Thing I wished I probed at HS Open House ....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This isn't something for open house, but, when you are looking at private schools you need to map out your kid's 4-year plan based on the school's requirements. Just because they offer fun electives and tons of APs doesn't mean your kid will have room in their schedule to take them.

This is sound advice for any school, public or private. Look for distribution requirements and other non-obvious limitations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP what school is differentiating between whether a student is entitled to two letters of recommendation vs one? How do they make this decision? Only school I can think of is SJC which has a separate college counseling team for their scholars program. Either way, doesn't seem like a good policy.

I've never heard of a parent complain about this at SJC. Had kids go through scholars and non-scholars. None of them had issues getting into college.

Did your non-scholars kid get two letters of recommendation? Asking because I have a kid interested in SJC and I don't think they will be eligible for scholars.

New policy is that only scholars get 2 unless it is a REQUIREMENT for a school.

Oh, so I guess OP is talking about SJC. That's pretty lame of the school. I never got a good feeling about SJC in general, which is why my kid chose Gonzaga over a presidential scholarship from SJC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP what school is differentiating between whether a student is entitled to two letters of recommendation vs one? How do they make this decision? Only school I can think of is SJC which has a separate college counseling team for their scholars program. Either way, doesn't seem like a good policy.

I've never heard of a parent complain about this at SJC. Had kids go through scholars and non-scholars. None of them had issues getting into college.

Did your non-scholars kid get two letters of recommendation? Asking because I have a kid interested in SJC and I don't think they will be eligible for scholars.

New policy is that only scholars get 2 unless it is a REQUIREMENT for a school.

Oh, so I guess OP is talking about SJC. That's pretty lame of the school. I never got a good feeling about SJC in general, which is why my kid chose Gonzaga over a presidential scholarship from SJC.

Wait, so if your kid is not in the scholars program, they are treated like second class citizens? I imagine this also applies to access to AP courses as well. And how cringy is it that SJC is monitoring dress code using cameras. Creepy to say the least.

[Anonymous]

My non-scholar student took as many APs as they chose to take and has gotten more than one LOR this year because the schools they are applying to all require more than one (though they don’t want you sending than they require). I hadn’t heard about the dress code issue so I take that with a grain of salt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like SJC or GC

Yeah, at our school the question would be: do you have security cameras or any kind of security?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP what school is differentiating between whether a student is entitled to two letters of recommendation vs one? How do they make this decision? Only school I can think of is SJC which has a separate college counseling team for their scholars program. Either way, doesn't seem like a good policy.

I've never heard of a parent complain about this at SJC. Had kids go through scholars and non-scholars. None of them had issues getting into college.

Did your non-scholars kid get two letters of recommendation? Asking because I have a kid interested in SJC and I don't think they will be eligible for scholars.

New policy is that only scholars get 2 unless it is a REQUIREMENT for a school.

I get that they don't want to pile on teachers' workloads, but seems like a strategy not well-suited to a private school that prides itself on getting all graduates into college and touts the amount of scholarship money graduates are offered every year.

DP: Having been through it twice at other schools now, I'm guessing you haven't had a kid apply recently? If colleges only want you to submit one LOR, you should not submit more, so I don't see this policy as an issue. If anything, they are "protecting you from yourself" on that topic.

[Anonymous]

Re dress code violations, these are the kids of things people at talking about when they say "fit." Three schools can have dress codes, but the attitude about the dress code can change the vibe from school to school: one may be strict and police the hallway with a clipboard handing out demerits; one may remind students to tuck in or send them to a lost and found closet to get a belt; and another may allow students to present an argument explaining why their interpretation of the dress code is sound (though the student may ultimately lose the argument that the costume from the play technically has a collar and can be tucked in, and so be requested to comply).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What kind of dress code violations are flagrant enough to be seen on security cameras footage?

At the girls school where I teach the most common dress code violation is sweatpants under their skirt. I am not aware that anyone has monitored that on a camera but it wouldn’t be hard to see.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 12th grader is at a private Catholic School in the area.
I made a bunch of assumptions of the experience based on my older child's HS experience - but times have changed.

I am not happy with the current leadership of the school - so some may say this is sour grapes. But I feel like there are elements that are not aligned with standards around other similar schools and want to support other parents as they work through their decision making.

Ask -
if a child has a free period (1st or last) what are the expectations? school policy changed and my child now has more than 2 hours after their last academic class but can not leave school. students are supposed to be at school every day when the school day starts regardless of if they have a 1st period class
Ask explicitly - what is available for students during their free period associated with block scheduling. When they say meet with teachers ask - are teachers teaching at that time?
Monitoring dress code through security cameras - it is one thing if a teacher/admin "catches" you - but to enforce dress code violations through security footage is ridiculous.
Are all students provided the same access and support of the school for college? Do all students get 2 teacher recommendations or only select students unless you petition for an exception?
What % of students have a class they are waitlisted for each year? How does the school pivot when there is more demand for a core science class than space?

At Sidwell seniors are allowed to arrive late if free period is 1st, but not other years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP what school is differentiating between whether a student is entitled to two letters of recommendation vs one? How do they make this decision? Only school I can think of is SJC which has a separate college counseling team for their scholars program. Either way, doesn't seem like a good policy.

I've never heard of a parent complain about this at SJC. Had kids go through scholars and non-scholars. None of them had issues getting into college.

Did your non-scholars kid get two letters of recommendation? Asking because I have a kid interested in SJC and I don't think they will be eligible for scholars.

New policy is that only scholars get 2 unless it is a REQUIREMENT for a school.

I get that they don't want to pile on teachers' workloads, but seems like a strategy not well-suited to a private school that prides itself on getting all graduates into college and touts the amount of scholarship money graduates are offered every year.

DP: Having been through it twice at other schools now, I'm guessing you haven't had a kid apply recently? If colleges only want you to submit one LOR, you should not submit more, so I don't see this policy as an issue. If anything, they are "protecting you from yourself" on that topic.

Not necessarily. You can send one additional letter. It's only when you overwhelm them with several letters that it could be disqualifying. This is my second time going through it and we sent an extra letter for my oldest. He got into his first choice even with the extra letter.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like OP’s kid attends SR….

Anyone at a school with free periods needs to aka what they’re paying for

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What kind of dress code violations are flagrant enough to be seen on security cameras footage?

At the girls school where I teach the most common dress code violation is sweatpants under their skirt. I am not aware that anyone has monitored that on a camera but it wouldn’t be hard to see.

You mean it’s not a “privilege” for seniors to be allowed to wear sweatpants under their kilt? How will they ever function in society without wearing a kilt?!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like OP’s kid attends SR….

Anyone at a school with free periods needs to aka what they’re paying for

SR college counseling allows two letters of recommendation for each and every senior...so no. It sounds like SJC based on the PP's comment that only scholar program students get 2 letters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like OP’s kid attends SR….

Anyone at a school with free periods needs to aka what they’re paying for

SR college counseling allows two letters of recommendation for each and every senior...so no. It sounds like SJC based on the PP's comment that only scholar program students get 2 letters.

Which other posters have stated is untrue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like OP’s kid attends SR….

Anyone at a school with free periods needs to aka what they’re paying for

SR college counseling allows two letters of recommendation for each and every senior...so no. It sounds like SJC based on the PP's comment that only scholar program students get 2 letters.

Which other posters have stated is untrue.

No they haven’t. The full rule is that they can only send one unless the school requires two. The only non-scholar commenters who said their kids were able to send more than one said the schools required two.