What's the difference between St Johns and GDS?

[Anonymous]

*school not schedule

[Anonymous]

I know a lot of kids who applied to both SJC and GDS, my son included. Those are both common applications from kids coming from Deal. I bet there are 20 kids who apply to both each year.

I'd be careful about reading into any "good vibes" from a school. We thought we got amazing vibes from GDS last year (clicked in the interview, kid was reached out to by the coach and athletic director and both said very positive things), etc.
Kid was waitlisted. Was accepted to 2 of the other "Big3" schools plus Potomac. Remember, nothing is a done deal until admissions are over. A top prospect can be bumped when applications are reviewed if someone a school likes or needs more comes through.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:St. Johns has a lot more lower and middle class kids. GDS has a lot more UMC + wealthy kids. The schools are very different.

Unfortunately many will argue with this observation and the OP may not understand it of be able see it .

It really depends on who you want to hang out with and where you feel comfortable.

These schools, the students and the FAMILIES that send their children to them are sooooo different, it’s easy to see someone being very unhappy if they choose the wrong one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find this common idea that if you are looking at x schedule ok, then you can’t also look at y school to be very odd. I know we looked at a bunch of varying schools based on a particular sport my DC plays. We know all the schools on our list are very different other than the sport in question, and we like having options and considering the many paths forward. Why NOT consider all the angels?

No pun intended?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As mentioned by another poster, they couldn't be more different.

St John's is a Catholic school. It used to be an all-boys "military" school, where the students had to wear uniforms that resembled a military uniform. Now it's co-ed. They are very sports-oriented, I believe to the point where they "recruit" strong athletes. I don't believe it's ever been thought of as an academic powerhouse, but I'd imagine your child can get a good education if they put in the effort. Of course, students are also required to take religion classes.

GDS is a co-ed, secular K-12 school. Its high school is considered very rigorous, competitive and progressive. They are known to have a strong theater/performance program. Their new lower/middle school building is gorgeous. Ask anyone what they know about GDS and they will say "it's extremely liberal." On the one hand, they speak early, often and loudly about social justice and inequality. On the other, they still have a lot of very wealthy families attending the school. Who else can afford the $40K+ tuition/year? You can check out the curriculum online. It's very strong, but you will note that several classes are taught through the prism of "social justice." Some people believe the school teaches you how to think; others what to think. It's considered what many on these boards call "the Big 3" and it's very tough to get into.

Good description of GDS, especially in a forum where there a lot of haters.

OP, there are not a lot of coed Catholic options in/near DC. St John's is popular with families who want coed for their kids and/or may not be interested in the Prep/Visi social circuit. Friend moved one of her DC's to StJ in HS who was not happy at one of the area independents. Best thing that happened to the kid. As opposed to floundering, he surged as a student and really felt like he found his people. He went on to attend a Catholic university even though the family is pretty secular. Parents have no regrets as StJ really was best for their kid.

Regarding getting a good signal, concur with some of the other posters in this thread - don't get your hopes up as it really is not over till it is over. Your DC may still end up getting in, but there are lots of stories of folks who thought it was a done deal only to discover that it is not in the end. Really was the best advice I ever got having had to go through this process 4X with 2 kids. In the end, both the DCs got in and maybe they were signaling to us during the process, but I was better prepared to accept the outcome if they had not.

OP, GL to your DC!

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't worry that you haven't heard anything from SJC regarding interviews. I have two sons at SJC, one a freshman and one a junior, and they didn't interview until well after the applications were submitted - sometime in January, I believe. I'm not sure if there is an interview for general admittance, but one of my sons is in the scholar's program and the other is a Benilde student.

[Anonymous]

If your DS wants to play a varsity sport, I'd urge you to consider DC public high schools. My cousins ended up at Wilson for this reason, playing football, soccer, and crew. They were challenged with AP classes and made national honor society. Got into great schools (but not on sports scholarships).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St. Johns has a lot more lower and middle class kids. GDS has a lot more UMC + wealthy kids. The schools are very different.

Unfortunately many will argue with this observation and the OP may not understand it of be able see it .

It really depends on who you want to hang out with and where you feel comfortable.

These schools, the students and the FAMILIES that send their children to them are sooooo different, it’s easy to see someone being very unhappy if they choose the wrong one.

But GDS is the school that champions equality and social justice but GDS families are now turning their nose up at middle and lower class kids? Wow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I could see looking at these two schools for my DS because they are both larger, co-ed schools with strong academics. Previous poster gave all-boys schools as an alternative to St. John's. Hopefully your child can visit if admitted.

Thank you, I am OP and this is not a troll post, just trying to get more info about both schools since many of you have knowledge of the schools in the area. And we are not the only family applying to both.

[Anonymous]

One thing they have in common sportswise is they both have top notch running programs - both Cross Country and Coach. Both Head Coaches are exceptional coaches and people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St. Johns has a lot more lower and middle class kids. GDS has a lot more UMC + wealthy kids. The schools are very different.

Unfortunately many will argue with this observation and the OP may not understand it of be able see it .

It really depends on who you want to hang out with and where you feel comfortable.

These schools, the students and the FAMILIES that send their children to them are sooooo different, it’s easy to see someone being very unhappy if they choose the wrong one.

But GDS is the school that champions equality and social justice but GDS families are now turning their nose up at middle and lower class kids? Wow.

no one said that here

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Applications for SJC were due 12/03.

OP here. We have applied to SJC and GDS already. Got very good signs with GDS. Nothing with SJC (as there is no interview for the kids/families)

This is like asking what is the difference between Yale and Mount Saint Mary’s.

+1. I can't imagine two different schools. I think this may be a troll post.

Agree. Never heard of anyone getting “very good signs” from GDS in advance of decision release, especially before applications are even due.

I may have misunderstood the signs (new to to this game), but it seems the school had an interest in my child. Thank you for all the very helpful replies.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Applications for SJC were due 12/03.

OP here. We have applied to SJC and GDS already. Got very good signs with GDS. Nothing with SJC (as there is no interview for the kids/families)

This is like asking what is the difference between Yale and Mount Saint Mary’s.

+1. I can't imagine two different schools. I think this may be a troll post.

Agree. Never heard of anyone getting “very good signs” from GDS in advance of decision release, especially before applications are even due.

I may have misunderstood the signs (new to to this game), but it seems the school had an interest in my child. Thank you for all the very helpful replies.

The schools always have an interest in the Application phase, especially the Admissions staff. They want to have as many applicants as possible for many reasons.

But once they get the maximum number of applicants possible, the game changes. They shift into selector mode.

I wouldn’t put much weight on warm smiles and encouraging words from Admissions people who want everybody to apply.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Applications for SJC were due 12/03.

OP here. We have applied to SJC and GDS already. Got very good signs with GDS. Nothing with SJC (as there is no interview for the kids/families)

This is like asking what is the difference between Yale and Mount Saint Mary’s.

+1. I can't imagine two different schools. I think this may be a troll post.

Agree. Never heard of anyone getting “very good signs” from GDS in advance of decision release, especially before applications are even due.

I may have misunderstood the signs (new to to this game), but it seems the school had an interest in my child. Thank you for all the very helpful replies.

I don’t think you misunderstood the signs, OP. They have an incredible admissions team who show great interest in applicants and their families. Maybe the others were only letting you know that GDS receives an enormous amount of applications from truly spectacular kids. They don’t have a lot of space.
Best wishes and good luck to you and your family. I hope it works out!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:St. John’s is not as hard as gds but offers more structure. GDS is harder and not a good place for a kid who is not self motivated. And gds is not a big sports school. Sounds like St. John’s might be better for your kid.

We found st johns more diverse across every metric, including SES and race and geography and future colleges / majors. And various religions.

They had programs for G&T and LD, jr ROTC, and was larger than a GDS or SFS so can field a good team in most sports, ECs, etc.

The uniforms and clear expectations and common classes - not everything a la carte like a college / GDS - also created a strong sense of community.