Getting into St. Albans

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

"Too much free time on their hands" describes at least half of the moms (and a surprising number of dads) I've met at Beauvoir and now at St. Albans.

But, some how this does not apply to you.

It's 11 am. I've completed drop off, an hour of "volunteer" work at one of the kid's schools, and the manufactured errands. 1 hour until the gym and then lunch with a girlfriend at the club before pickup. Never said it didn't apply to me. I'm absolutely in the "it takes one to know one category."

You are not describing any of the women I know at either school, the majority of which are a partner at a law firm, government officials including members of the President's cabinet, bankers, and the like. Those who volunteer generally do so as members on various boards. They do also go to the gym daily, and try to eat lunch somewhere in there....

You clearly are only familiar with a certain type of On the Close Mom, not the ladies who lunch.

Here's to the ladies who lunch--
Everybody laugh.
Lounging in their caftans
And planning a brunch
On their own behalf.
Off to the gym,
Then to a fitting,
Claiming they're fat.
And looking grim,
'Cause they've been sitting
Choosing a hat.
Does anyone still wear a hat?
I'll drink to that.

And here's to the girls who play smart--
Aren't they a gas?
Rushing to their classes
In optical art,
Wishing it would pass.
Another long exhausting day,
Another thousand dollars,
A matinee, a Pinter play,
Perhaps a piece of Mahler's.
I'll drink to that.
And one for Mahler!

And here's to the girls who play wife--
Aren't they too much?
Keeping house but clutching
A copy of LIFE,
Just to keep in touch.
The ones who follow the rules,
And meet themselves at the schools,
Too busy to know that they're fools.
Aren't they a gem?
I'll drink to them!
Let's all drink to them!

And here's to the girls who just watch--
Aren't they the best?
When they get depressed,
It's a bottle of Scotch,
Plus a little jest.
Another chance to disapprove,
Another brilliant zinger,
Another reason not to move,
Another vodka stinger.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!
I'll drink to that.

So here's to the girls on the go--
Everybody tries.
Look into their eyes,
And you'll see what they know:
Everybody dies.
A toast to that invincible bunch,
The dinosaurs surviving the crunch.
Let's hear it for the ladies who lunch--
Everybody rise!
Rise!
Rise! Rise! Rise! Rise! Rise! Rise! Rise!
Rise!

[Anonymous]

clearly someone has too much time on their hands.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the 2012 incoming 4th grade class, can someone post the total number of students, the total number of Beauvoir alums, and the total number of siblings?

46 students, 30 Beauvoir alums, guessing about 20 sibs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the 2012 incoming 4th grade class, can someone post the total number of students, the total number of Beauvoir alums, and the total number of siblings?

46 students, 30 Beauvoir alums, guessing about 20 sibs.

Those numbers aren't daunting at all for non-hook applicants at all. I recall prior posts suggesting that if you were not from Beauvoir and not a sib you'd need to fund the new field yourself or have embarassing pictures of the lower school head or a name that begins with Sir or ends with Roosevelt in order to make it in. Ha.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lighten up, Frances!

Have seen this rejoinder a few times. I don't understand the reference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lighten up, Frances!

Have seen this rejoinder a few times. I don't understand the reference.

It's a famous quote from the movie "Stripes" with Bill Murray & Robert Zemekis (sp?).

[Anonymous]

Wow, so much stereotyping and inferring on the few pages I browsed.

I knew As and Bs students went to St Albans. And their parents are normal working parents like the rest of us. It is just a school, not Hoggwards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It looks like this year:

Form C - 42
Form B - 46
Form A - 51
Form I - 59
Form II - 63

Form III - 80
Form IV - 82
Form V - 79
Form VI - 82

What are number like for 2012. I had heard that they are growing the classes to generate more revenue.

[Anonymous]

Apart from the obvious - Beauvoir - which schools regularly send boys to St. Albans?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, so much stereotyping and inferring on the few pages I browsed.

I knew As and Bs students went to St Albans. And their parents are normal working parents like the rest of us. It is just a school, not Hoggwards.

Not true. St. Albans is a magical place where each boy is considered unique and special and after undergoing an exquisite grooming process, they depart on their quest to make the world a better place.

No, STA is not Hogwarts, it's STA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Apart from the obvious - Beauvoir - which schools regularly send boys to St. Albans?

NPS, St. Pat's, Norwood and WES always have grads that go on to St. Albans.

[Anonymous]

and Horace Mann.

[Anonymous]

On a hurricane day with my office closed, I took a look at this site to see what was going on. From looking at a few of the entries here, it seems that many posters are trying to engineer an Ivy League acceptance for their son. As an STA parent with one graduate and one still there, I think there are some realities of the place that you need to know. First, the real attraction of the school is the quality of the students. Good teaching is just not guaranteed at STA. In fact, if your son gets the wrong teachers, it can undermine his transcript and his college options. So, if you are looking to engineer the Ivy League outcome, beware. If the outcome is less important than the experience of having truly bright classmates and mostly good teachers and coaches, then STA might be a good fit. Know that your son will be squeezed like a sponge at STA. If he is a good athlete, then he will have many chances to contribute to the teams. Despite the jock reputation at STA, there are not enough athletes to cover all of the sports. How some of the coaches turn out competitive squads on a regular basis is really quite an accomplishment. On the college front, please know that the admissions process does not bring out the best side of the school, the boys or the parents. It is tense for the boys, who know that their peers and all of the parents will judge where they go to college. This makes the process of picking a school quite daunting. If your son does not elect to follow the traditional path to the Ivies or the Little Ivies (for whatever reason), be prepared to deal with some issues from the peers as it is a very competitive environment, especially when it comes to college selection. Given the cost of the education, it is not surprising about the competitiveness. If there is one parting comment, I guess it would be this: Try not to let the STA processes overwhelm your kid and you to the point that the childhood/parenthood experience is adversely impacted. Have fun and don't worry about trying to solve the formula for your kid's success. Provide the opportunities and let the kid develop the will and confidence to set his own course. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On a hurricane day with my office closed, I took a look at this site to see what was going on. From looking at a few of the entries here, it seems that many posters are trying to engineer an Ivy League acceptance for their son. As an STA parent with one graduate and one still there, I think there are some realities of the place that you need to know. First, the real attraction of the school is the quality of the students. Good teaching is just not guaranteed at STA. In fact, if your son gets the wrong teachers, it can undermine his transcript and his college options. So, if you are looking to engineer the Ivy League outcome, beware. If the outcome is less important than the experience of having truly bright classmates and mostly good teachers and coaches, then STA might be a good fit. Know that your son will be squeezed like a sponge at STA. If he is a good athlete, then he will have many chances to contribute to the teams. Despite the jock reputation at STA, there are not enough athletes to cover all of the sports. How some of the coaches turn out competitive squads on a regular basis is really quite an accomplishment. On the college front, please know that the admissions process does not bring out the best side of the school, the boys or the parents. It is tense for the boys, who know that their peers and all of the parents will judge where they go to college. This makes the process of picking a school quite daunting. If your son does not elect to follow the traditional path to the Ivies or the Little Ivies (for whatever reason), be prepared to deal with some issues from the peers as it is a very competitive environment, especially when it comes to college selection. Given the cost of the education, it is not surprising about the competitiveness. If there is one parting comment, I guess it would be this: Try not to let the STA processes overwhelm your kid and you to the point that the childhood/parenthood experience is adversely impacted. Have fun and don't worry about trying to solve the formula for your kid's success. Provide the opportunities and let the kid develop the will and confidence to set his own course. Good luck.

You sound fairly tense and competitive yourself. Also, when i read (or her) comments along the lines of "my son had the wrong teacher and it affected his transcript/college options," my take is that most likely the parents are unrealistic about the child's talents and/or work ethic. Not everyone is good at everything; not every boy studies the same amount. And agreed, not every teacher is equally good, at any school. But hard-work and brains do come through (on testing, if nothing else). The boys tend to be pretty clear-eyed about things, though--more than many of their parents.

[Anonymous]

On the contrary, I think 15:46's post was dead on. I can tell you from experience at both ncs and sta that some teachers are notoriously tough graders (doesn't necessarily mean that they aren't also excellent teachers) but it can adversely affect GPA.