GDS - Wow!

[Anonymous]

GDS college counseling should get a huge raise every year. They by far place all the kids in great colleges. Even the colleges some on this thread got snarky about have a special program that is harder to get into than the said college as a whole. I have talked to families from GDS and it seems everyone feels heard and seems no drama at all.

[Anonymous]

A friend with a current senior at GDS cannot stop complaining about the lack of support from the CC office. But their child got into a good school. Maybe they just like to complain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:GDS college counseling should get a huge raise every year. They by far place all the kids in great colleges. Even the colleges some on this thread got snarky about have a special program that is harder to get into than the said college as a whole. I have talked to families from GDS and it seems everyone feels heard and seems no drama at all.

Some thoughts on this. There has been drama and there are still weak points, but this academic year has been better than the recent past.
The newest college counselor is excellent, by all accounts.
Families don't have direct access to SCOIR data -- everything is mediated through the CCO.
The AP fiasco will have repercussions for this year's junior class. I would not be surprised, given the direction that Dartmouth and others are heading, if GDS's attitude towards national testing (APs, ACTs, SATSs) will be reassessed. The CCO has been eager to ditch the importance of testing, but now that the data is suggesting that the lack of testing actually may hurt diversity efforts, testing will hopefully be emphasized again.
Many GDS families hire a private counselor and keep it on the DL.
Many GDS families hire a tutor for SAT/ACT testing.
GDS has a disproportionately high percentages of parents who are alum at competitive colleges and who are also full pay.
The overall curriculum at GDS aligns well with the current trend of colleges wanting "pointy" kids. Students are encouraged to nurture their unique interests rather than be excellent at everything. (GDS students still need to be solid across the board, but not geniuses in science, literature, sports, and the arts, for ex.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GDS college counseling should get a huge raise every year. They by far place all the kids in great colleges. Even the colleges some on this thread got snarky about have a special program that is harder to get into than the said college as a whole. I have talked to families from GDS and it seems everyone feels heard and seems no drama at all.

Some thoughts on this. There has been drama and there are still weak points, but this academic year has been better than the recent past.
The newest college counselor is excellent, by all accounts.
Families don't have direct access to SCOIR data -- everything is mediated through the CCO.
The AP fiasco will have repercussions for this year's junior class. I would not be surprised, given the direction that Dartmouth and others are heading, if GDS's attitude towards national testing (APs, ACTs, SATSs) will be reassessed. The CCO has been eager to ditch the importance of testing, but now that the data is suggesting that the lack of testing actually may hurt diversity efforts, testing will hopefully be emphasized again.
Many GDS families hire a private counselor and keep it on the DL.
Many GDS families hire a tutor for SAT/ACT testing.
GDS has a disproportionately high percentages of parents who are alum at competitive colleges and who are also full pay.
The overall curriculum at GDS aligns well with the current trend of colleges wanting "pointy" kids. Students are encouraged to nurture their unique interests rather than be excellent at everything. (GDS students still need to be solid across the board, but not geniuses in science, literature, sports, and the arts, for ex.)

What's the AP fiasco? Our DCs used to be @ GDS, but are now at another private in another metro area. Their new school does not offer APs, hasn't for years, and doesn't seem an issue for college placements.

Their new school also doesn't offer ANY access to Naviance/SCOIR data to either students or parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Now that the initial ED rush has settled, the last few admits look decidedly unimpressive: CU Boulder, Denison, Syracuse, Brandeis. The public that admits almost everyone who can smoke weed, and private universities where the wealthy park their offspring for a degree.

Many, not all, but many of these kinds of posts are written by folks who've been out of the admissions world for awhile or do not yet have kids in HS and really do not grasp how much more difficult it is for Larlo and Larla to get into their HYPSM when their family hasn't built a wing or raised a building from scratch.

And it is just kind of sad, PP, that you came on here to write this. Do your kids hear you say this? If so, GL to them.

Disagree. These posts are written by straight up a$$holes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GDS college counseling should get a huge raise every year. They by far place all the kids in great colleges. Even the colleges some on this thread got snarky about have a special program that is harder to get into than the said college as a whole. I have talked to families from GDS and it seems everyone feels heard and seems no drama at all.

Some thoughts on this. There has been drama and there are still weak points, but this academic year has been better than the recent past.
The newest college counselor is excellent, by all accounts.
Families don't have direct access to SCOIR data -- everything is mediated through the CCO.
The AP fiasco will have repercussions for this year's junior class. I would not be surprised, given the direction that Dartmouth and others are heading, if GDS's attitude towards national testing (APs, ACTs, SATSs) will be reassessed. The CCO has been eager to ditch the importance of testing, but now that the data is suggesting that the lack of testing actually may hurt diversity efforts, testing will hopefully be emphasized again.
Many GDS families hire a private counselor and keep it on the DL.
Many GDS families hire a tutor for SAT/ACT testing.
GDS has a disproportionately high percentages of parents who are alum at competitive colleges and who are also full pay.
The overall curriculum at GDS aligns well with the current trend of colleges wanting "pointy" kids. Students are encouraged to nurture their unique interests rather than be excellent at everything. (GDS students still need to be solid across the board, but not geniuses in science, literature, sports, and the arts, for ex.)

What's the AP fiasco? Our DCs used to be @ GDS, but are now at another private in another metro area. Their new school does not offer APs, hasn't for years, and doesn't seem an issue for college placements.

Their new school also doesn't offer ANY access to Naviance/SCOIR data to either students or parents.

GDS does not offer AP testing on campus anymore. Students have been scrambling to find places to take AP tests.
This may not be an issue for you, but many GDS students apply to colleges in the UK that require a minimum number of AP tests (with scores in the 4-5 range) to apply.

[Anonymous]

As a current parent I can say that the GDS college counseling is fine, but not stellar. There are some areas of rigidity that can be baffling. It hit us hard that the same few safeties were suggested for a huge number of kids. It did not seem personalized at all. They didn’t try to steer kids toward thinking seriously about fit, and pros and cons of different types of schools. Rather it was Syracuse, Boulder, VT, Pitt for almost all relatively good students who needed safeties on their list. Wisconsin as a target for the same kids. There are so many excellent schools out there for all types of kids. Kids needed those private consultants to tease out other options. (Obvious equity issues here.) GDS counseling wants to just make sure every kid lands somewhere which is a laudable goal, but it is crazy jarring when good students are heavily dissuaded from applying more broadly. This dissatisfaction also ties into the rule that all kids only apply to 10-12, with a large number of safeties. We all know this is a numbers game. This strategy sends a lot of really good students to sub-standard schools (compared with where they could end up if they had the freedom to apply out more broadly

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GDS college counseling should get a huge raise every year. They by far place all the kids in great colleges. Even the colleges some on this thread got snarky about have a special program that is harder to get into than the said college as a whole. I have talked to families from GDS and it seems everyone feels heard and seems no drama at all.

Some thoughts on this. There has been drama and there are still weak points, but this academic year has been better than the recent past.
The newest college counselor is excellent, by all accounts.
Families don't have direct access to SCOIR data -- everything is mediated through the CCO.
The AP fiasco will have repercussions for this year's junior class. I would not be surprised, given the direction that Dartmouth and others are heading, if GDS's attitude towards national testing (APs, ACTs, SATSs) will be reassessed. The CCO has been eager to ditch the importance of testing, but now that the data is suggesting that the lack of testing actually may hurt diversity efforts, testing will hopefully be emphasized again.
Many GDS families hire a private counselor and keep it on the DL.
Many GDS families hire a tutor for SAT/ACT testing.
GDS has a disproportionately high percentages of parents who are alum at competitive colleges and who are also full pay.
The overall curriculum at GDS aligns well with the current trend of colleges wanting "pointy" kids. Students are encouraged to nurture their unique interests rather than be excellent at everything. (GDS students still need to be solid across the board, but not geniuses in science, literature, sports, and the arts, for ex.)

What's the AP fiasco? Our DCs used to be @ GDS, but are now at another private in another metro area. Their new school does not offer APs, hasn't for years, and doesn't seem an issue for college placements.

Their new school also doesn't offer ANY access to Naviance/SCOIR data to either students or parents.

GDS does not offer AP testing on campus anymore. Students have been scrambling to find places to take AP tests.
This may not be an issue for you, but many GDS students apply to colleges in the UK that require a minimum number of AP tests (with scores in the 4-5 range) to apply.

Many? What's the threshold for many? IDK any of their GDS friends or friends of friends who are studying in the UK. Yeah, some in Canada, but not UK.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a current parent I can say that the GDS college counseling is fine, but not stellar. There are some areas of rigidity that can be baffling. It hit us hard that the same few safeties were suggested for a huge number of kids. It did not seem personalized at all. They didn’t try to steer kids toward thinking seriously about fit, and pros and cons of different types of schools. Rather it was Syracuse, Boulder, VT, Pitt for almost all relatively good students who needed safeties on their list. Wisconsin as a target for the same kids. There are so many excellent schools out there for all types of kids. Kids needed those private consultants to tease out other options. (Obvious equity issues here.) GDS counseling wants to just make sure every kid lands somewhere which is a laudable goal, but it is crazy jarring when good students are heavily dissuaded from applying more broadly. This dissatisfaction also ties into the rule that all kids only apply to 10-12, with a large number of safeties. We all know this is a numbers game. This strategy sends a lot of really good students to sub-standard schools (compared with where they could end up if they had the freedom to apply out more broadly

Are you able to provide more details here? What are the sub-standard schools? Where might they have ended up?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are the sub-standard schools? Where might they have ended up?

Yeah, without any specifics, I call BS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GDS college counseling should get a huge raise every year. They by far place all the kids in great colleges. Even the colleges some on this thread got snarky about have a special program that is harder to get into than the said college as a whole. I have talked to families from GDS and it seems everyone feels heard and seems no drama at all.

Some thoughts on this. There has been drama and there are still weak points, but this academic year has been better than the recent past.
The newest college counselor is excellent, by all accounts.
Families don't have direct access to SCOIR data -- everything is mediated through the CCO.
The AP fiasco will have repercussions for this year's junior class. I would not be surprised, given the direction that Dartmouth and others are heading, if GDS's attitude towards national testing (APs, ACTs, SATSs) will be reassessed. The CCO has been eager to ditch the importance of testing, but now that the data is suggesting that the lack of testing actually may hurt diversity efforts, testing will hopefully be emphasized again.
Many GDS families hire a private counselor and keep it on the DL.
Many GDS families hire a tutor for SAT/ACT testing.
GDS has a disproportionately high percentages of parents who are alum at competitive colleges and who are also full pay.
The overall curriculum at GDS aligns well with the current trend of colleges wanting "pointy" kids. Students are encouraged to nurture their unique interests rather than be excellent at everything. (GDS students still need to be solid across the board, but not geniuses in science, literature, sports, and the arts, for ex.)

What's the AP fiasco? Our DCs used to be @ GDS, but are now at another private in another metro area. Their new school does not offer APs, hasn't for years, and doesn't seem an issue for college placements.

Their new school also doesn't offer ANY access to Naviance/SCOIR data to either students or parents.

GDS does not offer AP testing on campus anymore. Students have been scrambling to find places to take AP tests.
This may not be an issue for you, but many GDS students apply to colleges in the UK that require a minimum number of AP tests (with scores in the 4-5 range) to apply.

Many? What's the threshold for many? IDK any of their GDS friends or friends of friends who are studying in the UK. Yeah, some in Canada, but not UK.

GDS, and many of the other area privates send a sprinking of kids to St. Andrews routinely now, and you see some other UK or Irish schools as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the sub-standard schools? Where might they have ended up?

Yeah, without any specifics, I call BS.

Sub standard schools = one the parents can’t brag about in social circles

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the sub-standard schools? Where might they have ended up?

Yeah, without any specifics, I call BS.

Sub standard schools = one the parents can’t brag about in social circles

No. It’s the 3.85 pointy kid and a 34 ending up at Wisconsin.
Not ideal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the sub-standard schools? Where might they have ended up?

Yeah, without any specifics, I call BS.

Sub standard schools = one the parents can’t brag about in social circles

No. It’s the 3.85 pointy kid and a 34 ending up at Wisconsin.
Not ideal.

I’m a NP btw

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a current parent I can say that the GDS college counseling is fine, but not stellar. There are some areas of rigidity that can be baffling. It hit us hard that the same few safeties were suggested for a huge number of kids. It did not seem personalized at all. They didn’t try to steer kids toward thinking seriously about fit, and pros and cons of different types of schools. Rather it was Syracuse, Boulder, VT, Pitt for almost all relatively good students who needed safeties on their list. Wisconsin as a target for the same kids. There are so many excellent schools out there for all types of kids. Kids needed those private consultants to tease out other options. (Obvious equity issues here.) GDS counseling wants to just make sure every kid lands somewhere which is a laudable goal, but it is crazy jarring when good students are heavily dissuaded from applying more broadly. This dissatisfaction also ties into the rule that all kids only apply to 10-12, with a large number of safeties. We all know this is a numbers game. This strategy sends a lot of really good students to sub-standard schools (compared with where they could end up if they had the freedom to apply out more broadly

Are you able to provide more details here? What are the sub-standard schools? Where might they have ended up?

It's very specific to the individual. One kid's "substandard" may be another kid's reach. I was making the point more broadly that the limitations imposed on the number of reaches/targets a kid can apply to can be very very limiting, and can send some kids to schools that are well below what they might have been able to get into if they had the freedom to apply to more reaches. The reaches/targets being suggested are also the same ones for so many, that it can't possibly be well thought out for the individual kid. Usually they are large schools with high acceptance rates. We were hoping for more thoughtful choices presented to us. There are many great schools that would have qualified as safeties for our kid (and been a better fit for them) that wasn't VT, Boulder, Syracuse, etc. Our kid is a good student - not top of the class - but really driven academically. We don't want to see them at a large school where most kids are not that driven, attention from profs is a scarce commodity etc.