sidwell college results--does everyone have top grades or are they getting in kids into strong schools imperfect grades?

[Anonymous]

There’s a lot of pressure at Sidwell for these kids to excel and that’s why you don’t see the bottom half of the class posting on instagram. It’s the kind of environment where most feel ashamed and embarrassed if they’re not attending a top 30 school next year. So you’ve got a bit of selection bias in the posts you’re seeing. The school’s results are still really good as always - although I’ve heard anecdotally from parents with seniors that this is a bit of a down year - but not as universally good as instagram posts would lead you to believe.

"Most feel". Say what? How on earth do you believe that you know what *most* feel? What a bunch of horsesh!t.

[Anonymous]

If you're not hooked or URM, I don't think Sidwell helps you at all in college matriculation. It might even hurt you. Don't be misled by instagram, you have no idea the circumstances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you're not hooked or URM, I don't think Sidwell helps you at all in college matriculation. It might even hurt you. Don't be misled by instagram, you have no idea the circumstances.

Others have summarized the landscape with way more nuance than you.
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1275/1173827.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you're not hooked or URM, I don't think Sidwell helps you at all in college matriculation. It might even hurt you. Don't be misled by instagram, you have no idea the circumstances.

Lies! You have no connection to Sidwell, and it’s clear that you have no idea what you’re talking about. People love to lie on this school—jeez!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Looking at the Ivy numbers for Sidwell. At least half had GPAs over 3.9. Only 3 are in advanced Math track (they are all going to Harvard). There are 2 athletic recruits. I see maybe 1 to 2 who may have gotten a nudge. Overall, these kids worked very hard.

There’s another person in the advanced math track who is attending Penn next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking at the Ivy numbers for Sidwell. At least half had GPAs over 3.9. Only 3 are in advanced Math track (they are all going to Harvard). There are 2 athletic recruits. I see maybe 1 to 2 who may have gotten a nudge. Overall, these kids worked very hard.

There’s another person in the advanced math track who is attending Penn next year.

The vast majority of Sidwell’s Ivy admits this year did NOT take Math IV. Most will graduate with Calculus 1 or 2.

[Anonymous]

I think colleges don't know what the math I-IV track is and/or don't care. They don't need kids to come in doing theoretical math; the standard even for math majors and even in 2024 is Calculus. Beyond this they want interesting kids who stand out in different ways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think colleges don't know what the math I-IV track is and/or don't care. They don't need kids to come in doing theoretical math; the standard even for math majors and even in 2024 is Calculus. Beyond this they want interesting kids who stand out in different ways.

💯

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think colleges don't know what the math I-IV track is and/or don't care. They don't need kids to come in doing theoretical math; the standard even for math majors and even in 2024 is Calculus. Beyond this they want interesting kids who stand out in different ways.

I completely agree! The last time I checked, even MIT doesn’t require calculus (although they strongly recommend it).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:which college do you prefer to be an alum of (and pass along legacy status)?

Within each school, not all "legacy status" is created equal. I'm quite sure that the kids of my fellow HYP alums who donate tons of money are much more likely to benefit in needle-moving ways for college admissions than someone like me donating five figures total over the past two decades. Anyone taking out loans to pay for HYP usually won't be in the financial state to donate meaningful amounts of money later on.

I’d much rather take my chances having my child apply as an Ivy legacy (I’m fine with any Ivy) over a legacy to UVA or UNC. As a matter of fact, I don’t think UVA can consider legacy status now. That will probably be the case at many state universities with popular flagship campuses.

Ivies and private colleges recognize they’re businesses and voluntarily doing away with legacy admissions is a bad business move (MIT and JHU have highly specialized programs so perhaps that’s why they don’t care).

JHU doesn't care because Bloomberg donated billions of dollars and told them not to care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:which college do you prefer to be an alum of (and pass along legacy status)?

Within each school, not all "legacy status" is created equal. I'm quite sure that the kids of my fellow HYP alums who donate tons of money are much more likely to benefit in needle-moving ways for college admissions than someone like me donating five figures total over the past two decades. Anyone taking out loans to pay for HYP usually won't be in the financial state to donate meaningful amounts of money later on.

I’d much rather take my chances having my child apply as an Ivy legacy (I’m fine with any Ivy) over a legacy to UVA or UNC. As a matter of fact, I don’t think UVA can consider legacy status now. That will probably be the case at many state universities with popular flagship campuses.

Ivies and private colleges recognize they’re businesses and voluntarily doing away with legacy admissions is a bad business move (MIT and JHU have highly specialized programs so perhaps that’s why they don’t care).

JHU doesn't care because Bloomberg donated billions of dollars and told them not to care.

Well, other private colleges will need to find a similarly situated billionaire benefactor if they don’t want to care either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:which college do you prefer to be an alum of (and pass along legacy status)?

Within each school, not all "legacy status" is created equal. I'm quite sure that the kids of my fellow HYP alums who donate tons of money are much more likely to benefit in needle-moving ways for college admissions than someone like me donating five figures total over the past two decades. Anyone taking out loans to pay for HYP usually won't be in the financial state to donate meaningful amounts of money later on.

I’d much rather take my chances having my child apply as an Ivy legacy (I’m fine with any Ivy) over a legacy to UVA or UNC. As a matter of fact, I don’t think UVA can consider legacy status now. That will probably be the case at many state universities with popular flagship campuses.

Ivies and private colleges recognize they’re businesses and voluntarily doing away with legacy admissions is a bad business move (MIT and JHU have highly specialized programs so perhaps that’s why they don’t care).

JHU doesn't care because Bloomberg donated billions of dollars and told them not to care.

Well, other private colleges will need to find a similarly situated billionaire benefactor if they don’t want to care either.

Yes, especially SLACs. Amherst must have an anonymous billionaire sugar daddy (or sugar mama).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:but still OP's question is relevant. Do those w Top 30 postings all have 3.8+

No one here knows the GPAs of all the kids. This is ridiculous.

Does Sidwell provide access to scattergrams? That would be a way to see if kids with below a 3.8 got into Top 30 schools last year.

[Anonymous]

Why are you obsessed with the 3.8 data point? Offers of admission have so many more factors that are considered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:but still OP's question is relevant. Do those w Top 30 postings all have 3.8+

No one here knows the GPAs of all the kids. This is ridiculous.

Does Sidwell provide access to scattergrams? That would be a way to see if kids with below a 3.8 got into Top 30 schools last year.

Yes, SCOIR data is available to students/parents right before 11th grade. Sidwell only shows data for the 3 most recent graduating classes (2020 to 2023).
The last time I looked, most of the Ivies admitted at least one Sidwell student with a GPA as low as 3.6 (during that 3 year period). One Harvard admit had a 3.1.
I assume he/she was an extreme outlier. Most Sidwell Ivy admits have a 3.8 or higher.

Based on that information, you shouldn’t be surprised that there are many Sidwell T30 admits with GPAs below a 3.8. That happens every year.