Big 15??

[Anonymous]

Everyone has their lists. This board totally loses the point in the pursuit of prestige over suitability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone has their lists. This board totally loses the point in the pursuit of prestige over suitability.

This is true but SSSA and Bullis should NOT be on anyone's list. I do not care how hard people try. And the inclusion of Potomac is very suspect. It's heavily athletes not strong academic students. Beautiful campus, yes. Wealthy parents/students, yes. But it is in no way considered one of the top schools or an academic powerhouse. St. John's should also not be on there - the honors program students are impressive but there are a tiny micro percentage of the whole school. The rest of the kids are just regular, run of the mill kids whose parents don't want them to go to public school.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Instead of big 3/5, what is the big 15?! You can’t add or take away schools, only rearrange them. Don’t even think about adding BIM. Sister and brother schools go together.
Criteria: prestige, merit, matriculation, tradition, rivalries, notability, alums, etc.

1. Sidwell
2. NCS and STA
3. GDS
4. Maret
5. Potomac
6. Holton and Landon
7. Bullis
8. Maderia
9. WIS
10. SR and GP
11. SJC
12. Episcopal
13. St Andrews
14. St Stephens St Agnes
15. Visi and Gonzaga

This list is so wrong. Girls and boys schools are not equal in any way just because they have a relationship of some sort. This list is better.

1. STA
2. NCS
3. Sidwell
4. GDS
5. Potomac
6. Maret
7. Holton
8. Bullis
9. Landon
10. Gonzaga
11. St. Johns
12. Prep
13. St. Anselms
14. Madeira
15. St. Steven St. Agnes

This is the best one so far.
I think Potomac over Maret is correct. Maret has slipped the past few years. I might put Holton over Maret as well.

Considering ALL factors PP, not even an STA/NCS parent would put themselves above Sidwell. Here is the better list with an additional college matriculation factor:

1. Sidwell
2. GDS
3. NCS
4. Potomac
5. STA
6. Holton
7. Maret
8. Bullis
9. Madeira
10. Landon
11. St Andrews
12. Stone Ridge
13. SJC
14. Prep
15. Visi
Notice how there is no BIM or St. Anselms.

LOL.
The delusion from Potomac parents never cease to amaze me. Always trying to insert themselves where they don't belong. Now they are ranking the school above STA.

Potomacs college acceptances, academics, resources, diversity and community beg to differ.
Signed GDS parent.

No, it does not.
College acceptances, academics are better at STA.
The delusion is strong with Potomac

We have no way of knowing if college acceptances are better at STA because the school/students provide nearly zero transparency. Your word isn’t enough.

DP. They send out a complete list of where each graduate is going. It is announced. Can't be more transparent than that. In the spirt of being humble, yes you are correct, they are not going to send out a public list of colleges their grads are attending. I can assure you anyone in the know can tell you they had 1/6 kids go to Ivies last year.

My point is there’s very little publicly available information about STA’s college matriculations (year to year). As a result, your posts/words/assurances are worthless. Nothing you, or other STA parents, say matters because it cannot be corroborated. Btw, I have daughters so STA’s college admissions are completely irrelevant to me.

Please. Is that why you spend so much time, on so many threads, criticizing STA for not publicizing matriculation results? For some bizarre reason—despite the fact that you have “daughters”—you’ve got an obsessive curiosity about and/or axe to grind with a boys school. Oh, and WAY too much time on your hands. Stop perseverating. Let it go.

Nope, I’m a different poster. I’m not sure who you’re referring to, but it sounds like there’s more than one person who thinks you’re stretching the truth about the STA’s college admissions. Are you posting these phantom college matriculations all over DCUM forums? That’s bizarre! It also sounds like you spend so much time on DCUM that you think you can identify people who question STA stats. Pot meet kettle.

DP. Different poster than above and I can assure you STA kids and families have nothing to prove. If they did they would post a public page. They could post it and boast and brag but they don’t need to do that. I agree with pp something is very off with your posts. I can guess which school your kids are at. You have a real chip on your shoulder.

NP. STA parents on this thread seem super defensive. All of the parent posts I’ve seen on this thread are some variation of “trust us—STA’s college admissions are excellent.”
Umm, ok…
If it’s true, but no one believes you because there’s nothing publicly available to back it up, just scroll past. You’re not going to convince anyone who thinks you’re lying. Move on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone has their lists. This board totally loses the point in the pursuit of prestige over suitability.

And then they complain that the elite school they picked is "terrible," when in reality the issue is that they picked a school for prestige points even though it was a bad fit for their kid, even though the school is a great fit for a lot of other kids.

And then in 13 years they'll be over in the college forum complaining that their kid is miserable at the T25 their parents pushed them into attending.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An honest overall ranking would be:

1. Sidwell
T-2. NCS
T-2. GDS
4. STA
T-5. Holton
T-5. Potomac
7. Maret

T-8. Prep
T-8. Visi
10. Stone Ridge
11. Madeira
T-12. Landon
T-12. SAES
T-12. Bullis
T-12. Gonzaga
16. SJC
17. SSSAS
18. Flint Hill
19. Holy Child
20. AHC

12-16 have all gotten a much better quality of student post-COVID.

Then you’d have a separate list that would be something like this for the smaller, more speciality schools.

1. St. Anselm
2. WIS
3. Field
4. Burke
5. SSFS

This!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An honest overall ranking would be:

1. Sidwell
T-2. NCS
T-2. GDS
4. STA
T-5. Holton
T-5. Potomac
7. Maret

T-8. Prep
T-8. Visi
10. Stone Ridge
11. Madeira
T-12. Landon
T-12. SAES
T-12. Bullis
T-12. Gonzaga
16. SJC
17. SSSAS
18. Flint Hill
19. Holy Child
20. AHC

12-16 have all gotten a much better quality of student post-COVID.

Then you’d have a separate list that would be something like this for the smaller, more speciality schools.

1. St. Anselm
2. WIS
3. Field
4. Burke
5. SSFS

This!!

SSFS is neither small nor a specialty school. It has 600 kids and 100+ acres…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An honest overall ranking would be:

1. Sidwell
T-2. NCS
T-2. GDS
4. STA
T-5. Holton
T-5. Potomac
7. Maret

T-8. Prep
T-8. Visi
10. Stone Ridge
11. Madeira
T-12. Landon
T-12. SAES
T-12. Bullis
T-12. Gonzaga
16. SJC
17. SSSAS
18. Flint Hill
19. Holy Child
20. AHC

12-16 have all gotten a much better quality of student post-COVID.

Then you’d have a separate list that would be something like this for the smaller, more speciality schools.

1. St. Anselm
2. WIS
3. Field
4. Burke
5. SSFS

This!!

SSFS is neither small nor a specialty school. It has 600 kids and 100+ acres…

It’s small as measured by the amount of kids it sends to quality colleges upon graduation though

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone has their lists. This board totally loses the point in the pursuit of prestige over suitability.

This is true but SSSA and Bullis should NOT be on anyone's list. I do not care how hard people try. And the inclusion of Potomac is very suspect. It's heavily athletes not strong academic students. Beautiful campus, yes. Wealthy parents/students, yes. But it is in no way considered one of the top schools or an academic powerhouse. St. John's should also not be on there - the honors program students are impressive but there are a tiny micro percentage of the whole school. The rest of the kids are just regular, run of the mill kids whose parents don't want them to go to public school.

That’s BS. There are plenty of kids at Bullis, Saints and even SJC who could have excelled at your precious “big 3” but preferred their choice. No reason to put them down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone has their lists. This board totally loses the point in the pursuit of prestige over suitability.

+100

[Anonymous]

It is interesting looking at college outcomes. Plenty of kids at what this board consider the better schools are going to very average ranked colleges, whereas kids from the other schools going to higher ranked colleges with very strong academic foundations. For my DC, awesome college outcome with a non pressure cooker environment. Much better off for it; consider the end game unless it is all about high school bragging rights for your DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is interesting looking at college outcomes. Plenty of kids at what this board consider the better schools are going to very average ranked colleges, whereas kids from the other schools going to higher ranked colleges with very strong academic foundations. For my DC, awesome college outcome with a non pressure cooker environment. Much better off for it; consider the end game unless it is all about high school bragging rights for your DC.

We have to remember that not all kids want to necessarily go to a top ranked college.

My DC definitely would have a shot at many of the top 20 schools, but has chosen to apply to lesser schools based on their preferences for a Catholic institution. So Notre Dame will be the only top 20 they will apply to. It is not about rankings. Its about fit.

[Anonymous]

Exactly; which is why this ranking thread for high school is worthless for the best fit for a DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone has their lists. This board totally loses the point in the pursuit of prestige over suitability.

This is true but SSSA and Bullis should NOT be on anyone's list. I do not care how hard people try. And the inclusion of Potomac is very suspect. It's heavily athletes not strong academic students. Beautiful campus, yes. Wealthy parents/students, yes. But it is in no way considered one of the top schools or an academic powerhouse. St. John's should also not be on there - the honors program students are impressive but there are a tiny micro percentage of the whole school. The rest of the kids are just regular, run of the mill kids whose parents don't want them to go to public school.

My kids attended the Cathedral schools, so no dog in this fight, but you are wrong about Potomac. In fact, from what I understand from friends and colleagues, it's an academic grind and I know from athletics that it is in fact, not "heavily athletes." I think you must have grown up here and don't understand the current situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone has their lists. This board totally loses the point in the pursuit of prestige over suitability.

This is true but SSSA and Bullis should NOT be on anyone's list. I do not care how hard people try. And the inclusion of Potomac is very suspect. It's heavily athletes not strong academic students. Beautiful campus, yes. Wealthy parents/students, yes. But it is in no way considered one of the top schools or an academic powerhouse. St. John's should also not be on there - the honors program students are impressive but there are a tiny micro percentage of the whole school. The rest of the kids are just regular, run of the mill kids whose parents don't want them to go to public school.

This.
Potomac parents have chips on their shoulders. They always try to sneak in the school. I think most of the lists are made up by them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is interesting looking at college outcomes. Plenty of kids at what this board consider the better schools are going to very average ranked colleges, whereas kids from the other schools going to higher ranked colleges with very strong academic foundations. For my DC, awesome college outcome with a non pressure cooker environment. Much better off for it; consider the end game unless it is all about high school bragging rights for your DC.

+1. My kid graduated from one of the so-called lesser private schools, which they loved. Now at a college that wouldn't get much love here but which has one of the top rated programs for her niche major. Great experiences and great outcomes, even if the resume isn't DCUM-approved.