Big 3 College Placement 2018-19 Cycle

[Anonymous]

Do you think Sidwell is in any way unique for raising tuition every year?

[Anonymous]

Has any private school around here kept its tuition exactly the same in recent memory?

[Anonymous]

The ones whose endowments took advantage of the long bull market.

[Anonymous]

And those schools would be...?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And worked with the kids and families every single week to make sure deadlines were met, calls were made, and that business was handled. That the office took a few days off to celebrate the holidays with their families was expected, encouraged and understood. Someone is giving themselves away with their “my sweet DC didn’t get in ED so I’m going to bash the office on an anonymous website” shtick. Please stop. You’re embarrassing yourself.

We love Sidwell Friends, but unfortunately the CCO has become a weak link, and it does the students and the school no good just to chug the Kool-Aid and say everything is great. The CCO is undersized, under-resourced and not always following best practices compared to peer schools. Some staff just aren’t bringing their A-game. Sidwell needs to put focus and attention on this.

What best practices are they missing?

[Anonymous]

Different poster, but good question. There is a lot of carping, but very little detail. It can't just be "results should have been better" -- otherwise, that's just a sense of unjustified entitlement.

Stated differently, put up or shut up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Especially when they keep raising tuition every year. Eventually this will catch up to sidwell and they will find themselves with subpar students. Seriously. Get your act together Mr Garman.

Name a private school that hasn't raised its tuition every year.

[Anonymous]

“My precious DC didn’t get into Yale, so it must be the CCO’s fault...”

[Anonymous]

At StA CC works with the 9th Graders --- that seems to help

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At StA CC works with the 9th Graders --- that seems to help

Certain schools start early with general guidance about what to take to position for college. Some schools even have a dedicated staff member for the junior class. Most seem to have at least a skletetal presence in the college counseling office and available by phone or email in the week before the Jan. 1 general application date.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At StA CC works with the 9th Graders --- that seems to help

At Sidwell, they just tell the kids to work hard and develop passions. They don't start any formal process in earnest until jr year, but they do have a bunch of informational sessions to talk about timing and process. I think the program is fine. There are just a handful of parents who are whacked out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At StA CC works with the 9th Graders --- that seems to help

At Sidwell, they just tell the kids to work hard and develop passions. They don't start any formal process in earnest until jr year, but they do have a bunch of informational sessions to talk about timing and process. I think the program is fine. There are just a handful of parents who are whacked out.

At least 1/3 of the parents are whacked out, those who feel their kids got the short end of the stick with one particular assigned counselor. I would certainly agree that overall the office needs at least one more counselor (an experienced, competent one naturally) and better engagement with the juniors because so many kids have to decide early with ED-EA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At StA CC works with the 9th Graders --- that seems to help

How many StA seniors does each college counselor have ?

[Anonymous]

Can we agree that the college counselors cannot be held accountable to get every kid into their top choice school? Let’s get real people. I understand why you feel entitled after 4 years of private tuition...that it somehow entitles you to get the college golden ticket, but it just doesn’t work that way.

[Anonymous]

No one has shared exactly what they are upset about. What didn’t the counselor do that you think would have changed your child’s college outcome?