Getting into St. Albans

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are some very powerful folks with STRONG STA ties ( read not Beauvoir) who think the school is outsourcing too much of the admissions process to BVR. There are also some inside STA folks who think BVR kids are not as well prepared as they should be when they move over. I bet this will become a bigger deal over the next few years.

You sound disgruntled and incorrect. The Beauvoir boys are always majority of the top of the class and do very well at STA. The Beauvoir boys have a very inclusive way about them that was instilled at Beauvoir (regardless of whether their parents do) and STA loves them. Beauvoir is the National Cathedral elementary school and there is nothing anyone can do about that. Not sure if this post is in response to the fact that certain schools or children got shut out of C Form for the Fall, but STA needs inclusive boys and has a diverse community and Beauvoir is very diverse and these boys are inclusive.

I am neither disgruntled nor incorrect on the comments I have heard but I may prove to be off with respect to the ultimate outcome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are some very powerful folks with STRONG STA ties ( read not Beauvoir) who think the school is outsourcing too much of the admissions process to BVR. There are also some inside STA folks who think BVR kids are not as well prepared as they should be when they move over. I bet this will become a bigger deal over the next few years.

You sound disgruntled and incorrect. The Beauvoir boys are always majority of the top of the class and do very well at STA. The Beauvoir boys have a very inclusive way about them that was instilled at Beauvoir (regardless of whether their parents do) and STA loves them. Beauvoir is the National Cathedral elementary school and there is nothing anyone can do about that. Not sure if this post is in response to the fact that certain schools or children got shut out of C Form for the Fall, but STA needs inclusive boys and has a diverse community and Beauvoir is very diverse and these boys are inclusive.

I am neither disgruntled nor incorrect on the comments I have heard but I may prove to be off with respect to the ultimate outcome.

My son, a non-Beauvoir, STA upper-schooler, who joined in lower school, says the ex-Beauvoir boys bad mouth Beauvoir and disparage its poor academics and how little it prepared them for STA. Of course, as I pointed out to him, all teenagers belittle everything they can and I bet he and his belittle their previous private as well. He agreed but countered that those who went to Beauvoir are more apt to knock down their alma mater as not having sufficiently prepared them academically. Just one, rather meaningless, anecdote I know but ,his comments have stuck in my mind.

Also, I would firmly say that the Beauvoir boys in his class, which is an outstanding class overall, are the most cliquish and insular of all of the boys. I have observed this myself and heard it from many others. I don't believe its the norm across the school but it is in his form.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are some very powerful folks with STRONG STA ties ( read not Beauvoir) who think the school is outsourcing too much of the admissions process to BVR. There are also some inside STA folks who think BVR kids are not as well prepared as they should be when they move over. I bet this will become a bigger deal over the next few years.

You sound disgruntled and incorrect. The Beauvoir boys are always majority of the top of the class and do very well at STA. The Beauvoir boys have a very inclusive way about them that was instilled at Beauvoir (regardless of whether their parents do) and STA loves them. Beauvoir is the National Cathedral elementary school and there is nothing anyone can do about that. Not sure if this post is in response to the fact that certain schools or children got shut out of C Form for the Fall, but STA needs inclusive boys and has a diverse community and Beauvoir is very diverse and these boys are inclusive.

I am neither disgruntled nor incorrect on the comments I have heard but I may prove to be off with respect to the ultimate outcome.

My son, a non-Beauvoir, STA upper-schooler, who joined in lower school, says the ex-Beauvoir boys bad mouth Beauvoir and disparage its poor academics and how little it prepared them for STA. Of course, as I pointed out to him, all teenagers belittle everything they can and I bet he and his belittle their previous private as well. He agreed but countered that those who went to Beauvoir are more apt to knock down their alma mater as not having sufficiently prepared them academically. Just one, rather meaningless, anecdote I know but ,his comments have stuck in my mind.

Also, I would firmly say that the Beauvoir boys in his class, which is an outstanding class overall, are the most cliquish and insular of all of the boys. I have observed this myself and heard it from many others. I don't believe its the norm across the school but it is in his form.

I have one that came in from outside the Beauvoir track and I have also heard from the boys, the teachers, and some other highly positioned folks about Beauvoir "issues."

I am also not disgruntled and certainly was not seeking out the comments, just there when they were made.

[Anonymous]

The snotty element at STA and NCS more often than not came from Beauvoir, followed by St Pats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The snotty element at STA and NCS more often than not came from Beauvoir, followed by St Pats.

It's only a handful of people and they happen to all belong to the same club. Has nothing to do with Beauvoir.

[Anonymous]

My vote for least snotty families are those coming from Key!

[Anonymous]

I haven't met a Sheridan family yet who was snotty. Wish they would increase their feed to STa/NCS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I haven't met a Sheridan family yet who was snotty. Wish they would increase their feed to STa/NCS.

I have. Maybe not snobby but very gossipy and two faced. I would rather have snobby.

[Anonymous]

"Wow. As a fellow STA parent, I am embarrassed that anyone at the school would say something like this. Just rise above it and don't take cheap shots at other schools."

Lighten up, Marge. Pretty sure that the douchebag spelling analysis was just a joke. Are you really embarrassed over something like that on a forum like this? Live a little.

[Anonymous]

For the 2016-17 application season, a few other St. Albans threads seem to be saying that there is more athletic "recruiting" taking place than before. My son is a gifted 2 sports athlete, but his scores are just above average. Will his sports skills make up for that much of an academic gap?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the 2016-17 application season, a few other St. Albans threads seem to be saying that there is more athletic "recruiting" taking place than before. My son is a gifted 2 sports athlete, but his scores are just above average. Will his sports skills make up for that much of an academic gap?

Probably not and honestly, you do not want it to. STA is very rigorous and you do not want your son struggling and overwhelmed. There is no 'alternative track' for kids who cant keep up and really, no kid should have to go through that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The snotty element at STA and NCS more often than not came from Beauvoir, followed by St Pats.

The St Pats boys are regarded by most as some of the nicest, same with regard to the St Pats girls who go on to NCS. St Pats has gotten more snotty in recent years but its mostly families whose kids are not STA and NCS material, more those on the Holton-Landon track.

[Anonymous]

I think prior post does more to confirm alleged "snottiness" than anything I've ever read on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St Albans is fantastic if your boy is sporty and with the in crowd. It is a lonely and brutal place if you are not athletic, attractive, and circulate with the popular kids, to include the girls at NCS. My son is just counting down the days until he escapes that asylum.

Sorry to hear that, but I can understand how a young guy could feel that way. While there are efforts made to be inclusive for all types of folks, the school has a lot of rigidity. I hope your son thrives in his next environment and I hope that some of his experiences on the Close become more favorable memories as he moves on through life.

Yes I am also sorry to hear this. I think the school does all it can to cultivate community but unfortunately there will always be parents that get too involved with their kids social life and this can make it difficult for kids not in their social circle to break in. Good luck to him in future endeavors.

Astute observation. Too many parents (baseball dads and prom fixated moms come to mind) get way too involved with their kids' lives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the 2016-17 application season, a few other St. Albans threads seem to be saying that there is more athletic "recruiting" taking place than before. My son is a gifted 2 sports athlete, but his scores are just above average. Will his sports skills make up for that much of an academic gap?

To be honest, I don't think anybody but the school could know if it's true or not that there is more recruiting, in the sense of recruiting that leads to admission. (This is also an area in which there are a lot of suppositions/assumptions that are not always true.) St. Albans has in the past had a very decentralized approach to recruiting -- some coaches did it more than others but it was all at the coach/program level in terms of direct outreach. They've added some more formalized admissions events meant to highlight that the school recognizes and values athletic talent in the admissions process, but the onus for recruiting still seems to be on individual coaches. And only the admissions office -- because only they actually know the full picture, including the academic profile of any given applicant in the pool -- actually knows if the school is giving more weight in the admissions process to athletes.