When will Walls interview notices come out??

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Some folks we know have already heard and gotten invites for interviews; a lot we know have not. What we heard for last year is that the invites go out in waves.

DD has a 4.0 at basis and we havent heard. They can't be going by GPA

My kid is also applying from basis. Do you know if the gpa from basis is somehow weighted? I know various friends that have 4.0 at other schools but haven’t been required to take physics, Chen, bio, etc…

Its not weighted, Basis has no incentive to make their middle schoolers look better to other high schools

Wait, the conspiracy theory of the day is that BASIS is intentionally keeping GPAs down to stop kids from going to other HS? You people have a lot of free time.

No, stop being dramatic. My point was, basis does not weight their GPAs - not that they are intentionally keeping GPAs down. Knock it off

Based on DCUM posts, it seems every kid at BASIS has a 4.0, so GPAs aren't being held down.

Our kid definitely doesn’t! She may or may not meet the Walls cutoff, depending on where exactly they draw the line.

The system isn’t ideal for kids like her, who would like to switch because Basis is a poor fit. She loves non-science classes but hates science. So she can’t force herself to study for the hated science classes, which brings her GPA down just enough that she might not make the cutoff to switch and escape the science. Either way, she’s at a good school so she’s not doomed if she misses the cutoff. (Doomed to several more years of heavy science, I guess!) She’s just frustrated by the catch-22 situation.

yeah, sadly the system doesn't work for a lot of kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some folks we know have already heard and gotten invites for interviews; a lot we know have not. What we heard for last year is that the invites go out in waves.

DD has a 4.0 at basis and we havent heard. They can't be going by GPA

My kid is also applying from basis. Do you know if the gpa from basis is somehow weighted? I know various friends that have 4.0 at other schools but haven’t been required to take physics, Chen, bio, etc…

Its not weighted, Basis has no incentive to make their middle schoolers look better to other high schools

Wait, the conspiracy theory of the day is that BASIS is intentionally keeping GPAs down to stop kids from going to other HS? You people have a lot of free time.

No, stop being dramatic. My point was, basis does not weight their GPAs - not that they are intentionally keeping GPAs down. Knock it off

Based on DCUM posts, it seems every kid at BASIS has a 4.0, so GPAs aren't being held down.

Our kid definitely doesn’t! She may or may not meet the Walls cutoff, depending on where exactly they draw the line.

The system isn’t ideal for kids like her, who would like to switch because Basis is a poor fit. She loves non-science classes but hates science. So she can’t force herself to study for the hated science classes, which brings her GPA down just enough that she might not make the cutoff to switch and escape the science. Either way, she’s at a good school so she’s not doomed if she misses the cutoff. (Doomed to several more years of heavy science, I guess!) She’s just frustrated by the catch-22 situation.

For what its worth, it sounds like 9th and 10th are pretty non science heavy - my Kid is dreading needing to take 2 english classes next year

[Anonymous]

Our 8th grader has a 4.0 and has not received an invite yet.

here's the admissions process rubric:
https://www.myschooldc.org/sites/default/files/u421/SY23-24_SWW_AdmissionProcessRubric_FINAL.pdf

[Anonymous]

Thanks for posting that link....a couple of things jump out:

1) a 3.8 GPA is regarded the same as a 4.0 for the purpose of their rubric...given how easy grading is (at least at my child's middle school), that's really interesting. A child who has two B+, two A-s and one A in the five core classes (and As in PE, Music, Art, and Health) would be given the same 5 points as a kid with all As.

2) The 31/36 points given to the interview is just bizarre. Where on earth did they come up with that ratio and do they provide the specific rubric for that anywhere? 86% weight for the subjective interview seems like a recipe for abuse.....

[Anonymous]

Agree, esp since we've heard the interview is very short. Walls weighs the interview heavier than the other appl HS and bases most of admission decision on it.
All of the rubrics with how the selective HS weight different criteria are avail at MSDC:
https://www.myschooldc.org/how-apply/applying-high-school

Scroll down and under each HS the eligibility rubric is the last item in the list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for posting that link....a couple of things jump out:

1) a 3.8 GPA is regarded the same as a 4.0 for the purpose of their rubric...given how easy grading is (at least at my child's middle school), that's really interesting. A child who has two B+, two A-s and one A in the five core classes (and As in PE, Music, Art, and Health) would be given the same 5 points as a kid with all As.

2) The 31/36 points given to the interview is just bizarre. Where on earth did they come up with that ratio and do they provide the specific rubric for that anywhere? 86% weight for the subjective interview seems like a recipe for abuse.....

Your scenario in #1 would be a 3.6 not 3.8.

[Anonymous]

I look forward to suing DCPS over this admissions criteria one day, as I assume my socially awkward kid with ASD will not get in based on the subjective interview, despite having a 98 average at BASIS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I look forward to suing DCPS over this admissions criteria one day, as I assume my socially awkward kid with ASD will not get in based on the subjective interview, despite having a 98 average at BASIS.

LOL....Same songs every year-FOIA, my kid this/that, etc. Just go for it IF it happens. Of course, she could find others that have been turned away on questionable grounds and do it now. NO ACTION comes from DCUM! Just a lot of whining...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I look forward to suing DCPS over this admissions criteria one day, as I assume my socially awkward kid with ASD will not get in based on the subjective interview, despite having a 98 average at BASIS.

LOL....Same songs every year-FOIA, my kid this/that, etc. Just go for it IF it happens. Of course, she could find others that have been turned away on questionable grounds and do it now. NO ACTION comes from DCUM! Just a lot of whining...

I agree, but this feels like an old school, only in DC thing like taxi zones. No other city would put up with something this arbitrary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I look forward to suing DCPS over this admissions criteria one day, as I assume my socially awkward kid with ASD will not get in based on the subjective interview, despite having a 98 average at BASIS.

LOL....Same songs every year-FOIA, my kid this/that, etc. Just go for it IF it happens. Of course, she could find others that have been turned away on questionable grounds and do it now. NO ACTION comes from DCUM! Just a lot of whining...

I agree, but this feels like an old school, only in DC thing like taxi zones. No other city would put up with something this arbitrary.

I assure you, other residents in other cities put up with all manner of arbitrariness in education. You’re just not aware of the specifics.

[Anonymous]

Mom of ASD kid here. My point isn’t just that process seems arbitrary—it also strikes me as discriminatory.

It’s also a crappy admissions process. Part of DC’s race to the bottom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for posting that link....a couple of things jump out:

1) a 3.8 GPA is regarded the same as a 4.0 for the purpose of their rubric...given how easy grading is (at least at my child's middle school), that's really interesting. A child who has two B+, two A-s and one A in the five core classes (and As in PE, Music, Art, and Health) would be given the same 5 points as a kid with all As.

2) The 31/36 points given to the interview is just bizarre. Where on earth did they come up with that ratio and do they provide the specific rubric for that anywhere? 86% weight for the subjective interview seems like a recipe for abuse.....

This is the issue I have with the GPA cutoff - a 4.0 from some schools is not the same as a 4.0 from others. Some kids will be well prepared for the Walls curriculum, some won't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for posting that link....a couple of things jump out:

1) a 3.8 GPA is regarded the same as a 4.0 for the purpose of their rubric...given how easy grading is (at least at my child's middle school), that's really interesting. A child who has two B+, two A-s and one A in the five core classes (and As in PE, Music, Art, and Health) would be given the same 5 points as a kid with all As.

2) The 31/36 points given to the interview is just bizarre. Where on earth did they come up with that ratio and do they provide the specific rubric for that anywhere? 86% weight for the subjective interview seems like a recipe for abuse.....

This is the issue I have with the GPA cutoff - a 4.0 from some schools is not the same as a 4.0 from others. Some kids will be well prepared for the Walls curriculum, some won't.

Yeah, that's why they used to have the admissions test, and I suppose why they say they weight the interview so heavily. The interview weight is very problematic for a lot of reasons, but this is where they landed after removing the test for more equitable access.

As they described it in a virtual open house, they really just take the top 500 GPAs, so the minimum is technically a 3.0 but realistically in recent years, they did not extend interview invitations to anyone who had below a 3.7 or so (that number fluctuates depending on the year/performance of applicants)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I look forward to suing DCPS over this admissions criteria one day, as I assume my socially awkward kid with ASD will not get in based on the subjective interview, despite having a 98 average at BASIS.

LOL....Same songs every year-FOIA, my kid this/that, etc. Just go for it IF it happens. Of course, she could find others that have been turned away on questionable grounds and do it now. NO ACTION comes from DCUM! Just a lot of whining...

I agree, but this feels like an old school, only in DC thing like taxi zones. No other city would put up with something this arbitrary.

I assure you, other residents in other cities put up with all manner of arbitrariness in education. You’re just not aware of the specifics.

Varies hugely by city. You can find published cutoff scores on tests for various selective high schools. Super transparent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for posting that link....a couple of things jump out:

1) a 3.8 GPA is regarded the same as a 4.0 for the purpose of their rubric...given how easy grading is (at least at my child's middle school), that's really interesting. A child who has two B+, two A-s and one A in the five core classes (and As in PE, Music, Art, and Health) would be given the same 5 points as a kid with all As.

2) The 31/36 points given to the interview is just bizarre. Where on earth did they come up with that ratio and do they provide the specific rubric for that anywhere? 86% weight for the subjective interview seems like a recipe for abuse.....

This is the issue I have with the GPA cutoff - a 4.0 from some schools is not the same as a 4.0 from others. Some kids will be well prepared for the Walls curriculum, some won't.

That’s the case in high school, college, and life. Some people will be better prepared academically than others because…they attended schools that provided “better” preparation. A student who earns a 4.0 (and attends) a Title 1 middle school should have a chance to attend Walls. That student may be a very hard worker that can make up for lost ground. It’s not that student’s fault they attended a poorly resourced school. Those students bloomed where they were planted, and likely overcame hardship and trauma you can’t imagine.

Remember, talent is equally distributed. Opportunity is not.