sad and shows we need to work as a society to correct this gap) But despite working hard, he is not the top of his class. We are very happy with the education he has received, and I know wherever he goes he will be well prepared, so although I am interested in the outcome of his search, I am not too concerned. There are so many good schools, so I am sure he will find a good match.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The grades wratchet for the exclusive private schools is a factor, but so is the congestion of applicants. At a school like STA or Sidwell I would assume a number of the kids are also legacies at some Ivies. If an Ivy is the pearl for a kid, consider that STA or Sidwell is only going to get 2-5 into those schools each year, and if the kid is classmates with a preferences field -- a couple of well heeled legacies plus a recruited lacrosse kid or two -- then just forget it. That's another great irony: some of the very brightest and very best students are prejudiced at these colleges in a lot of instances. The GPA algorithm is fine and all, but doesn't carry the day many times.

Agreed. Most of the Sidwell kids who got into Ivies last year were legacies, or both. All great kids, but it is quite difficult for an unhooked kid to break through when so many classmates have hooks.

Simply not true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stanford and Princeton aren't taking 10 kids from Sidwell, STA or GDS or Thomas Jefferson. I think the posters here are not appreciating that there are also regional and international diversity favors in play here. A few prep schools won't dominate foreclose on a kid or two going to Princeton each year from Oakton HS or Walt Whitman each year either. If I drilled down to the second layer of which kids from Sidwell got into Ivies, I have little doubt that it would not mirror what is also the case at other expensive and well regarded preps. Well heeled legacies and the boosters given to recruited athletes. Landon used to send more kids to Princeton than Sidwell for a few years. They were all lacrosse players. I doubt anyone Sidwell would take it well that Landon is an equal or better academic school with equal or better students...and I'd agree with that as neither a Sidwell or a Landon cheerleader.

Maybe I haven't had enough coffee this morning, but did you say that Landon is equal to or better than Sidwell in terms of academic rigor? Bahahahahahahahhahahahaha! Now that's funny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stanford and Princeton aren't taking 10 kids from Sidwell, STA or GDS or Thomas Jefferson. I think the posters here are not appreciating that there are also regional and international diversity favors in play here. A few prep schools won't dominate foreclose on a kid or two going to Princeton each year from Oakton HS or Walt Whitman each year either. If I drilled down to the second layer of which kids from Sidwell got into Ivies, I have little doubt that it would not mirror what is also the case at other expensive and well regarded preps. Well heeled legacies and the boosters given to recruited athletes. Landon used to send more kids to Princeton than Sidwell for a few years. They were all lacrosse players. I doubt anyone Sidwell would take it well that Landon is an equal or better academic school with equal or better students...and I'd agree with that as neither a Sidwell or a Landon cheerleader.

Isn't Landon lacrosse a pipeline to Duke?

Landon is a pipeline to Alabama, Ole Miss, SMU and a career in commercial real estate.

[Anonymous]

Landon used to send more kids to Princeton than Sidwell for a few years. They were all lacrosse players. I doubt anyone Sidwell would take it well that Landon is an equal or better academic school with equal or better students...and I'd agree with that as neither a Sidwell or a Landon cheerleader.

Maybe I haven't had enough coffee this morning, but did you say that Landon is equal to or better than Sidwell in terms of academic rigor? Bahahahahahahahhahahahaha! Now that's funny.

No, that isn't what the PP inferred. Landon used to send a lot of lacrosse players to Princeton, and that does not make Landon an academic equal to Sidwell. If you are at Landon you're only shot at an Ivy, Duke, Stanforf is to be a recruited athlete. Interestingly there has not been a single lacrosse recruit from Landon to Harvard or to Yale since the, ummm, incident in 2010. Those coaches won't recruit Landon kids, period. Princeton has cooled off too in the recent couple years. Sports hooks can really help sometimes, and if you want to go the elite lacrosse route Landon is still placing kids at a number of excellent selective colleges. That should not be confused with flattering a kid with a 95 average at Landon as a profile the most selective schools look for, because clearly that's not true. Strip out the lacrosse placements and it is one year in every few years Landon can manage to get a kid placed at an Ivy. If you have a son at Sidwell, there's nothing to be defensive or snarky about. We all know the deal in terms of Sidwell versus the likes of Landon, and I am neither a Sidwell or a Landon parent.

[Anonymous]

...and as per your second post, you are correct. In some regards the college a Landon kid goes to is moot, because unless he flunks out and becomes a lacrosse coach he'll be selling big box commercial leases for 35 years after college anyways. It's a job anyone can do and pays better that making little animals out of balloons at birthday parties for the same mental acuity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:...and as per your second post, you are correct. In some regards the college a Landon kid goes to is moot, because unless he flunks out and becomes a lacrosse coach he'll be selling big box commercial leases for 35 years after college anyways. It's a job anyone can do and pays better that making little animals out of balloons at birthday parties for the same mental acuity.

Now that's funny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stanford and Princeton aren't taking 10 kids from Sidwell, STA or GDS or Thomas Jefferson. I think the posters here are not appreciating that there are also regional and international diversity favors in play here. A few prep schools won't dominate foreclose on a kid or two going to Princeton each year from Oakton HS or Walt Whitman each year either. If I drilled down to the second layer of which kids from Sidwell got into Ivies, I have little doubt that it would not mirror what is also the case at other expensive and well regarded preps. Well heeled legacies and the boosters given to recruited athletes. Landon used to send more kids to Princeton than Sidwell for a few years. They were all lacrosse players. I doubt anyone Sidwell would take it well that Landon is an equal or better academic school with equal or better students...and I'd agree with that as neither a Sidwell or a Landon cheerleader.

Isn't Landon lacrosse a pipeline to Duke?

Landon is a pipeline to Alabama, Ole Miss, SMU and a career in commercial real estate.

I agree with this; however, I'm not knocking it - that can be a pretty great college experience and a nice and interesting life!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The easy Rosetta Stone between GPAs at different schools is the SAT. Given the huge number of applicants every year, for many years, I'd imagine most colleges have robust databases of scores and SATs, so the can easily translate how a B at Sidwell compares to an A at some other school.

That's exactly why standardized test scores matter. At Sidwell, a 3.5 GPA is strong, while at a school with grade inflation, it could be the bottom of the class. SATs, however unpopular, give colleges a way to judge the candidates. My child, a 3.5 at Sidwell with 99% SATs, is applying to some top schools but has good backups as well.

+1 My child also fits this description at a Big 3. He also is AA. It will be interesting to see what happens. Nationally there are very few AA boys with scores like his. The test analysis booklet published by the College Board the says that in 2012, (the lastest year there are data) there were only about 120 AA boys in the US. (This is very sad and shows we need to work as a society to correct this gap) But despite working hard, he is not the top of his class. We are very happy with the education he has received, and I know wherever he goes he will be well prepared, so although I am interested in the outcome of his search, I am not too concerned. There are so many good schools, so I am sure he will find a good match.

I think you know your kid is a unicorn and will do extremely well in college admissions. He will also do well in law school admissions if that i terests him later on. Good for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The easy Rosetta Stone between GPAs at different schools is the SAT. Given the huge number of applicants every year, for many years, I'd imagine most colleges have robust databases of scores and SATs, so the can easily translate how a B at Sidwell compares to an A at some other school.

That's exactly why standardized test scores matter. At Sidwell, a 3.5 GPA is strong, while at a school with grade inflation, it could be the bottom of the class. SATs, however unpopular, give colleges a way to judge the candidates. My child, a 3.5 at Sidwell with 99% SATs, is applying to some top schools but has good backups as well.

+1 My child also fits this description at a Big 3. He also is AA. It will be interesting to see what happens. Nationally there are very few AA boys with scores like his. The test analysis booklet published by the College Board the says that in 2012, (the lastest year there are data) there were only about 120 AA boys in the US. (This is very sad and shows we need to work as a society to correct this gap) But despite working hard, he is not the top of his class. We are very happy with the education he has received, and I know wherever he goes he will be well prepared, so although I am interested in the outcome of his search, I am not too concerned. There are so many good schools, so I am sure he will find a good match.

I think you know your kid is a unicorn and will do extremely well in college admissions. He will also do well in law school admissions if that i terests him later on. Good for him.

Not the AA PP, but there must be a bunch of unicorns out there. I am well acquainted with several AA parents at different private schools, and their 'unicorns' are similar to the AA child with 3.5 gpa, etc. My own AA girl at a Big 3 that does not rank or do GPAs would be calculated at a 3.75 using internet GPA calculators. Her ethnic peers in other privates also have similar credentials.

[Anonymous]

my kid graduated from sidwell with less than a 3.5 but now has a 3.8 as a senior in college. So Sidwell does prepare kids well no matter how they did in HS.

[Anonymous]

PP He doesn't feel like a unicorn. In his Big 3 there are quite a few AA students with high test scores. There grades may be better. No way to know for sure. But he did feel like he stood out in public school because there were so few AA boys in is gifted programs. As a society we need to reach out to gifted minority kids who may not realize the opportunities there are in this area, and mentor them so keep challenging themselves.

[Anonymous]

I hope the person who called the gifted AA student a unicorn gets one up their ass.

[Anonymous]

Isn't a 3.5 a very high GPA at Sidwell? I only hear about how hard it is to get all As at Sidwell, and that in some classes it is rare for more than 1 kid in a class to get an A with some teachers. We are at another prep, and my son has friends at Sidwell. I get the impression from their parents that a 4.0 just doesn't happen, and on the scale of it GPAs are lower on a relative basis versus what is handed out at even other select preps. Is all of this a bristling over what is an excellent GPA?