Getting into St. Albans

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I believe the Beauvoir boys have heard back. I know of at least one disappointed and now desperate DCU-Beauvoir M feverishly filling out applications to other schools as it looks like DS did not quite make the grade.

Lucky he. It sounds like it might not have been the right place for him--even the most ardent STA booster would admit that there are many smart and talented boys who would do better in a different environment--and it seems his parents would have sent him there had he been accepted. Why the catty response to what is quite possibly a good thing for the child in question? (Of course, there's an alternative explanation for his rejection, which is that STA would have been fine for him and the school made an error in turning him down, but then your reaction is even harder to comprehend, as it amounts to taking pleasure in someone having suffered an accident.)

Having had kids at Beauvoir myself, I know several Beauvoir boys who were accepted to STA but went elsewhere because their parents thought another school was a better fit, some whose parents decided not even to apply to STA because they sensed it wasn't right for their son, and a few who applied to STA and were turned down. As far as I know, all of them are happy where they are now. So I expect the child you are reporting on will be a happy fourth grader next year, too, even if his parents will go through some anxious moments between now and late March.

(NB: To avoid the risk that this post will be misinterpreted, allow me to clarify that this is not a complaint about STA: I also know very many boys who went on to STA, and nearly all of them seem to be quite happy there, too. Believing that STA is not the best school for every smart and talented boy does not mean that it is not the best place for any of them.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I believe the Beauvoir boys have heard back. I know of at least one disappointed and now desperate DCU-Beauvoir M feverishly filling out applications to other schools as it looks like DS did not quite make the grade.

Lucky he. It sounds like it might not have been the right place for him--even the most ardent STA booster would admit that there are many smart and talented boys who would do better in a different environment--and it seems his parents would have sent him there had he been accepted. Why the catty response to what is quite possibly a good thing for the child in question? (Of course, there's an alternative explanation for his rejection, which is that STA would have been fine for him and the school made an error in turning him down, but then your reaction is even harder to comprehend, as it amounts to taking pleasure in someone having suffered an accident.)

Having had kids at Beauvoir myself, I know several Beauvoir boys who were accepted to STA but went elsewhere because their parents thought another school was a better fit, some whose parents decided not even to apply to STA because they sensed it wasn't right for their son, and a few who applied to STA and were turned down. As far as I know, all of them are happy where they are now. So I expect the child you are reporting on will be a happy fourth grader next year, too, even if his parents will go through some anxious moments between now and late March.

(NB: To avoid the risk that this post will be misinterpreted, allow me to clarify that this is not a complaint about STA: I also know very many boys who went on to STA, and nearly all of them seem to be quite happy there, too. Believing that STA is not the best school for every smart and talented boy does not mean that it is not the best place for any of them.)

11:28, I'd appreciate it if you could expand on your statement that "nearly all of them seem to be quite happy." Are the few that do not seem to be happy that way because of academics, the emphasis on sports, or something else?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

11:28, I'd appreciate it if you could expand on your statement that "nearly all of them seem to be quite happy." Are the few that do not seem to be happy that way because of academics, the emphasis on sports, or something else?

While I appreciate your interest, I really don't to get drawn into a discussion of why there are some kids at STA who may not be very happy there. I think that every school has some kids in it who aren't as happy there as they might be someplace else, for reasons that are probably many and varied. That's just an unfortunate fact of life. The purpose of my post was to take issue with the nasty post about the kid who didn't get into STA, and not to critique STA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow - the infighting among the parents make it seem like a lovely school. Hopefully the boys aren't this vicious.

The apple, I'm afraid, generally doesn't fall far from the tree . . . .

[Anonymous]

And the sour grapes are easy to spot as well...

[Anonymous]

Time to make lemon-aid out of lemons.

So how many Beauvoir boys did not hear good news from STA recently? In other words, how many slots are left for the serfs to fight over.

[Anonymous]

As a relatively recent St. Albans graduate who spent all nine years there, I can't believe the ridiculousness of some of these posts. Let me know if you have any questions or anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Time to make lemon-aid out of lemons.

So how many Beauvoir boys did not hear good news from STA recently? In other words, how many slots are left for the serfs to fight over.

Although you might not have meant it that way, your post assumes that the only Beauvoir boys who don't go to STA are the ones who didn't get in. As a PP has noted, that is not the case: some don't apply, and some of those who are admitted forfeit their deposits decline the acceptance later in the year, when they hear from their first choice school.

In a typical year, about 2/3 or so of the Beauvoir boys wind up enrolling at STA. I imagine there's some year-to-year variation, but it's as good a number to start with as any. So figure that means about 25 or 26 Beauvoir boys will go to STA. If you know how large the 4th grade class is at STA, and can estimate the yield (the percentage of admitted kids non-Beauvoir kids who will actually enroll--some of these kids will get into more than one school and will say no to STA) you can get a rough estimate of how many kids will be accepted.

My sense is relatively few of them are serfs. Most of the manors around DC have been turned into housing developments.

[Anonymous]

I thought that DC overachievers stopped competing for status prizes when grad school, clerkships, and the partner / tenure track ended. Sad to hear that the kids get thrown into the horse race so soon.

"Sour grapes" among parents? School is for the kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a relatively recent St. Albans graduate who spent all nine years there, I can't believe the ridiculousness of some of these posts. Let me know if you have any questions or anything.

Well, you can start by telling us how you found the experience . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Time to make lemon-aid out of lemons.

So how many Beauvoir boys did not hear good news from STA recently? In other words, how many slots are left for the serfs to fight over.

Although you might not have meant it that way, your post assumes that the only Beauvoir boys who don't go to STA are the ones who didn't get in. As a PP has noted, that is not the case: some don't apply, and some of those who are admitted forfeit their deposits decline the acceptance later in the year, when they hear from their first choice school.

In a typical year, about 2/3 or so of the Beauvoir boys wind up enrolling at STA. I imagine there's some year-to-year variation, but it's as good a number to start with as any. So figure that means about 25 or 26 Beauvoir boys will go to STA. If you know how large the 4th grade class is at STA, and can estimate the yield (the percentage of admitted kids non-Beauvoir kids who will actually enroll--some of these kids will get into more than one school and will say no to STA) you can get a rough estimate of how many kids will be accepted.

My sense is relatively few of them are serfs. Most of the manors around DC have been turned into housing developments.

The Beauvoir graduating class usually has approximately 80 students not 40.

[Anonymous]

Half of them are girls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought that DC overachievers stopped competing for status prizes when grad school, clerkships, and the partner / tenure track ended. Sad to hear that the kids get thrown into the horse race so soon.

"Sour grapes" among parents? School is for the kids.

Well since you're the one making all the fruity jokes, just where do you fall? Parent? Kid? Maybe not either?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought that DC overachievers stopped competing for status prizes when grad school, clerkships, and the partner / tenure track ended. Sad to hear that the kids get thrown into the horse race so soon.

"Sour grapes" among parents? School is for the kids.

Well since you're the one making all the fruity jokes, just where do you fall? Parent? Kid? Maybe not either?

Not a fruity joke at all. I'm a parent who doesn't think that my kid's academic career is something to snipe at other parents about. It's for the child. Honestly, this thread and others like it has been very helpful in showing me what I don't want to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Half of them are girls.

my mistake