Do parents choose Latin/BASIS over Deal/J-R?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Latin vs. DCI debate is kind of silly. Latin (and BASIS) is mostly full of kids who went through DCPS elementary schools (happily) and chose not to lottery into the DCI feeders. I'm happy DCI is working out for those families, but the need to insult Latin makes no sense. Very few families are actively making that choice in 5th/6th grade -- it's done. The choice was made much, much earlier. They are choosing between Latin, BASIS, privates or moving to the Deal/Hardy zone.

Agree. We unsuccessfully tried to lottery our kids into what are now called DCI feeders for years. But at some point, we stopped because a native English speaker joining an immersion program from a non-immersion program from about third grade on makes no sense. We never tried for DCI because we weren’t coming from immersion or a feeder. We did throw our hat in for Latin, BASIS because there was no language immersion hurdle.

Incorrect. You can attend DCI with no language background.

Also many CH BTW try to lottery into 6th if they strike out in 5th

How can you get into DCI without coming from a feeder?

Why would you?

There are spots for non-feeders but less each year as the school continues to get better every year and most feeder kids track. No chance to get in for spanish track but you have a chance for French or Chinese. They have language 101 classes for these kids.

Doing well in an IB diploma absolutely makes you stand out among the dime a dozen kids doing AP courses. It also gives you so much more flexibility in college options abroad where IB is the accepted. BTW good abroad programs are much, much less expensive then in the states. Lastly, there is a heavy focus on writing in addition to mini-thesis requirement, and these kids typically are much stronger writers.

Also they multiple levels of math tracking with the highest basically taking AP Calculus in 10th and post Calculus math for 11th and 12th with 2 different levels in each class - standard and high level.

I have looked, but I have yet to find, a college or university math department that gives post-calculus credit for any score on any IB math exam. Most seem to treat even HL IB math as equivalent to AP Calc AB. And few give any credit at all for SL IB math.

That doesn’t mean IB math is bad. It might be beneficial for students who accelerated young to repeat basic algebra and calculus concepts in a different format. IB math seems to be an adequate substitute for AP math if you have to pick one. And IB math allows you to get an IB diploma. But if you actually want “post-calculus” math, you should be looking at dual enrollment in actual post-calculus math courses, not messing around with IB.

I think, going forward, universities are just going to be less likely grant credit for AP math classes and more likely to just let you take a more advanced class. This is already true for BC where, if you want to be a math major or engineering, you tend to get put into a more advanced multi variate rather than get a pass out of multi variate. Universities just can’t trust the training, and an AP score isn’t necessary and sufficient to assume kids don’t have something foundational and important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Latin vs. DCI debate is kind of silly. Latin (and BASIS) is mostly full of kids who went through DCPS elementary schools (happily) and chose not to lottery into the DCI feeders. I'm happy DCI is working out for those families, but the need to insult Latin makes no sense. Very few families are actively making that choice in 5th/6th grade -- it's done. The choice was made much, much earlier. They are choosing between Latin, BASIS, privates or moving to the Deal/Hardy zone.

Agree. We unsuccessfully tried to lottery our kids into what are now called DCI feeders for years. But at some point, we stopped because a native English speaker joining an immersion program from a non-immersion program from about third grade on makes no sense. We never tried for DCI because we weren’t coming from immersion or a feeder. We did throw our hat in for Latin, BASIS because there was no language immersion hurdle.

Incorrect. You can attend DCI with no language background.

Also many CH BTW try to lottery into 6th if they strike out in 5th

How can you get into DCI without coming from a feeder?

Why would you?

There are spots for non-feeders but less each year as the school continues to get better every year and most feeder kids track. No chance to get in for spanish track but you have a chance for French or Chinese. They have language 101 classes for these kids.

Doing well in an IB diploma absolutely makes you stand out among the dime a dozen kids doing AP courses. It also gives you so much more flexibility in college options abroad where IB is the accepted. BTW good abroad programs are much, much less expensive then in the states. Lastly, there is a heavy focus on writing in addition to mini-thesis requirement, and these kids typically are much stronger writers.

Also they multiple levels of math tracking with the highest basically taking AP Calculus in 10th and post Calculus math for 11th and 12th with 2 different levels in each class - standard and high level.

I have looked, but I have yet to find, a college or university math department that gives post-calculus credit for any score on any IB math exam. Most seem to treat even HL IB math as equivalent to AP Calc AB. And few give any credit at all for SL IB math.

That doesn’t mean IB math is bad. It might be beneficial for students who accelerated young to repeat basic algebra and calculus concepts in a different format. IB math seems to be an adequate substitute for AP math if you have to pick one. And IB math allows you to get an IB diploma. But if you actually want “post-calculus” math, you should be looking at dual enrollment in actual post-calculus math courses, not messing around with IB.

I think, going forward, universities are just going to be less likely grant credit for AP math classes and more likely to just let you take a more advanced class. This is already true for BC where, if you want to be a math major or engineering, you tend to get put into a more advanced multi variate rather than get a pass out of multi variate. Universities just can’t trust the training, and an AP score isn’t necessary and sufficient to assume kids don’t have something foundational and important.

Why would Calc BC get you out of a college multivariable class?

Nearly every college in the US gives AP Credit for Calc BC. Only 8 colleges do not. Even MIT allows you to skip their introductory calculus classes if you have a 5 on the Calc BC test...but of course they don't allow to skip the multivariable calc class (though I believe you can sit for a placement test that they administer and get out of it).

Most colleges only require you take math through the equivalent of Pre-Calc if you don't plan to pursue a quantitative major.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Latin vs. DCI debate is kind of silly. Latin (and BASIS) is mostly full of kids who went through DCPS elementary schools (happily) and chose not to lottery into the DCI feeders. I'm happy DCI is working out for those families, but the need to insult Latin makes no sense. Very few families are actively making that choice in 5th/6th grade -- it's done. The choice was made much, much earlier. They are choosing between Latin, BASIS, privates or moving to the Deal/Hardy zone.

Agree. We unsuccessfully tried to lottery our kids into what are now called DCI feeders for years. But at some point, we stopped because a native English speaker joining an immersion program from a non-immersion program from about third grade on makes no sense. We never tried for DCI because we weren’t coming from immersion or a feeder. We did throw our hat in for Latin, BASIS because there was no language immersion hurdle.

Incorrect. You can attend DCI with no language background.

Also many CH BTW try to lottery into 6th if they strike out in 5th

How can you get into DCI without coming from a feeder?

Why would you?

There are spots for non-feeders but less each year as the school continues to get better every year and most feeder kids track. No chance to get in for spanish track but you have a chance for French or Chinese. They have language 101 classes for these kids.

Doing well in an IB diploma absolutely makes you stand out among the dime a dozen kids doing AP courses. It also gives you so much more flexibility in college options abroad where IB is the accepted. BTW good abroad programs are much, much less expensive then in the states. Lastly, there is a heavy focus on writing in addition to mini-thesis requirement, and these kids typically are much stronger writers.

Do students starting with French or Chinese 101 take all their other classes in English?

Yes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, but the fact remains that these aren't great options as compared to the best options in the near burbs, not even close.

Our family keeps in close touch with friends who moved from Cap Hill to MoCo, Arlington and Fairfax for schools. We also visit their kids' schools now and again for sporting events, competitions, high school musicals and the like.

It's clear to me that none of our public high school options in the District--BASIS, Latin, DCI, Walls, J-R--can touch these suburban programs on any level. Top suburban schools might as well be on a different planet. If you never tour suburban schools and aren't familiar with their offerings, this fact may be lost on you. I'm particularly jealous of honors middle school classes across the board in Arlington and Fairfax.

I've been shown printouts from suburban high schools listing more than 100 serious sounding electives any student can take. None of you ask yourselves how BASIS, Latin, DCI, J-R and Walls compare because....moving to the burbs for high school is a fate worse than death or what?

Whoever wrote this knows nothing about J-R.

I don’t doubt some suburban schools have more electives…but that’s a small consideration in selecting a high school.

For kids taking rigorous, 10+ AP schedules plus PE, art and music requirements…there aren’t many slots left for electives. There are really no slots if you are in a JR academy like engineering as you are essentially taking those classes as electives.

This post makes no sense. The suburbs seldom have art or music requirements in HS, and not much in the way of PE/Health either. No student needs to take 10 AP classes anywhere, no matter how ambitious they may be on the college admissions front. In the burbs, students can often meet PE requirements on-line or over summers. The burbs don't just offer dozens of serious electives, but feeder middle schools with strong academics/honors classes, better trained teachers overall, more STEM classes, more and languages (e.g. HS Russian, Korean, Japanese, Hebrew, Portuguese, Hindi etc). They also offer high-performing IB Diploma programs that don't operate as IB for all like at DCI. The burbs offer far richer opportunities for a kid to shine in running with their interests, without parents have to pay out of pocket.

We didn't make it through Deal. The teaching was far too uneven, most classes weren't hard enough, and the building was much too chaotic. We got into BASIS and, on close inspection, weren't impressed. If you don't want to move to the burbs, fine, but you're not going to convince me that public schools are....better here.

Wow, it’s amazing that your kid managed to start at Deal and transfer to BASIS, considering how BASIS never admits anyone after 5th grade, and Deal doesn’t start until 6th.

That's not what PP claimed. They must have lotteried into BASIS from the Deal district for 5th grade but didn't take the spot. Same for us, we considered BASIS because our eldest was bored in a Deal feeder, but the building was just too awful. We're at a parochial school for middle school, a stretch for us financially, hoping for Walls.

Not like the Walls building and “campus” is so great either. Plus, getting into Walls nowadays is a total crapshoot given the stupid admissions requirements.

Enjoy paying for Catholic school through graduation. ✝️

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Latin vs. DCI debate is kind of silly. Latin (and BASIS) is mostly full of kids who went through DCPS elementary schools (happily) and chose not to lottery into the DCI feeders. I'm happy DCI is working out for those families, but the need to insult Latin makes no sense. Very few families are actively making that choice in 5th/6th grade -- it's done. The choice was made much, much earlier. They are choosing between Latin, BASIS, privates or moving to the Deal/Hardy zone.

Agree. We unsuccessfully tried to lottery our kids into what are now called DCI feeders for years. But at some point, we stopped because a native English speaker joining an immersion program from a non-immersion program from about third grade on makes no sense. We never tried for DCI because we weren’t coming from immersion or a feeder. We did throw our hat in for Latin, BASIS because there was no language immersion hurdle.

Incorrect. You can attend DCI with no language background.

Also many CH BTW try to lottery into 6th if they strike out in 5th

How can you get into DCI without coming from a feeder?

Why would you?

There are spots for non-feeders but less each year as the school continues to get better every year and most feeder kids track. No chance to get in for spanish track but you have a chance for French or Chinese. They have language 101 classes for these kids.

Doing well in an IB diploma absolutely makes you stand out among the dime a dozen kids doing AP courses. It also gives you so much more flexibility in college options abroad where IB is the accepted. BTW good abroad programs are much, much less expensive then in the states. Lastly, there is a heavy focus on writing in addition to mini-thesis requirement, and these kids typically are much stronger writers.

Also they multiple levels of math tracking with the highest basically taking AP Calculus in 10th and post Calculus math for 11th and 12th with 2 different levels in each class - standard and high level.

I have looked, but I have yet to find, a college or university math department that gives post-calculus credit for any score on any IB math exam. Most seem to treat even HL IB math as equivalent to AP Calc AB. And few give any credit at all for SL IB math.

That doesn’t mean IB math is bad. It might be beneficial for students who accelerated young to repeat basic algebra and calculus concepts in a different format. IB math seems to be an adequate substitute for AP math if you have to pick one. And IB math allows you to get an IB diploma. But if you actually want “post-calculus” math, you should be looking at dual enrollment in actual post-calculus math courses, not messing around with IB.

I think, going forward, universities are just going to be less likely grant credit for AP math classes and more likely to just let you take a more advanced class. This is already true for BC where, if you want to be a math major or engineering, you tend to get put into a more advanced multi variate rather than get a pass out of multi variate. Universities just can’t trust the training, and an AP score isn’t necessary and sufficient to assume kids don’t have something foundational and important.

BC isn’t multi variable calculus so of course it doesn’t get you credit. Your argument doesn’t really make sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, but the fact remains that these aren't great options as compared to the best options in the near burbs, not even close.

Our family keeps in close touch with friends who moved from Cap Hill to MoCo, Arlington and Fairfax for schools. We also visit their kids' schools now and again for sporting events, competitions, high school musicals and the like.

It's clear to me that none of our public high school options in the District--BASIS, Latin, DCI, Walls, J-R--can touch these suburban programs on any level. Top suburban schools might as well be on a different planet. If you never tour suburban schools and aren't familiar with their offerings, this fact may be lost on you. I'm particularly jealous of honors middle school classes across the board in Arlington and Fairfax.

I've been shown printouts from suburban high schools listing more than 100 serious sounding electives any student can take. None of you ask yourselves how BASIS, Latin, DCI, J-R and Walls compare because....moving to the burbs for high school is a fate worse than death or what?

Whoever wrote this knows nothing about J-R.

I don’t doubt some suburban schools have more electives…but that’s a small consideration in selecting a high school.

For kids taking rigorous, 10+ AP schedules plus PE, art and music requirements…there aren’t many slots left for electives. There are really no slots if you are in a JR academy like engineering as you are essentially taking those classes as electives.

This post makes no sense. The suburbs seldom have art or music requirements in HS, and not much in the way of PE/Health either. No student needs to take 10 AP classes anywhere, no matter how ambitious they may be on the college admissions front. In the burbs, students can often meet PE requirements on-line or over summers. The burbs don't just offer dozens of serious electives, but feeder middle schools with strong academics/honors classes, better trained teachers overall, more STEM classes, more and languages (e.g. HS Russian, Korean, Japanese, Hebrew, Portuguese, Hindi etc). They also offer high-performing IB Diploma programs that don't operate as IB for all like at DCI. The burbs offer far richer opportunities for a kid to shine in running with their interests, without parents have to pay out of pocket.

We didn't make it through Deal. The teaching was far too uneven, most classes weren't hard enough, and the building was much too chaotic. We got into BASIS and, on close inspection, weren't impressed. If you don't want to move to the burbs, fine, but you're not going to convince me that public schools are....better here.

Wow, it’s amazing that your kid managed to start at Deal and transfer to BASIS, considering how BASIS never admits anyone after 5th grade, and Deal doesn’t start until 6th.

That's not what PP claimed. They must have lotteried into BASIS from the Deal district for 5th grade but didn't take the spot. Same for us, we considered BASIS because our eldest was bored in a Deal feeder, but the building was just too awful. We're at a parochial school for middle school, a stretch for us financially, hoping for Walls.

Not like the Walls building and “campus” is so great either. Plus, getting into Walls nowadays is a total crapshoot given the stupid admissions requirements.

Enjoy paying for Catholic school through graduation. ✝️

DP. You seem like a really nice BASIS parent whose attitude makes other parents want their kids to go to BASIS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Latin vs. DCI debate is kind of silly. Latin (and BASIS) is mostly full of kids who went through DCPS elementary schools (happily) and chose not to lottery into the DCI feeders. I'm happy DCI is working out for those families, but the need to insult Latin makes no sense. Very few families are actively making that choice in 5th/6th grade -- it's done. The choice was made much, much earlier. They are choosing between Latin, BASIS, privates or moving to the Deal/Hardy zone.

Agree. We unsuccessfully tried to lottery our kids into what are now called DCI feeders for years. But at some point, we stopped because a native English speaker joining an immersion program from a non-immersion program from about third grade on makes no sense. We never tried for DCI because we weren’t coming from immersion or a feeder. We did throw our hat in for Latin, BASIS because there was no language immersion hurdle.

Incorrect. You can attend DCI with no language background.

Also many CH BTW try to lottery into 6th if they strike out in 5th

How can you get into DCI without coming from a feeder?

Why would you?

There are spots for non-feeders but less each year as the school continues to get better every year and most feeder kids track. No chance to get in for spanish track but you have a chance for French or Chinese. They have language 101 classes for these kids.

Doing well in an IB diploma absolutely makes you stand out among the dime a dozen kids doing AP courses. It also gives you so much more flexibility in college options abroad where IB is the accepted. BTW good abroad programs are much, much less expensive then in the states. Lastly, there is a heavy focus on writing in addition to mini-thesis requirement, and these kids typically are much stronger writers.

Also they multiple levels of math tracking with the highest basically taking AP Calculus in 10th and post Calculus math for 11th and 12th with 2 different levels in each class - standard and high level.

I have looked, but I have yet to find, a college or university math department that gives post-calculus credit for any score on any IB math exam. Most seem to treat even HL IB math as equivalent to AP Calc AB. And few give any credit at all for SL IB math.

That doesn’t mean IB math is bad. It might be beneficial for students who accelerated young to repeat basic algebra and calculus concepts in a different format. IB math seems to be an adequate substitute for AP math if you have to pick one. And IB math allows you to get an IB diploma. But if you actually want “post-calculus” math, you should be looking at dual enrollment in actual post-calculus math courses, not messing around with IB.

I think, going forward, universities are just going to be less likely grant credit for AP math classes and more likely to just let you take a more advanced class. This is already true for BC where, if you want to be a math major or engineering, you tend to get put into a more advanced multi variate rather than get a pass out of multi variate. Universities just can’t trust the training, and an AP score isn’t necessary and sufficient to assume kids don’t have something foundational and important.

BC isn’t multi variable calculus so of course it doesn’t get you credit. Your argument doesn’t really make sense.

Yeah, but there is something there. I used my BC calc score to test out of the first two semesters of calc and was put in multi variate, and I had to drop the class because I was lost (and I was an excellent math student up until that point). I would have been much better served by retaking Calc. This was at a state flagship. Maybe husband went to a much better college and they made everyone retake calc there and now he works in STEM.

Not to say that it's not very valuable to take the highest levels of math in high school -- but maybe not for the point of skipping ahead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Latin vs. DCI debate is kind of silly. Latin (and BASIS) is mostly full of kids who went through DCPS elementary schools (happily) and chose not to lottery into the DCI feeders. I'm happy DCI is working out for those families, but the need to insult Latin makes no sense. Very few families are actively making that choice in 5th/6th grade -- it's done. The choice was made much, much earlier. They are choosing between Latin, BASIS, privates or moving to the Deal/Hardy zone.

Agree. We unsuccessfully tried to lottery our kids into what are now called DCI feeders for years. But at some point, we stopped because a native English speaker joining an immersion program from a non-immersion program from about third grade on makes no sense. We never tried for DCI because we weren’t coming from immersion or a feeder. We did throw our hat in for Latin, BASIS because there was no language immersion hurdle.

Incorrect. You can attend DCI with no language background.

Also many CH BTW try to lottery into 6th if they strike out in 5th

How can you get into DCI without coming from a feeder?

Why would you?

There are spots for non-feeders but less each year as the school continues to get better every year and most feeder kids track. No chance to get in for spanish track but you have a chance for French or Chinese. They have language 101 classes for these kids.

Doing well in an IB diploma absolutely makes you stand out among the dime a dozen kids doing AP courses. It also gives you so much more flexibility in college options abroad where IB is the accepted. BTW good abroad programs are much, much less expensive then in the states. Lastly, there is a heavy focus on writing in addition to mini-thesis requirement, and these kids typically are much stronger writers.

Also they multiple levels of math tracking with the highest basically taking AP Calculus in 10th and post Calculus math for 11th and 12th with 2 different levels in each class - standard and high level.

I have looked, but I have yet to find, a college or university math department that gives post-calculus credit for any score on any IB math exam. Most seem to treat even HL IB math as equivalent to AP Calc AB. And few give any credit at all for SL IB math.

That doesn’t mean IB math is bad. It might be beneficial for students who accelerated young to repeat basic algebra and calculus concepts in a different format. IB math seems to be an adequate substitute for AP math if you have to pick one. And IB math allows you to get an IB diploma. But if you actually want “post-calculus” math, you should be looking at dual enrollment in actual post-calculus math courses, not messing around with IB.

I think, going forward, universities are just going to be less likely grant credit for AP math classes and more likely to just let you take a more advanced class. This is already true for BC where, if you want to be a math major or engineering, you tend to get put into a more advanced multi variate rather than get a pass out of multi variate. Universities just can’t trust the training, and an AP score isn’t necessary and sufficient to assume kids don’t have something foundational and important.

BC isn’t multi variable calculus so of course it doesn’t get you credit. Your argument doesn’t really make sense.

Yeah, but there is something there. I used my BC calc score to test out of the first two semesters of calc and was put in multi variate, and I had to drop the class because I was lost (and I was an excellent math student up until that point). I would have been much better served by retaking Calc. This was at a state flagship. Maybe husband went to a much better college and they made everyone retake calc there and now he works in STEM.

Not to say that it's not very valuable to take the highest levels of math in high school -- but maybe not for the point of skipping ahead.

Virtually every college now gives a math placement exam to newly-enrolled students, no matter what courses you have credit for. It’s all the same software, related to Delta math I think. If you’re a history major you can use AP/IB credits to satisfy a distribution requirement but to continue in the sequence you have to pass the placement exam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, but the fact remains that these aren't great options as compared to the best options in the near burbs, not even close.

Our family keeps in close touch with friends who moved from Cap Hill to MoCo, Arlington and Fairfax for schools. We also visit their kids' schools now and again for sporting events, competitions, high school musicals and the like.

It's clear to me that none of our public high school options in the District--BASIS, Latin, DCI, Walls, J-R--can touch these suburban programs on any level. Top suburban schools might as well be on a different planet. If you never tour suburban schools and aren't familiar with their offerings, this fact may be lost on you. I'm particularly jealous of honors middle school classes across the board in Arlington and Fairfax.

I've been shown printouts from suburban high schools listing more than 100 serious sounding electives any student can take. None of you ask yourselves how BASIS, Latin, DCI, J-R and Walls compare because....moving to the burbs for high school is a fate worse than death or what?

Whoever wrote this knows nothing about J-R.

I don’t doubt some suburban schools have more electives…but that’s a small consideration in selecting a high school.

For kids taking rigorous, 10+ AP schedules plus PE, art and music requirements…there aren’t many slots left for electives. There are really no slots if you are in a JR academy like engineering as you are essentially taking those classes as electives.

This post makes no sense. The suburbs seldom have art or music requirements in HS, and not much in the way of PE/Health either. No student needs to take 10 AP classes anywhere, no matter how ambitious they may be on the college admissions front. In the burbs, students can often meet PE requirements on-line or over summers. The burbs don't just offer dozens of serious electives, but feeder middle schools with strong academics/honors classes, better trained teachers overall, more STEM classes, more and languages (e.g. HS Russian, Korean, Japanese, Hebrew, Portuguese, Hindi etc). They also offer high-performing IB Diploma programs that don't operate as IB for all like at DCI. The burbs offer far richer opportunities for a kid to shine in running with their interests, without parents have to pay out of pocket.

We didn't make it through Deal. The teaching was far too uneven, most classes weren't hard enough, and the building was much too chaotic. We got into BASIS and, on close inspection, weren't impressed. If you don't want to move to the burbs, fine, but you're not going to convince me that public schools are....better here.

Wow, it’s amazing that your kid managed to start at Deal and transfer to BASIS, considering how BASIS never admits anyone after 5th grade, and Deal doesn’t start until 6th.

That's not what PP claimed. They must have lotteried into BASIS from the Deal district for 5th grade but didn't take the spot. Same for us, we considered BASIS because our eldest was bored in a Deal feeder, but the building was just too awful. We're at a parochial school for middle school, a stretch for us financially, hoping for Walls.

Not like the Walls building and “campus” is so great either. Plus, getting into Walls nowadays is a total crapshoot given the stupid admissions requirements.

Enjoy paying for Catholic school through graduation. ✝️

DP. You seem like a really nice BASIS parent whose attitude makes other parents want their kids to go to BASIS.

I am a bitter Walls parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Latin vs. DCI debate is kind of silly. Latin (and BASIS) is mostly full of kids who went through DCPS elementary schools (happily) and chose not to lottery into the DCI feeders. I'm happy DCI is working out for those families, but the need to insult Latin makes no sense. Very few families are actively making that choice in 5th/6th grade -- it's done. The choice was made much, much earlier. They are choosing between Latin, BASIS, privates or moving to the Deal/Hardy zone.

Agree. We unsuccessfully tried to lottery our kids into what are now called DCI feeders for years. But at some point, we stopped because a native English speaker joining an immersion program from a non-immersion program from about third grade on makes no sense. We never tried for DCI because we weren’t coming from immersion or a feeder. We did throw our hat in for Latin, BASIS because there was no language immersion hurdle.

Incorrect. You can attend DCI with no language background.

Also many CH BTW try to lottery into 6th if they strike out in 5th

How can you get into DCI without coming from a feeder?

Why would you?

There are spots for non-feeders but less each year as the school continues to get better every year and most feeder kids track. No chance to get in for spanish track but you have a chance for French or Chinese. They have language 101 classes for these kids.

Doing well in an IB diploma absolutely makes you stand out among the dime a dozen kids doing AP courses. It also gives you so much more flexibility in college options abroad where IB is the accepted. BTW good abroad programs are much, much less expensive then in the states. Lastly, there is a heavy focus on writing in addition to mini-thesis requirement, and these kids typically are much stronger writers.

Also they multiple levels of math tracking with the highest basically taking AP Calculus in 10th and post Calculus math for 11th and 12th with 2 different levels in each class - standard and high level.

I have looked, but I have yet to find, a college or university math department that gives post-calculus credit for any score on any IB math exam. Most seem to treat even HL IB math as equivalent to AP Calc AB. And few give any credit at all for SL IB math.

That doesn’t mean IB math is bad. It might be beneficial for students who accelerated young to repeat basic algebra and calculus concepts in a different format. IB math seems to be an adequate substitute for AP math if you have to pick one. And IB math allows you to get an IB diploma. But if you actually want “post-calculus” math, you should be looking at dual enrollment in actual post-calculus math courses, not messing around with IB.

I think, going forward, universities are just going to be less likely grant credit for AP math classes and more likely to just let you take a more advanced class. This is already true for BC where, if you want to be a math major or engineering, you tend to get put into a more advanced multi variate rather than get a pass out of multi variate. Universities just can’t trust the training, and an AP score isn’t necessary and sufficient to assume kids don’t have something foundational and important.

BC isn’t multi variable calculus so of course it doesn’t get you credit. Your argument doesn’t really make sense.

Yeah, but there is something there. I used my BC calc score to test out of the first two semesters of calc and was put in multi variate, and I had to drop the class because I was lost (and I was an excellent math student up until that point). I would have been much better served by retaking Calc. This was at a state flagship. Maybe husband went to a much better college and they made everyone retake calc there and now he works in STEM.

Not to say that it's not very valuable to take the highest levels of math in high school -- but maybe not for the point of skipping ahead.

Virtually every college now gives a math placement exam to newly-enrolled students, no matter what courses you have credit for. It’s all the same software, related to Delta math I think. If you’re a history major you can use AP/IB credits to satisfy a distribution requirement but to continue in the sequence you have to pass the placement exam.

NP, I don’t need my kid to get college credit for BC. What I need is for him to be in advance math and challenged, and it be taught well. Then he will be prepared and have some background if he takes it in college.

The end point is not college credit, esp past Calculus, for majority of families here on DCUM who are overwhelmingly UMC and above. It’s having kids be appropriately placed in a class based on their abilities and not the equity BS and dumbing down education that is happening in this town.

Bravo to DCI for having the capabilities to offer multiple levels of math starting early in middle school. I don’t think any other school EOTP offers this.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:The Latin vs. DCI debate is kind of silly. Latin (and BASIS) is mostly full of kids who went through DCPS elementary schools (happily) and chose not to lottery into the DCI feeders. I'm happy DCI is working out for those families, but the need to insult Latin makes no sense. Very few families are actively making that choice in 5th/6th grade -- it's done. The choice was made much, much earlier. They are choosing between Latin, BASIS, privates or moving to the Deal/Hardy zone.

Agree. We unsuccessfully tried to lottery our kids into what are now called DCI feeders for years. But at some point, we stopped because a native English speaker joining an immersion program from a non-immersion program from about third grade on makes no sense. We never tried for DCI because we weren’t coming from immersion or a feeder. We did throw our hat in for Latin, BASIS because there was no language immersion hurdle.

Incorrect. You can attend DCI with no language background.

Also many CH BTW try to lottery into 6th if they strike out in 5th

How can you get into DCI without coming from a feeder?

Why would you?

There are spots for non-feeders but less each year as the school continues to get better every year and most feeder kids track. No chance to get in for spanish track but you have a chance for French or Chinese. They have language 101 classes for these kids.

Doing well in an IB diploma absolutely makes you stand out among the dime a dozen kids doing AP courses. It also gives you so much more flexibility in college options abroad where IB is the accepted. BTW good abroad programs are much, much less expensive then in the states. Lastly, there is a heavy focus on writing in addition to mini-thesis requirement, and these kids typically are much stronger writers.

Do students starting with French or Chinese 101 take all their other classes in English?

Yes but those with more advanced language take history (called I&S) and electives in their target language.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Latin vs. DCI debate is kind of silly. Latin (and BASIS) is mostly full of kids who went through DCPS elementary schools (happily) and chose not to lottery into the DCI feeders. I'm happy DCI is working out for those families, but the need to insult Latin makes no sense. Very few families are actively making that choice in 5th/6th grade -- it's done. The choice was made much, much earlier. They are choosing between Latin, BASIS, privates or moving to the Deal/Hardy zone.

I don’t think anyone insulted Latin once. I genuinely think you’ll feel insulted unless people praise Latin and say they wish they could send their kids there. Latin isn’t a school we are interested in, but I don’t mean to insult anyone who sends their kid there at all. I am really happy a good school like Latin exists and I’m also glad the language immersion schools aren’t the only “good” schools in DC.

[Anonymous]

There are definitely kids who are inbound for Deal attending DC International School.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Latin vs. DCI debate is kind of silly. Latin (and BASIS) is mostly full of kids who went through DCPS elementary schools (happily) and chose not to lottery into the DCI feeders. I'm happy DCI is working out for those families, but the need to insult Latin makes no sense. Very few families are actively making that choice in 5th/6th grade -- it's done. The choice was made much, much earlier. They are choosing between Latin, BASIS, privates or moving to the Deal/Hardy zone.

I don’t think anyone insulted Latin once. I genuinely think you’ll feel insulted unless people praise Latin and say they wish they could send their kids there. Latin isn’t a school we are interested in, but I don’t mean to insult anyone who sends their kid there at all. I am really happy a good school like Latin exists and I’m also glad the language immersion schools aren’t the only “good” schools in DC.

DP. No stake in any of these schools yet. There is one DCI parent posting who has repeatedly stated that Latin primarily attracts "weak" students who need more handholding. This poster then refuses to acknowledge the data that has been shared that clearly shows that's not true. How is that not insulting?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are definitely kids who are inbound for Deal attending DC International School.

DCI has the highest percentage of IB Deal kids among the schools discussed on this thread.