How difficult is Holton Arms actually?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did not go there and neither did my children.

The only thing I can discuss are women that I know IRL who went there - outside counsel, friends, colleagues. None of them are super successful. Just regular worker bees.

How old are you? Mine went there and is a millionaire (age 29). She is brilliant. Many of her classmates were brilliant too. In fact, when my dd started there in middle school, and I met some of the girls. I was amazed by the impressive work they did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not difficult at all. My DD was taking the most difficult math and science classes in 9th had straight As with very little effort. She left after 9th and at her new school she had to work so much harder for the same grades. She also said the top girls at Holton were very competitive and did not want to help each other. At my DD's new school the girls are willing to edit papers and share notes.

Which school did she move to?

Not pp but guessing some boarding school like Exeter

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did not go there and neither did my children.

The only thing I can discuss are women that I know IRL who went there - outside counsel, friends, colleagues. None of them are super successful. Just regular worker bees.

How old are you? Mine went there and is a millionaire (age 29). She is brilliant. Many of her classmates were brilliant too. In fact, when my dd started there in middle school, and I met some of the girls. I was amazed by the impressive work they did.

So you’re an empty nester with a daughter who graduated 11 years ago and still checking and posting on DCUM?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not difficult at all. My DD was taking the most difficult math and science classes in 9th had straight As with very little effort. She left after 9th and at her new school she had to work so much harder for the same grades. She also said the top girls at Holton were very competitive and did not want to help each other. At my DD's new school the girls are willing to edit papers and share notes.

Which school did she move to?

Not pp but guessing some boarding school like Exeter

Nah. Likely won't get an answer because it's a troll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did not go there and neither did my children.

The only thing I can discuss are women that I know IRL who went there - outside counsel, friends, colleagues. None of them are super successful. Just regular worker bees.

How old are you? Mine went there and is a millionaire (age 29). She is brilliant. Many of her classmates were brilliant too. In fact, when my dd started there in middle school, and I met some of the girls. I was amazed by the impressive work they did.

So you’re an empty nester with a daughter who graduated 11 years ago and still checking and posting on DCUM?

Who said anything about empty nest? Not everyone on DC has one child. Note Holton only has girls. My boys are elsewhere. One boarding and one here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did not go there and neither did my children.

The only thing I can discuss are women that I know IRL who went there - outside counsel, friends, colleagues. None of them are super successful. Just regular worker bees.

How old are they? Holton used to be a pretty unimpressive, not very rigorous school for righ girls who couldn’t get into harder schools like Sidwell or ncs. Or didn’t want to work hard enough to go there. Supposedly it has gotten harder.

That must have been a long long long time ago. By the time I was in private plenty of kids turning down NCS. Sidwell wasn't a big deal yet and so it was really the Cathedral schools that were the top schools then. The Holton students I knew turned out to be really successful. A few are in famous jobs but most of them just successful lawyers, doctors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not difficult at all. My DD was taking the most difficult math and science classes in 9th had straight As with very little effort. She left after 9th and at her new school she had to work so much harder for the same grades. She also said the top girls at Holton were very competitive and did not want to help each other. At my DD's new school the girls are willing to edit papers and share notes.

Which school did she move to?

Not pp but guessing some boarding school like Exeter

Nah. Likely won't get an answer because it's a troll.

LOL Not a troll. I am not outing her, but one of the top private schools in the US.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not difficult at all. My DD was taking the most difficult math and science classes in 9th had straight As with very little effort. She left after 9th and at her new school she had to work so much harder for the same grades. She also said the top girls at Holton were very competitive and did not want to help each other. At my DD's new school the girls are willing to edit papers and share notes.

Which school did she move to?

Not pp but guessing some boarding school like Exeter

Nah. Likely won't get an answer because it's a troll.

LOL Not a troll. I am not outing her, but one of the top private schools in the US.

Sorry to hear about your socially awkward daughter.

[Anonymous]

Why do people have to be mean? Also, it is hard to generalize on a topic this complex and without knowing kids IRL.

Very broadly, with a daughter at Holton, I actually think the upper school really promotes balance for the girls. They recommend most kids not take too many honors and only honors in subjects they are very interested. I think some girls involve themselves in more activities and that time commitment makes getting homework done harder. My daughter has found the school to be collaborative with a lot of peer editing.

So the answer is in the details of the path your daughter chooses: she can make it as hard or as easy as she wants. But I haven’t ever felt the admin pushes the girls to make it hard. It always feels to me they are celebrating varying accomplishments and interests. And I like they have some alternative classes for students looking for an alternative path -sketch up for example - though my kid doesn’t have direct experience with the classes. Also the trimester system makes it a little easier for the girls to fit in electives beyond core requirements than a traditional semester system.

No school is perfect and a lot of what Holton offers is available at other area private and public schools too. This area really has a lot of school choices.


I

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did not go there and neither did my children.

The only thing I can discuss are women that I know IRL who went there - outside counsel, friends, colleagues. None of them are super successful. Just regular worker bees.

How old are they? Holton used to be a pretty unimpressive, not very rigorous school for righ girls who couldn’t get into harder schools like Sidwell or ncs. Or didn’t want to work hard enough to go there. Supposedly it has gotten harder.

Exactly when are you talking about? I'd like a year. Because this trope that gets spread on DCUM does not match the class I graduated with over 30 years ago.
If you are talking about the 1950's then maybe. But any time from the 80s onward this is not true at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did not go there and neither did my children.

The only thing I can discuss are women that I know IRL who went there - outside counsel, friends, colleagues. None of them are super successful. Just regular worker bees.

How old are they? Holton used to be a pretty unimpressive, not very rigorous school for righ girls who couldn’t get into harder schools like Sidwell or ncs. Or didn’t want to work hard enough to go there. Supposedly it has gotten harder.

Exactly when are you talking about? I'd like a year. Because this trope that gets spread on DCUM does not match the class I graduated with over 30 years ago.
If you are talking about the 1950's then maybe. But any time from the 80s onward this is not true at all.

Eh, I think academically Holton is certainly capable of producing excellent students. The school, however, is considered second tier behind the cathedral schools. It's completely understandable why some families would choose Hilton over NCS, and there are plenty of girls that do so, but when considering academic rigor, Holton is a step lower.

[Anonymous]

In terms of plenty of free time, Holton doesn’t do weekend homework. Yes girls will do homework and projects over the weekend to make the week better. They also intentionally focus on girls well being through seminar, school days off, and parent education. I think those who do well are curious interested and driven academically, but also have other interests like sports, music, dance, and other creative arts. Holton cultivates well rounded girls who can (and do) take a break and have fun. There’s parent education around the mental health of girls so we don’t push them past their point. I think any girl who struggles with procrastination in general but falls in love with Holton, their motivation will be high to work hard and succeed. Holton is more about community than competition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did not go there and neither did my children.

The only thing I can discuss are women that I know IRL who went there - outside counsel, friends, colleagues. None of them are super successful. Just regular worker bees.

How old are they? Holton used to be a pretty unimpressive, not very rigorous school for righ girls who couldn’t get into harder schools like Sidwell or ncs. Or didn’t want to work hard enough to go there. Supposedly it has gotten harder.

Exactly when are you talking about? I'd like a year. Because this trope that gets spread on DCUM does not match the class I graduated with over 30 years ago.
If you are talking about the 1950's then maybe. But any time from the 80s onward this is not true at all.

Eh, I think academically Holton is certainly capable of producing excellent students. The school, however, is considered second tier behind the cathedral schools. It's completely understandable why some families would choose Hilton over NCS, and there are plenty of girls that do so, but when considering academic rigor, Holton is a step lower.

What kind of real proof do you have to support this claim?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did not go there and neither did my children.

The only thing I can discuss are women that I know IRL who went there - outside counsel, friends, colleagues. None of them are super successful. Just regular worker bees.

How old are they? Holton used to be a pretty unimpressive, not very rigorous school for righ girls who couldn’t get into harder schools like Sidwell or ncs. Or didn’t want to work hard enough to go there. Supposedly it has gotten harder.

Exactly when are you talking about? I'd like a year. Because this trope that gets spread on DCUM does not match the class I graduated with over 30 years ago.
If you are talking about the 1950's then maybe. But any time from the 80s onward this is not true at all.

Eh, I think academically Holton is certainly capable of producing excellent students. The school, however, is considered second tier behind the cathedral schools. It's completely understandable why some families would choose Hilton over NCS, and there are plenty of girls that do so, but when considering academic rigor, Holton is a step lower.

What kind of real proof do you have to support this claim?

I'd love to know this proof too.

In reality, people seem to think that the schools that have DC addresses are the best simply because they have those zip codes.
It's a bit reminiscent of the days when all the DC area accounting and law firms thought they needed a DC address. Of course, now, many of those businesses have moved to VA.

[Anonymous]

NCS and Holton are very similar in college admissions and prestige but have heard that NCS tends to pile on the homework more.