GDS...is it as good as its reputation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just got the GDS magazine. It lists 2015 matriculation including 4 to Harvard and a couple to Yale.

That's just a no-hum year for GDS.

[Anonymous]

Ho-hum

[Anonymous]

Georgetown Days mag says that 5 members of the class of 2015 matriculated at Harvard and 4 at Yale. Five Harvard students is probably the highest class total of the DC independent schools last year. There were also 4 to Penn. Congrats to all!

[Anonymous]

So the so-called troll is not a troll. Just the shrill breast-beating booster that she appears to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Georgetown Days mag says that 5 members of the class of 2015 matriculated at Harvard and 4 at Yale. [b]Five Harvard students is probably the highest class total of the DC independent schools last year. There were also 4 to Penn. Congrats to all!

This.

[Anonymous]

So it seems, after all, that GDS IS more Harvard feeder than fiction....

[Anonymous]

That's great, but why does Harvard strike such a chord. As a friend (Harvard parent) recently said in critiquing the academics at the school, "the hardest thing about Harvard is getting in." Sure the acceptances to Harvard matter, but I'm personally more interested in acceptances to a broader range of Ivies and Ivy equivalents (Stanford, MIT, Chicago, etc...). I think the best private schools tend to get about 40% of their students into those top schools. Is that an accurate assessment or am I overly optimistic? Also, I think it's interesting to consider whether these private schools are successful in getting unhooked students into great schools or if they rely on legacy and other hooks to boost their admission numbers.

[Anonymous]

Legacy status really doesn't do anything these days unless you're donating $10 million to the school.

[Anonymous]

That's not what I'm seeing. Legacy status is no guarantee for sure, but most of the kids from our school who get admitted to Ivies are legacies. And often times less qualified (at least on paper) than other unhooked kids.

[Anonymous]

Are you referring to EA results or did you find this true for RD also? I would expect to see mostly legacy for early rounds since that is when colleges fill their institutional priorities. Are RD results more insightful about how well an independent school supported all its students through the college process?

[Anonymous]

Admission rates for legacies in EA vs RD are more a function of when legacy candidates typically apply than of different standards in different rounds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Legacy status really doesn't do anything these days unless you're donating $10 million to the school.

This is true. Mitigating circumstance is a legacy with a famous name.

[Anonymous]

Some colleges make it clear that legacy status will only help if you apply early. I know that's true at Penn, and I have heard it's true at others.

[Anonymous]

Whatever. You can't argue with the fact that GDS must have an excellent relationship with Harvard and its students have a great track record there.

[Anonymous]

The same question could be posed about every school in this city. There are other variables, people. It's also about fit and about how much enthusiasm the student puts into their education.
I would argue that most of the independent schools in DC are as good as their reputation because the people in this town are demanding and have spectacularly high expectations.