Big 3, Big 5??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People....look at the the college admits.
GDS is #1 this year-with the most imprssoev results in a very difficult year. So if you are basing your "Big Three" on when you went to school in the 80's, I guess you can discount it, but for those of us living in 2024- GDS is the hardest school in the DMV to be accepted to and has the best admits this year. So for a current Big three list:
GDS
Sidwell
St Albans

The Big 3 is dead. Long live the Big 2. Sidwell and GDS are top of the heap. St. Alban's was #1 in the 80s, but no longer attracts same volume of top applicants and is easier to get into now. There are a number of area schools - boys, girls, and co-ed - that have tougher acceptance rates nowadays and stronger college placements. Washingtonian latest rankings reflect that (included St. Albans at #5). St. Alban's is still a terrific school, just not as sought after as it once was. Everyone agrees HYP are the Big 3 Ivies. Nobody tries to say the P stands for Penn or that Yale should be replaced by Cornell. DC area private schools has a Big 2 and lots of outstanding schools that are close.

St. Albans had the best 2023 college placement in the DMV. 1/7 to Ivies and most of the rest to top 25.

Not to mention STA has below 10 percent admit rate. They are a classy and don’t brag about this but it is true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who created the so-called Big 3, Big 5, Big 10, etc.? I noticed a thread pinned at the top, and I was curious to know how it came about. Was it based on college outplacement, where the wealthy sent their kids, SAT scores, etc.? Does anyone know? Does the Big 3 change year to year? I know there are a lot of great schools in the area, I just wonder why it's such a polarizing topic on this board.

I don’t know who created the term, but everyone agrees that Sidwell and STA are and have always been a part of the Big 3 (if they’re being honest). The others are debatable.

If you are looking at rankings - NCS is actually ranked higher than all of the schools above.

That’s very hard to believe. Link to your source(s)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No way GDS is a big 3. Please.

It’s not a Big 3. Never has been. We ne we even toured the school. We have a variety of friends across all political parties and races and religions and none even applied or toured GDS.

Honestly, that says more about you and your friends than it does about GDS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People....look at the the college admits.
GDS is #1 this year-with the most imprssoev results in a very difficult year. So if you are basing your "Big Three" on when you went to school in the 80's, I guess you can discount it, but for those of us living in 2024- GDS is the hardest school in the DMV to be accepted to and has the best admits this year. So for a current Big three list:
GDS
Sidwell
St Albans

The Big 3 is dead. Long live the Big 2. Sidwell and GDS are top of the heap. St. Alban's was #1 in the 80s, but no longer attracts same volume of top applicants and is easier to get into now. There are a number of area schools - boys, girls, and co-ed - that have tougher acceptance rates nowadays and stronger college placements. Washingtonian latest rankings reflect that (included St. Albans at #5). St. Alban's is still a terrific school, just not as sought after as it once was. Everyone agrees HYP are the Big 3 Ivies. Nobody tries to say the P stands for Penn or that Yale should be replaced by Cornell. DC area private schools has a Big 2 and lots of outstanding schools that are close.

St. Albans had the best 2023 college placement in the DMV. 1/7 to Ivies and most of the rest to top 25.

There’s zero proof to support your statement. Where are the public Instagram posts? Where is STA’s matriculation list for last year (that shows only 2023 grads)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People....look at the the college admits.
GDS is #1 this year-with the most imprssoev results in a very difficult year. So if you are basing your "Big Three" on when you went to school in the 80's, I guess you can discount it, but for those of us living in 2024- GDS is the hardest school in the DMV to be accepted to and has the best admits this year. So for a current Big three list:
GDS
Sidwell
St Albans

The Big 3 is dead. Long live the Big 2. Sidwell and GDS are top of the heap. St. Alban's was #1 in the 80s, but no longer attracts same volume of top applicants and is easier to get into now. There are a number of area schools - boys, girls, and co-ed - that have tougher acceptance rates nowadays and stronger college placements. Washingtonian latest rankings reflect that (included St. Albans at #5). St. Alban's is still a terrific school, just not as sought after as it once was. Everyone agrees HYP are the Big 3 Ivies. Nobody tries to say the P stands for Penn or that Yale should be replaced by Cornell. DC area private schools has a Big 2 and lots of outstanding schools that are close.

St. Albans had the best 2023 college placement in the DMV. 1/7 to Ivies and most of the rest to top 25.

Not to mention STA has below 10 percent admit rate. They are a classy and don’t brag about this but it is true.

It’s not bragging if it’s true. Post the proof of STA’s allegedly amazing matriculation list, or shut up. Otherwise, it’s definitely not bragging…it’s lying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No way GDS is a big 3. Please.

It’s not a Big 3. Never has been. We ne we even toured the school. We have a variety of friends across all political parties and races and religions and none even applied or toured GDS.

Honestly, that says more about you and your friends than it does about GDS.

Not really. These are kids that all went too top 20 colleges schools in the past 3 years. We discussed schools we applied to and considered and GDS was not one of them. I think your perception is based on a very small sample size.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People....look at the the college admits.
GDS is #1 this year-with the most imprssoev results in a very difficult year. So if you are basing your "Big Three" on when you went to school in the 80's, I guess you can discount it, but for those of us living in 2024- GDS is the hardest school in the DMV to be accepted to and has the best admits this year. So for a current Big three list:
GDS
Sidwell
St Albans

The Big 3 is dead. Long live the Big 2. Sidwell and GDS are top of the heap. St. Alban's was #1 in the 80s, but no longer attracts same volume of top applicants and is easier to get into now. There are a number of area schools - boys, girls, and co-ed - that have tougher acceptance rates nowadays and stronger college placements. Washingtonian latest rankings reflect that (included St. Albans at #5). St. Alban's is still a terrific school, just not as sought after as it once was. Everyone agrees HYP are the Big 3 Ivies. Nobody tries to say the P stands for Penn or that Yale should be replaced by Cornell. DC area private schools has a Big 2 and lots of outstanding schools that are close.

St. Albans had the best 2023 college placement in the DMV. 1/7 to Ivies and most of the rest to top 25.

Not to mention STA has below 10 percent admit rate. They are a classy and don’t brag about this but it is true.

It’s not bragging if it’s true. Post the proof of STA’s allegedly amazing matriculation list, or shut up. Otherwise, it’s definitely not bragging…it’s lying.

STA does not post a public list or Instagram page for college matriculations. Boys post privately for friends and family but don’t boast publicly and there is a list mailed to parents. 1 in 7 at Ivies from 2023.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People....look at the the college admits.
GDS is #1 this year-with the most imprssoev results in a very difficult year. So if you are basing your "Big Three" on when you went to school in the 80's, I guess you can discount it, but for those of us living in 2024- GDS is the hardest school in the DMV to be accepted to and has the best admits this year. So for a current Big three list:
GDS
Sidwell
St Albans

The Big 3 is dead. Long live the Big 2. Sidwell and GDS are top of the heap. St. Alban's was #1 in the 80s, but no longer attracts same volume of top applicants and is easier to get into now. There are a number of area schools - boys, girls, and co-ed - that have tougher acceptance rates nowadays and stronger college placements. Washingtonian latest rankings reflect that (included St. Albans at #5). St. Alban's is still a terrific school, just not as sought after as it once was. Everyone agrees HYP are the Big 3 Ivies. Nobody tries to say the P stands for Penn or that Yale should be replaced by Cornell. DC area private schools has a Big 2 and lots of outstanding schools that are close.

St. Albans had the best 2023 college placement in the DMV. 1/7 to Ivies and most of the rest to top 25.

Not to mention STA has below 10 percent admit rate. They are a classy and don’t brag about this but it is true.

It’s not bragging if it’s true. Post the proof of STA’s allegedly amazing matriculation list, or shut up. Otherwise, it’s definitely not bragging…it’s lying.

Shut up? Is this the vernacular you use on a daily basis? Classy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People....look at the the college admits.
GDS is #1 this year-with the most imprssoev results in a very difficult year. So if you are basing your "Big Three" on when you went to school in the 80's, I guess you can discount it, but for those of us living in 2024- GDS is the hardest school in the DMV to be accepted to and has the best admits this year. So for a current Big three list:
GDS
Sidwell
St Albans

The Big 3 is dead. Long live the Big 2. Sidwell and GDS are top of the heap. St. Alban's was #1 in the 80s, but no longer attracts same volume of top applicants and is easier to get into now. There are a number of area schools - boys, girls, and co-ed - that have tougher acceptance rates nowadays and stronger college placements. Washingtonian latest rankings reflect that (included St. Albans at #5). St. Alban's is still a terrific school, just not as sought after as it once was. Everyone agrees HYP are the Big 3 Ivies. Nobody tries to say the P stands for Penn or that Yale should be replaced by Cornell. DC area private schools has a Big 2 and lots of outstanding schools that are close.

St. Albans had the best 2023 college placement in the DMV. 1/7 to Ivies and most of the rest to top 25.

There’s zero proof to support your statement. Where are the public Instagram posts? Where is STA’s matriculation list for last year (that shows only 2023 grads)?

They don’t publish an Instagram page that is public so nosy people like you don’t need to stalk kids. People they want to see know.

[Anonymous]

You all are so entertaining. Scary, but entertaining.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People....look at the the college admits.
GDS is #1 this year-with the most imprssoev results in a very difficult year. So if you are basing your "Big Three" on when you went to school in the 80's, I guess you can discount it, but for those of us living in 2024- GDS is the hardest school in the DMV to be accepted to and has the best admits this year. So for a current Big three list:
GDS
Sidwell
St Albans

The Big 3 is dead. Long live the Big 2. Sidwell and GDS are top of the heap. St. Alban's was #1 in the 80s, but no longer attracts same volume of top applicants and is easier to get into now. There are a number of area schools - boys, girls, and co-ed - that have tougher acceptance rates nowadays and stronger college placements. Washingtonian latest rankings reflect that (included St. Albans at #5). St. Alban's is still a terrific school, just not as sought after as it once was. Everyone agrees HYP are the Big 3 Ivies. Nobody tries to say the P stands for Penn or that Yale should be replaced by Cornell. DC area private schools has a Big 2 and lots of outstanding schools that are close.

St. Albans had the best 2023 college placement in the DMV. 1/7 to Ivies and most of the rest to top 25.

1. My experience has been that high schools that post their 5 year college matriculation list (STA, Madeira, etc) tend to not do as well as high schools that post a 4 year matriculation list or lists for each recent graduating class (Sidwell, GDS, Maret); and

2. Are you seriously trying to convince us that Bama, Arizona State University, the University of Dayton, Elizabeth City State University, Fisk University, JMU, LSU, Montgomery College (!!!), Mount St. Mary's University, Sewanee, Shepherd University, Temple, VCU, Whittier College, Whitworth University, etc are “top 25”?!?

Please stop!

https://www.stalbansschool.org/academics/college-counseling/college-matriculations#

[Anonymous]

The posting is variable from year to year-some years like last year we had few posts from the class-less than a third. This year, exact opposite, and it seems like everyone in the class of 2024 is sharing their good news online.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People....look at the the college admits.
GDS is #1 this year-with the most imprssoev results in a very difficult year. So if you are basing your "Big Three" on when you went to school in the 80's, I guess you can discount it, but for those of us living in 2024- GDS is the hardest school in the DMV to be accepted to and has the best admits this year. So for a current Big three list:
GDS
Sidwell
St Albans

The Big 3 is dead. Long live the Big 2. Sidwell and GDS are top of the heap. St. Alban's was #1 in the 80s, but no longer attracts same volume of top applicants and is easier to get into now. There are a number of area schools - boys, girls, and co-ed - that have tougher acceptance rates nowadays and stronger college placements. Washingtonian latest rankings reflect that (included St. Albans at #5). St. Alban's is still a terrific school, just not as sought after as it once was. Everyone agrees HYP are the Big 3 Ivies. Nobody tries to say the P stands for Penn or that Yale should be replaced by Cornell. DC area private schools has a Big 2 and lots of outstanding schools that are close.

St. Albans had the best 2023 college placement in the DMV. 1/7 to Ivies and most of the rest to top 25.

1. My experience has been that high schools that post their 5 year college matriculation list (STA, Madeira, etc) tend to not do as well as high schools that post a 4 year matriculation list or lists for each recent graduating class (Sidwell, GDS, Maret); and

2. Are you seriously trying to convince us that Bama, Arizona State University, the University of Dayton, Elizabeth City State University, Fisk University, JMU, LSU, Montgomery College (!!!), Mount St. Mary's University, Sewanee, Shepherd University, Temple, VCU, Whittier College, Whitworth University, etc are “top 25”?!?

Please stop!

https://www.stalbansschool.org/academics/college-counseling/college-matriculations#

I am actually looking at the list from 2023 that was sent out in the mail to families in the community and 1 in 7 students went to Ivies and many many others went to top 25 schools. Several to Georgetown and Univ Chicago. Small class only 76.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People....look at the the college admits.
GDS is #1 this year-with the most imprssoev results in a very difficult year. So if you are basing your "Big Three" on when you went to school in the 80's, I guess you can discount it, but for those of us living in 2024- GDS is the hardest school in the DMV to be accepted to and has the best admits this year. So for a current Big three list:
GDS
Sidwell
St Albans

The Big 3 is dead. Long live the Big 2. Sidwell and GDS are top of the heap. St. Alban's was #1 in the 80s, but no longer attracts same volume of top applicants and is easier to get into now. There are a number of area schools - boys, girls, and co-ed - that have tougher acceptance rates nowadays and stronger college placements. Washingtonian latest rankings reflect that (included St. Albans at #5). St. Alban's is still a terrific school, just not as sought after as it once was. Everyone agrees HYP are the Big 3 Ivies. Nobody tries to say the P stands for Penn or that Yale should be replaced by Cornell. DC area private schools has a Big 2 and lots of outstanding schools that are close.

St. Albans had the best 2023 college placement in the DMV. 1/7 to Ivies and most of the rest to top 25.

Not to mention STA has below 10 percent admit rate. They are a classy and don’t brag about this but it is true.

It’s not bragging if it’s true. Post the proof of STA’s allegedly amazing matriculation list, or shut up. Otherwise, it’s definitely not bragging…it’s lying.

STA does not post a public list or Instagram page for college matriculations. Boys post privately for friends and family but don’t boast publicly and there is a list mailed to parents. 1 in 7 at Ivies from 2023.

Based on the link above, STA boys don’t have much to boast about (especially compared to Sidwell, GDS, Maret, and maybe even Field).

People and institutions that don’t have anything to hide…don’t hide anything.
It’s pretty clear now why STA doesn’t have a public Instagram page.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People....look at the the college admits.
GDS is #1 this year-with the most imprssoev results in a very difficult year. So if you are basing your "Big Three" on when you went to school in the 80's, I guess you can discount it, but for those of us living in 2024- GDS is the hardest school in the DMV to be accepted to and has the best admits this year. So for a current Big three list:
GDS
Sidwell
St Albans

The Big 3 is dead. Long live the Big 2. Sidwell and GDS are top of the heap. St. Alban's was #1 in the 80s, but no longer attracts same volume of top applicants and is easier to get into now. There are a number of area schools - boys, girls, and co-ed - that have tougher acceptance rates nowadays and stronger college placements. Washingtonian latest rankings reflect that (included St. Albans at #5). St. Alban's is still a terrific school, just not as sought after as it once was. Everyone agrees HYP are the Big 3 Ivies. Nobody tries to say the P stands for Penn or that Yale should be replaced by Cornell. DC area private schools has a Big 2 and lots of outstanding schools that are close.

St. Albans had the best 2023 college placement in the DMV. 1/7 to Ivies and most of the rest to top 25.

1. My experience has been that high schools that post their 5 year college matriculation list (STA, Madeira, etc) tend to not do as well as high schools that post a 4 year matriculation list or lists for each recent graduating class (Sidwell, GDS, Maret); and

2. Are you seriously trying to convince us that Bama, Arizona State University, the University of Dayton, Elizabeth City State University, Fisk University, JMU, LSU, Montgomery College (!!!), Mount St. Mary's University, Sewanee, Shepherd University, Temple, VCU, Whittier College, Whitworth University, etc are “top 25”?!?

Please stop!

https://www.stalbansschool.org/academics/college-counseling/college-matriculations#

I am actually looking at the list from 2023 that was sent out in the mail to families in the community and 1 in 7 students went to Ivies and many many others went to top 25 schools. Several to Georgetown and Univ Chicago. Small class only 76.

Within the last 5 years, a STA student went to Montgomery College! No words.