Early Decision Results at DS or DD school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, for example, let me say that I have a student applying to college in a few years, and that they are also well-qualified and deserving, and in a class where twelve or thirteen of their classmates want to apply to the same competitive college or university.

Based on this year's success, I might think that my qualified student had a good chance of being admitted to a very competitive college in a large pool of candidates, even if they rank-ordered somewhere near the lower part of that particularly qualified pool.

There is no shame in answering the legacy question, by the way. One of the years that my children applied to college, a record number of applicants were admitted to one particularly selective college, including my daughter. Several people asked me, "how many are legacies?", because it did/does help them evaluate their own child's future chances in some way - every bit of information helps.

I had no problem stating, and this was in fact the case, that all but two of the admitted students had some sort of legacy connection (defined, in that particular case, as having had either a parent or sibling attend the same school for either college or graduate school).

You are going to make yourself crazy, SB. If you are part of the school community then you can ask the question directly of an informed party.

Before the decisions came out, I heard from someone that they were very, very nervous about their child's application this year not only because so many fellow students were applying, and because the talent pool of those fellow students was so very highly-qualified and competitive, but also because at least nine of the fellow applicants were a "legacy" as you have defined it. And that comes from an informed party.

True. I am a parent of one of the 18 kids admitted to those two schools. From what I have gathered from knowing the families of the students since lower school, there were only 3 kids with at least one parent who went to Penn, and of the Yale kids, a few legacies were actually rejected, but 4 out of the 10 kids accepted to Yale definitely had a legacy parent (one I am not sure either way). My child is not a legacy to either, so we feel lucky, even though my child would be considered I would guess in the top 15 or 20 kids just based on what my child gets for grades out of a 4.0 grading system. NO knowledge of other kids grades, just my own child. I don't mind anonymously sharing info like this because I think the DC Independent Schools are really hampered by unweighted GPAs. When Stanford published stats on their early admits last week and said 75% of the kids they accepted EA had a GPA of 4.9 or better, how do you give confidence to your child to apply?

Not true. Each of these schools has an admission person dedicated to this area who is familiar with all of the schools and how they grade. How else do you think kids from privates get in? I don't think any privates weigh grades. The schools have systems to unweigh the grades. Naviance is the best source for the GPA of kids from your school going to a partiicular college.

+1 Sidwell doesn't even provide a GPA. It just sends the raw transcript with a grading legend that clearly states that an A is the highest achievable grade (i.e. no A+). Further, the school profile that accompanies the transcript provides a clear characterization of the shape of the grading curve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, for example, let me say that I have a student applying to college in a few years, and that they are also well-qualified and deserving, and in a class where twelve or thirteen of their classmates want to apply to the same competitive college or university.

Based on this year's success, I might think that my qualified student had a good chance of being admitted to a very competitive college in a large pool of candidates, even if they rank-ordered somewhere near the lower part of that particularly qualified pool.

There is no shame in answering the legacy question, by the way. One of the years that my children applied to college, a record number of applicants were admitted to one particularly selective college, including my daughter. Several people asked me, "how many are legacies?", because it did/does help them evaluate their own child's future chances in some way - every bit of information helps.

I had no problem stating, and this was in fact the case, that all but two of the admitted students had some sort of legacy connection (defined, in that particular case, as having had either a parent or sibling attend the same school for either college or graduate school).

You are going to make yourself crazy, SB. If you are part of the school community then you can ask the question directly of an informed party.

Before the decisions came out, I heard from someone that they were very, very nervous about their child's application this year not only because so many fellow students were applying, and because the talent pool of those fellow students was so very highly-qualified and competitive, but also because at least nine of the fellow applicants were a "legacy" as you have defined it. And that comes from an informed party.

True. I am a parent of one of the 18 kids admitted to those two schools. From what I have gathered from knowing the families of the students since lower school, there were only 3 kids with at least one parent who went to Penn, and of the Yale kids, a few legacies were actually rejected, but 4 out of the 10 kids accepted to Yale definitely had a legacy parent (one I am not sure either way). My child is not a legacy to either, so we feel lucky, even though my child would be considered I would guess in the top 15 or 20 kids just based on what my child gets for grades out of a 4.0 grading system. NO knowledge of other kids grades, just my own child. I don't mind anonymously sharing info like this because I think the DC Independent Schools are really hampered by unweighted GPAs. When Stanford published stats on their early admits last week and said 75% of the kids they accepted EA had a GPA of 4.9 or better, how do you give confidence to your child to apply?

Not true. Each of these schools has an admission person dedicated to this area who is familiar with all of the schools and how they grade. How else do you think kids from privates get in? I don't think any privates weigh grades. The schools have systems to unweigh the grades. Naviance is the best source for the GPA of kids from your school going to a partiicular college.

+1 Sidwell doesn't even provide a GPA. It just sends the raw transcript with a grading legend that clearly states that an A is the highest achievable grade (i.e. no A+). Further, the school profile that accompanies the transcript provides a clear characterization of the shape of the grading curve.

+2 In other words, you can take issue with the stinginess over handing out As (lack of grade inflation). The comparison to schools that weight GPAs, however, is a nonissue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, for example, let me say that I have a student applying to college in a few years, and that they are also well-qualified and deserving, and in a class where twelve or thirteen of their classmates want to apply to the same competitive college or university.

Based on this year's success, I might think that my qualified student had a good chance of being admitted to a very competitive college in a large pool of candidates, even if they rank-ordered somewhere near the lower part of that particularly qualified pool.

There is no shame in answering the legacy question, by the way. One of the years that my children applied to college, a record number of applicants were admitted to one particularly selective college, including my daughter. Several people asked me, "how many are legacies?", because it did/does help them evaluate their own child's future chances in some way - every bit of information helps.

I had no problem stating, and this was in fact the case, that all but two of the admitted students had some sort of legacy connection (defined, in that particular case, as having had either a parent or sibling attend the same school for either college or graduate school).

You are going to make yourself crazy, SB. If you are part of the school community then you can ask the question directly of an informed party.

Before the decisions came out, I heard from someone that they were very, very nervous about their child's application this year not only because so many fellow students were applying, and because the talent pool of those fellow students was so very highly-qualified and competitive, but also because at least nine of the fellow applicants were a "legacy" as you have defined it. And that comes from an informed party.

True. I am a parent of one of the 18 kids admitted to those two schools. From what I have gathered from knowing the families of the students since lower school, there were only 3 kids with at least one parent who went to Penn, and of the Yale kids, a few legacies were actually rejected, but 4 out of the 10 kids accepted to Yale definitely had a legacy parent (one I am not sure either way). My child is not a legacy to either, so we feel lucky, even though my child would be considered I would guess in the top 15 or 20 kids just based on what my child gets for grades out of a 4.0 grading system. NO knowledge of other kids grades, just my own child. I don't mind anonymously sharing info like this because I think the DC Independent Schools are really hampered by unweighted GPAs. When Stanford published stats on their early admits last week and said 75% of the kids they accepted EA had a GPA of 4.9 or better, how do you give confidence to your child to apply?

Not true. Each of these schools has an admission person dedicated to this area who is familiar with all of the schools and how they grade. How else do you think kids from privates get in? I don't think any privates weigh grades. The schools have systems to unweigh the grades. Naviance is the best source for the GPA of kids from your school going to a partiicular college.

+1 Sidwell doesn't even provide a GPA. It just sends the raw transcript with a grading legend that clearly states that an A is the highest achievable grade (i.e. no A+). Further, the school profile that accompanies the transcript provides a clear characterization of the shape of the grading curve.

+2 In other words, you can take issue with the stinginess over handing out As (lack of grade inflation). The comparison to schools that weight GPAs, however, is a nonissue.

I read the same stats that Stanford posted last week on College a confidential. It said of the kids they accepted whose school provided a GPA, 75% had over a 4.0. That leaves a lot of wiggle room. Though even Thomas Jefferson in VA (technically a public, but everyone knows it's more of a hybrid/private) has raised their scale to 4.5. But let's face it, it is pretty tough to weight grades when most of the privates around here do not have official AP classes that would allow for the weighting! ?

[Anonymous]

TJ hasn't changed it's grading scale to 4.5, it's just that all the academic courses are considered the equivalent of FCPS honors level courses, which get a 0.5 bump on weighted GPA. TJ still has some classes that don't get the bump and unweighted GPA is computed on 4.0 scale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:TJ hasn't changed it's grading scale to 4.5, it's just that all the academic courses are considered the equivalent of FCPS honors level courses, which get a 0.5 bump on weighted GPA. TJ still has some classes that don't get the bump and unweighted GPA is computed on 4.0 scale.

That's the same as most schools that have weighted grades. If you don't take the honors level or AP classes, you are on a 4.0 scale. TJ is supposed to be one of the best high schools in the country though - wonder why they think their kids need any bump. Aren't all their classes supposed to be hard? That's the line we all get at our schools!

[Anonymous]

Of those deferred to Yale EA at SFS, were any legacies?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of those deferred to Yale EA at SFS, were any legacies? [/

I know from one parent her child was rejected (not legacy) and that one other was also rejected. Not sure if any deferred. I think Yale posted on CC that they accepted 16%, deferred 57% and rejected the rest. I kind of wish schools just deferred everyone that they didn't accept, to give a little hope and let them save face when some kids are high-fiving and hugging. Can't blame kids who got in for being over the moon, even just because they don't have to do any more applications or essays, but for the kids who don't get in, it's probably tough for them to look happy. At least with RD, everyone is picking some school, so there isn't this early celebration by just a few.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, for example, let me say that I have a student applying to college in a few years, and that they are also well-qualified and deserving, and in a class where twelve or thirteen of their classmates want to apply to the same competitive college or university.

Based on this year's success, I might think that my qualified student had a good chance of being admitted to a very competitive college in a large pool of candidates, even if they rank-ordered somewhere near the lower part of that particularly qualified pool.

There is no shame in answering the legacy question, by the way. One of the years that my children applied to college, a record number of applicants were admitted to one particularly selective college, including my daughter. Several people asked me, "how many are legacies?", because it did/does help them evaluate their own child's future chances in some way - every bit of information helps.

I had no problem stating, and this was in fact the case, that all but two of the admitted students had some sort of legacy connection (defined, in that particular case, as having had either a parent or sibling attend the same school for either college or graduate school).

You are going to make yourself crazy, SB. If you are part of the school community then you can ask the question directly of an informed party.

Before the decisions came out, I heard from someone that they were very, very nervous about their child's application this year not only because so many fellow students were applying, and because the talent pool of those fellow students was so very highly-qualified and competitive, but also because at least nine of the fellow applicants were a "legacy" as you have defined it. And that comes from an informed party.

True. I am a parent of one of the 18 kids admitted to those two schools. From what I have gathered from knowing the families of the students since lower school, there were only 3 kids with at least one parent who went to Penn, and of the Yale kids, a few legacies were actually rejected, but 4 out of the 10 kids accepted to Yale definitely had a legacy parent (one I am not sure either way). My child is not a legacy to either, so we feel lucky, even though my child would be considered I would guess in the top 15 or 20 kids just based on what my child gets for grades out of a 4.0 grading system. NO knowledge of other kids grades, just my own child. I don't mind anonymously sharing info like this because I think the DC Independent Schools are really hampered by unweighted GPAs. When Stanford published stats on their early admits last week and said 75% of the kids they accepted EA had a GPA of 4.9 or better, how do you give confidence to your child to apply[b]?

Does this suggest that your student admitted to Yale, now intends to apply to another school in the regular decision? Of course, students are free to do so as Yale is non-binding early action.

As a student of the "game", I am curious to know how many students who apply to their "top choice", - (though, of course, a "top choice" is something that can change throughout high school and even senior year), - then leverage that admission into two or three other equally excellent choices.

When my children went through the admissions process, the students at their school were politely encourage, but obviously not required, to withdraw or not to submit any other college applications once they had been admitted to their first choice in the early stage.

In the end, it will be interesting to hear around school how many of the "admitted ten" actually accept, and how many go on to apply to, and attend, other colleges. Strategically speaking, if all ten accept their admissions offers now, that will create much less competition for the many other excellent colleges and universities among the remaining Sidwell applicants. And thus SFS could end up having a banner year as all of the remaining applicants earn admissions at those other great schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, for example, let me say that I have a student applying to college in a few years, and that they are also well-qualified and deserving, and in a class where twelve or thirteen of their classmates want to apply to the same competitive college or university.

Based on this year's success, I might think that my qualified student had a good chance of being admitted to a very competitive college in a large pool of candidates, even if they rank-ordered somewhere near the lower part of that particularly qualified pool.

There is no shame in answering the legacy question, by the way. One of the years that my children applied to college, a record number of applicants were admitted to one particularly selective college, including my daughter. Several people asked me, "how many are legacies?", because it did/does help them evaluate their own child's future chances in some way - every bit of information helps.

I had no problem stating, and this was in fact the case, that all but two of the admitted students had some sort of legacy connection (defined, in that particular case, as having had either a parent or sibling attend the same school for either college or graduate school).

You are going to make yourself crazy, SB. If you are part of the school community then you can ask the question directly of an informed party.

Before the decisions came out, I heard from someone that they were very, very nervous about their child's application this year not only because so many fellow students were applying, and because the talent pool of those fellow students was so very highly-qualified and competitive, but also because at least nine of the fellow applicants were a "legacy" as you have defined it. And that comes from an informed party.

True. I am a parent of one of the 18 kids admitted to those two schools. From what I have gathered from knowing the families of the students since lower school, there were only 3 kids with at least one parent who went to Penn, and of the Yale kids, a few legacies were actually rejected, but 4 out of the 10 kids accepted to Yale definitely had a legacy parent (one I am not sure either way). My child is not a legacy to either, so we feel lucky, even though my child would be considered I would guess in the top 15 or 20 kids just based on what my child gets for grades out of a 4.0 grading system. NO knowledge of other kids grades, just my own child. I don't mind anonymously sharing info like this because I think the DC Independent Schools are really hampered by unweighted GPAs. When Stanford published stats on their early admits last week and said 75% of the kids they accepted EA had a GPA of 4.9 or better, how do you give confidence to your child to apply[b]?

Does this suggest that your student admitted to Yale, now intends to apply to another school in the regular decision? Of course, students are free to do so as Yale is non-binding early action.

As a student of the "game", I am curious to know how many students who apply to their "top choice", - (though, of course, a "top choice" is something that can change throughout high school and even senior year), - then leverage that admission into two or three other equally excellent choices.

When my children went through the admissions process, the students at their school were politely encourage, but obviously not required, to withdraw or not to submit any other college applications once they had been admitted to their first choice in the early stage.

In the end, it will be interesting to hear around school how many of the "admitted ten" actually accept, and how many go on to apply to, and attend, other colleges. Strategically speaking, if all ten accept their admissions offers now, that will create much less competition for the many other excellent colleges and universities among the remaining Sidwell applicants. And thus SFS could end up having a banner year as all of the remaining applicants earn admissions at those other great schools.

My child is accepting, and my child thinks everyone else will too from the way everyone has been celebrating. I think with HYP, whoever hits the lottery to get in early would be crazy to turn them down! But I would guess Yale and Penn won't take too many more from SFS during RD. I wonder how GDS, NCS, and STA and Maret did with these schools. Could be a banner year for lots of DC schools!

[Anonymous]

My child is accepting, and my child thinks everyone else will too from the way everyone has been celebrating. I think with HYP, whoever hits the lottery to get in early would be crazy to turn them down! But I would guess Yale and Penn won't take too many more from SFS during RD. I wonder how GDS, NCS, and STA and Maret did with these schools. Could be a banner year for lots of DC schools!

Finally. Wouldn't it be so nice if ALL the schools in DC/MD/VA got a ton of kids into the best schools--even more than normal? Instead of competing with one another it would be great if the whole region delivered more kids to the top schools. It's so tiring hearing every school from NYC getting 40+ kids every single year into the Ivies. Might be nice if DC really competed on that level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ hasn't changed it's grading scale to 4.5, it's just that all the academic courses are considered the equivalent of FCPS honors level courses, which get a 0.5 bump on weighted GPA. TJ still has some classes that don't get the bump and unweighted GPA is computed on 4.0 scale.

That's the same as most schools that have weighted grades. If you don't take the honors level or AP classes, you are on a 4.0 scale. TJ is supposed to be one of the best high schools in the country though - wonder why they think their kids need any bump. Aren't all their classes supposed to be hard? That's the line we all get at our schools!

Grade inflation, including goosing for AP classes, is widespread and pernicious. That's why it's admirable when schools don't weight grades and maintain deliberately tough grading policies. Of course, then they have a harder job to educate college admission staff what this all means for an applicant from their school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ hasn't changed it's grading scale to 4.5, it's just that all the academic courses are considered the equivalent of FCPS honors level courses, which get a 0.5 bump on weighted GPA. TJ still has some classes that don't get the bump and unweighted GPA is computed on 4.0 scale.

That's the same as most schools that have weighted grades. If you don't take the honors level or AP classes, you are on a 4.0 scale. TJ is supposed to be one of the best high schools in the country though - wonder why they think their kids need any bump. Aren't all their classes supposed to be hard? That's the line we all get at our schools!

Grade inflation, including goosing for AP classes, is widespread and pernicious. That's why it's admirable when schools don't weight grades and maintain deliberately tough grading policies. Of course, then they have a harder job to educate college admission staff what this all means for an applicant from their school.

The Yale rep has covered this area for 30 years. She not only knows how schools grade, she knows how individual TEACHERS grade. The colleges are well aware.

And let's put it this way -- if Sidwell gets 10 kids into Yale in a year with its lowest total of National Merit Semifinalists in memory (only 6), nobody should be complaining that there is some sort of private school penalty, LOL.

[Anonymous]

It goes to show that NMSF status is not determinative.

[Anonymous]

Who said sidwell had 10 at Yale? I saw 18 to penn. But Penn's not Yale.

[Anonymous]

8 to penn, 10 to yale, 18 to penn and yale combined