Banneker interviews

[Anonymous]

Wait... so you're all agreeing not to accept a Walls offer because of a question asked by a prospective parent who is a professor? Even though it was an open-to-all information session, the vast majority of kids who apply to Walls don't get in, and not all of those at these sessions even apply (and some of the more "pompous ones" just use Walls as a back up option for private school and end up elsewhere)?

Thank you! Maybe my kid will get in after all!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait... so you're all agreeing not to accept a Walls offer because of a question asked by a prospective parent who is a professor? Even though it was an open-to-all information session, the vast majority of kids who apply to Walls don't get in, and not all of those at these sessions even apply (and some of the more "pompous ones" just use Walls as a back up option for private school and end up elsewhere)?

Thank you! Maybe my kid will get in after all!

Only one person said they were anti-Walls because of their encounter with the obnoxious professor parent. I assume they are making the assumption that SWW may have many such parents while Banneker will be free of them.

[Anonymous]

Yeah that’s me. It’s just my dumb anonymous wish that self important people would go find a place where they will be appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait... so you're all agreeing not to accept a Walls offer because of a question asked by a prospective parent who is a professor? Even though it was an open-to-all information session, the vast majority of kids who apply to Walls don't get in, and not all of those at these sessions even apply (and some of the more "pompous ones" just use Walls as a back up option for private school and end up elsewhere)?

Thank you! Maybe my kid will get in after all!

Only one person said they were anti-Walls because of their encounter with the obnoxious professor parent. I assume they are making the assumption that SWW may have many such parents while Banneker will be free of them.

my contention is that is a BIG assumption. It’s like the people who think JR is chaotic, not because they know anyone who goes there but because they’ve seen rowdy kids afterschool in Tenleytown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who cares. We didn't get a Walls interview and our Banneker interviews didn't go well leaving us worried about what to do about high school. Should we be looking at suburban real estate? If we could go back to 4th grade, we wouldn't have stuck with DCPS for 5th grade and middle school. We could have gone with BASIS but didn't like the program.

How in the world did Banneker interviews take a turn for the worse? Friends that moved to the Burbs are looking at privates too. They are really upset! So no easy path.

Shy teen struggled to speak in the 10 minutes she was given. She was just warming up when the interview ended. Earlier this winter she had private school interviews that ran for 30-40 minutes. They worked out, other than...financially when acceptance/fi aid letters arrived.

It might work out just fine. At worse, she could end up on the WL but receive a phone call by summer. Or, she might surprise herself and actually make it in.

[Anonymous]

Hope you’re right but a 10 min interview just wasn’t a serious thing, same as for Walls.

[Anonymous]

Anyone actually got a sense what the interviewers were looking for, at the Banneker interview? My kid didn't report many details about it, afterward. Another shy kid who doesn't like talking about themselves.

[Anonymous]

To me it seemed like a willingness to participate in the programs, understanding of the workload.

[Anonymous]

I got the sense that they were looking for unique backgrounds, talents and interests as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I got the sense that they were looking for unique backgrounds, talents and interests as well.

We have that, but my kid wasn't asked about those things, the questions were fairly generic and she didn't think to mention anything that made her stand out. Oh, well.

[Anonymous]

You never know. Our kid must have bombed the interview last year. His WL looked bad. But he got off the WL in Aug and enrolled. Banneker is just OK. As posters have said, the leadership isn't 21st century. But he likes it and we can afford good summer academic programs because we're not paying private school tuition. He took AP Chem and BC Calc at a pre-college program on-site after junior year. He also did French immersion camps. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Our younger son bombed interview last year. Older son got in without WL. Both like it.

[Anonymous]

NP. Kind of amazing how much harder Banneker is to get into this year than just two or three years back. I don't remember reading this kind of angst-ridden thread about Banneker admissions before, at least not in the several years since the renovation opened up a bunch more spots.

[Anonymous]

+1. Big change.

[Anonymous]

Thanks to the PPs who commented about bombed interviews. I realize we need to just wait another couple of weeks, but it's so hard not to second-guess what the future holds.

I too remember reading the Banneker discussions a couple of years ago. But my kid really liked it when we toured, I've talked to parents of kids who are freshmen, and also to parents whose kids graduated a while ago, and it sounds like a school my kid would enjoy attending. Not looking for super intense academics (AP everything). And did not even get an interview at Walls. Not that many other options for a kid not zoned for JR.