Early Decision Results at DS or DD school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:how did Sidwell's seniors do at Harvard and Stanford? where do Sidwell's top kids want to go? I've heard that Yale is considered more desirable at Sidwell. is that the case?

Yale is considered more desirable in many area high schools, including among public school kids I know. I know, 35,000 kids apply to Harvard every year. But for some kids at least, Harvard elicits eye-rolling, and I say this as a parent who thinks it's a great school for many subjects.

[Anonymous]

When I was at Yale in the 80s there was a really high Washington, D.C. representation (I remember Sidwell, STA and NCS having the most). Quite a number of those folks are in DC now, and some have kids of college age. Also lots of Yalies from NYC. By contrast, Harvard had tons of Boston kids. Geography still comes into play.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Sidwell parents should be ashamed of themselves. No tact, no class.

How ridiculous. I'm not a Sidwell parent , and I admit to being envious that my child didn't apply anywhere in the early pools now, but how is anonymously posting how your child did worthy of a "no class" comment? I'd be curious if you are a parent or a student, but I doubt we would find out the truth anyway.

On a different note, now that we know at least one DC private got several kids into a few top schools, do people think that decreases the numbers they will take from other DC schools during RD? I'm nervous now that we weren't more encouraging to apply early, especially since I am now learning a lot of colleges fill more than half of their class through early admissions.

+1. My son was interested in Penn. Yikes!

Penn routinely takes around 5-10 students from each of the top area schools -- and mostly all ED.

And they take very few from the publics. Given that they've almost filled half the class, you'd think the vast majority of regular admits would be from publics. Columbia seems to do the opposite -- a dozen or so from Blair alone every year, and not all of these are from the magnet, but fewer from the privates. I have no idea why this would be. We could speculate that Penn is looking to early admits for the full-pay part of the class, but who knows if that's true.

That's a good point. I'm guessing a good percentage of kids that apply early to top schools from the well-known privates around the country probably don't need much aid

PP Penn grad here -- also a public school grad from the area -- they took around 5-10 kids from ALL the local top publics and privates (many years more from publics!!! (which usually have bigger student bodies so %-wise fewer of course) - but nearly all ED - since they don't want to be a fall back for HYP applicants... it's part of how they skyrocketed in the rankings over the years. The RDs from my year were mostly athletes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were told, emphatically, "no, your child will not get in." That proved to be wrong. We didn't expect or want a crystal ball, but some analysis would have been helpful.

Well I'm sure you did not just mutely accept that emphatic "no," as you clearly were aware of your child's strengths. So what was the college counselor's response when you challenged her? What did she say when you pointed out all of your child's strengths? What did she offer when you asked for some analysis supporting her prediction?

No, we weren't mute, but just said "DC would like to try anyway". The counselor was not happy . . . until DC was accepted and then the counselor was all smiles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:how did Sidwell's seniors do at Harvard and Stanford? where do Sidwell's top kids want to go? I've heard that Yale is considered more desirable at Sidwell. is that the case?

Yale is considered more desirable in many area high schools, including among public school kids I know. I know, 35,000 kids apply to Harvard every year. But for some kids at least, Harvard elicits eye-rolling, and I say this as a parent who thinks it's a great school for many subjects.

Really, eye rolling? What crowd do you hang with where people look down their noses at Harvard? Perhaps desirability is being conflated with achievability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:how did Sidwell's seniors do at Harvard and Stanford? where do Sidwell's top kids want to go? I've heard that Yale is considered more desirable at Sidwell. is that the case?

Yale is considered more desirable in many area high schools, including among public school kids I know. I know, 35,000 kids apply to Harvard every year. But for some kids at least, Harvard elicits eye-rolling, and I say this as a parent who thinks it's a great school for many subjects.

Really, eye rolling? What crowd do you hang with where people look down their noses at Harvard? Perhaps desirability is being conflated with achievability.

I had the same thought. The idea that students pining for admission to Yale would engage in "eye rolling" about Harvard -- not authentic enough, perhaps? emblematic of grasping for status? -- is downright silly. But, high school and college aged kids can be silly and opinionated in strange ways, as can their parents, so perhaps at Sidwell people do roll their eyes at the mention of Harvard. Hopefully they also sniff, turn aside the hem of their garments, eye it askance, and otherwise bring in the full array of body language to express their contempt for it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:how did Sidwell's seniors do at Harvard and Stanford? where do Sidwell's top kids want to go? I've heard that Yale is considered more desirable at Sidwell. is that the case?

Yale is considered more desirable in many area high schools, including among public school kids I know. I know, 35,000 kids apply to Harvard every year. But for some kids at least, Harvard elicits eye-rolling, and I say this as a parent who thinks it's a great school for many subjects.

Really, eye rolling? What crowd do you hang with where people look down their noses at Harvard? Perhaps desirability is being conflated with achievability.

I had the same thought. The idea that students pining for admission to Yale would engage in "eye rolling" about Harvard -- not authentic enough, perhaps? emblematic of grasping for status? -- is downright silly. But, high school and college aged kids can be silly and opinionated in strange ways, as can their parents, so perhaps at Sidwell people do roll their eyes at the mention of Harvard. Hopefully they also sniff, turn aside the hem of their garments, eye it askance, and otherwise bring in the full array of body language to express their contempt for it!

Yes, there is eye-rolling about Harvard. My own DC refused to tour Harvard even though we were in Boston to see other colleges. Before anybody starts in on how DC probably knew he or she had no chance at Harvard (because somebody WILL say this), DC got into a different university that takes 6-7% of its 30k+ applicants.

Why the eye rolling? Probably because of what you said - perceived as being emblematic of status-grasping and maybe not authentic. Of course, I wouldn't rule out a dash of insecurity about the eye-rollers' chances of getting iN.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:how did Sidwell's seniors do at Harvard and Stanford? where do Sidwell's top kids want to go? I've heard that Yale is considered more desirable at Sidwell. is that the case?

Yale is considered more desirable in many area high schools, including among public school kids I know. I know, 35,000 kids apply to Harvard every year. But for some kids at least, Harvard elicits eye-rolling, and I say this as a parent who thinks it's a great school for many subjects.

Really, eye rolling? What crowd do you hang with where people look down their noses at Harvard? Perhaps desirability is being conflated with achievability.

I had the same thought. The idea that students pining for admission to Yale would engage in "eye rolling" about Harvard -- not authentic enough, perhaps? emblematic of grasping for status? -- is downright silly. But, high school and college aged kids can be silly and opinionated in strange ways, as can their parents, so perhaps at Sidwell people do roll their eyes at the mention of Harvard. Hopefully they also sniff, turn aside the hem of their garments, eye it askance, and otherwise bring in the full array of body language to express their contempt for it!

Yes, there is eye-rolling about Harvard. My own DC refused to tour Harvard even though we were in Boston to see other colleges. Before anybody starts in on how DC probably knew he or she had no chance at Harvard (because somebody WILL say this), DC got into a different university that takes 6-7% of its 30k+ applicants.

Why the eye rolling? Probably because of what you said - perceived as being emblematic of status-grasping and maybe not authentic. Of course, I wouldn't rule out a dash of insecurity about the eye-rollers' chances of getting iN.

Here is the difference. My daughter goes to Harvard and wouldn't even consider rolling her eyes at Yale, Stanford or MIT because of the immense respect that she has for her very smart friends attending those universities. Not your cup of tea, that I get. Eye-rolling is a bit like nervous laughter. It suggests a level of discomfort that you can't quite put your finger on. The issue exists in the recesses of your mind and not with the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:how did Sidwell's seniors do at Harvard and Stanford? where do Sidwell's top kids want to go? I've heard that Yale is considered more desirable at Sidwell. is that the case?

Yale is considered more desirable in many area high schools, including among public school kids I know. I know, 35,000 kids apply to Harvard every year. But for some kids at least, Harvard elicits eye-rolling, and I say this as a parent who thinks it's a great school for many subjects.

Really, eye rolling? What crowd do you hang with where people look down their noses at Harvard? Perhaps desirability is being conflated with achievability.

I had the same thought. The idea that students pining for admission to Yale would engage in "eye rolling" about Harvard -- not authentic enough, perhaps? emblematic of grasping for status? -- is downright silly. But, high school and college aged kids can be silly and opinionated in strange ways, as can their parents, so perhaps at Sidwell people do roll their eyes at the mention of Harvard. Hopefully they also sniff, turn aside the hem of their garments, eye it askance, and otherwise bring in the full array of body language to express their contempt for it!

Yes, there is eye-rolling about Harvard. My own DC refused to tour Harvard even though we were in Boston to see other colleges. Before anybody starts in on how DC probably knew he or she had no chance at Harvard (because somebody WILL say this), DC got into a different university that takes 6-7% of its 30k+ applicants.

Why the eye rolling? Probably because of what you said - perceived as being emblematic of status-grasping and maybe not authentic. Of course, I wouldn't rule out a dash of insecurity about the eye-rollers' chances of getting iN.

I guess the bolded part of your statement applies to everyone, but your DC of course.

[Anonymous]

Wow. Heard a rumor that the current Yale count at Sidwell is 10 accepted ED. True?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:how did Sidwell's seniors do at Harvard and Stanford? where do Sidwell's top kids want to go? I've heard that Yale is considered more desirable at Sidwell. is that the case?

Yale is stronger for humanities than STEM. Many bright people who are better in the humanities than in STEM subjects become lawyers, so there are lots of Yale legacies in the area. Also, local independent schools are stronger in the humanities, while local public schools are stronger for STEM. Humanities kids often like Yale, STEM kids often prefer Harvard, Princeton, MIT or Stanford.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:how did Sidwell's seniors do at Harvard and Stanford? where do Sidwell's top kids want to go? I've heard that Yale is considered more desirable at Sidwell. is that the case?

Yale is stronger for humanities than STEM. Many bright people who are better in the humanities than in STEM subjects become lawyers, so there are lots of Yale legacies in the area. Also, local independent schools are stronger in the humanities, while local public schools are stronger for STEM. Humanities kids often like Yale, STEM kids often prefer Harvard, Princeton, MIT or Stanford.

Or University of Chicago, Caltech, or Berkeley.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:how did Sidwell's seniors do at Harvard and Stanford? where do Sidwell's top kids want to go? I've heard that Yale is considered more desirable at Sidwell. is that the case?

Yale is considered more desirable in many area high schools, including among public school kids I know. I know, 35,000 kids apply to Harvard every year. But for some kids at least, Harvard elicits eye-rolling, and I say this as a parent who thinks it's a great school for many subjects.

Really, eye rolling? What crowd do you hang with where people look down their noses at Harvard? Perhaps desirability is being conflated with achievability.

I had the same thought. The idea that students pining for admission to Yale would engage in "eye rolling" about Harvard -- not authentic enough, perhaps? emblematic of grasping for status? -- is downright silly. But, high school and college aged kids can be silly and opinionated in strange ways, as can their parents, so perhaps at Sidwell people do roll their eyes at the mention of Harvard. Hopefully they also sniff, turn aside the hem of their garments, eye it askance, and otherwise bring in the full array of body language to express their contempt for it!

Yes, there is eye-rolling about Harvard. My own DC refused to tour Harvard even though we were in Boston to see other colleges. Before anybody starts in on how DC probably knew he or she had no chance at Harvard (because somebody WILL say this), DC got into a different university that takes 6-7% of its 30k+ applicants.

Why the eye rolling? Probably because of what you said - perceived as being emblematic of status-grasping and maybe not authentic. Of course, I wouldn't rule out a dash of insecurity about the eye-rollers' chances of getting iN.

I guess the bolded part of your statement applies to everyone, but your DC of course.

Immediate PP, you sound like a real peach! What about this discussion gets you so upset?

[Anonymous]

I think "eye rolling" might be a bit melodramatic, but I've met several people who were interested in applying to Yale and not Harvard. For one thing, more of Yale's graduate programs (chemistry, molecular biology, math, business, economics, etc.) are top tier, as in top 10 or top 20, but not #1-5 in the field compared to Harvard. There are also less than half the number of total graduate students at Yale compared to Harvard--there are 6,000 grad students at Yale, compared to 14,000 at Harvard. This means to some that there appears to be more focus on undergraduate education at Yale, while still providing access to a top notch research university. Since a lot of the time, the more hot shot the professor, the less interaction they have with undergrads, having fewer completely powerhouse graduate programs is not necessarily a bad thing for one's undergraduate institution.

There are other aspects like the intangible fit of the campus for the individual student. But I can totally see why one might prefer the overall vibe of undergrad at Yale vs. Harvard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think "eye rolling" might be a bit melodramatic, but I've met several people who were interested in applying to Yale and not Harvard. For one thing, more of Yale's graduate programs (chemistry, molecular biology, math, business, economics, etc.) are top tier, as in top 10 or top 20, but not #1-5 in the field compared to Harvard. There are also less than half the number of total graduate students at Yale compared to Harvard--there are 6,000 grad students at Yale, compared to 14,000 at Harvard. This means to some that there appears to be more focus on undergraduate education at Yale, while still providing access to a top notch research university. Since a lot of the time, the more hot shot the professor, the less interaction they have with undergrads, having fewer completely powerhouse graduate programs is not necessarily a bad thing for one's undergraduate institution.

There are other aspects like the intangible fit of the campus for the individual student. But I can totally see why one might prefer the overall vibe of undergrad at Yale vs. Harvard.

I agree with your analysis of the schools, but that leaves out the fact that New Haven is a pit and unfortunately Yale is surrounded by a cesspool of violent crime.