Ransom Everglades (Miami) vs DC Privates

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The instagram page for seniors is absolutely insane. @ransomseniors
Even Sidwell pales in comparison to those results. They are out of this world.

Agree it’s pretty impressive… even assuming these kids have hooks/connections/money. There’s a wide variety of elite schools too (as opposed to sending 16 kids to U Chicago)

13, not 16, and the Miami wealth/connections are on another level even compared to Sidwell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The instagram page for seniors is absolutely insane. @ransomseniors
Even Sidwell pales in comparison to those results. They are out of this world.

Agree it’s pretty impressive… even assuming these kids have hooks/connections/money. There’s a wide variety of elite schools too (as opposed to sending 16 kids to U Chicago)

A huge percentage of students at RE are also Hispanic, which gives them a slight bump. Even if affirmative action isn’t technically around, I’m sure markers like the National Hispanic Recognition Program are valuable to AOs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The instagram page for seniors is absolutely insane. @ransomseniors
Even Sidwell pales in comparison to those results. They are out of this world.

Agree it’s pretty impressive… even assuming these kids have hooks/connections/money. There’s a wide variety of elite schools too (as opposed to sending 16 kids to U Chicago)

A huge percentage of students at RE are also Hispanic, which gives them a slight bump. Even if affirmative action isn’t technically around, I’m sure markers like the National Hispanic Recognition Program are valuable to AOs.

The wealthy Hispanic kids are like candy to T20 AOs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The instagram page for seniors is absolutely insane. @ransomseniors
Even Sidwell pales in comparison to those results. They are out of this world.

Agree it’s pretty impressive… even assuming these kids have hooks/connections/money. There’s a wide variety of elite schools too (as opposed to sending 16 kids to U Chicago)

A huge percentage of students at RE are also Hispanic, which gives them a slight bump. Even if affirmative action isn’t technically around, I’m sure markers like the National Hispanic Recognition Program are valuable to AOs.

The wealthy Hispanic kids are like candy to T20 AOs

Yeah, and if their parents went to college in Latin America, they are considered first generation at most schools too.

[Anonymous]

Never heard of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The instagram page for seniors is absolutely insane. @ransomseniors
Even Sidwell pales in comparison to those results. They are out of this world.

Agree it’s pretty impressive… even assuming these kids have hooks/connections/money. There’s a wide variety of elite schools too (as opposed to sending 16 kids to U Chicago)

A huge percentage of students at RE are also Hispanic, which gives them a slight bump. Even if affirmative action isn’t technically around, I’m sure markers like the National Hispanic Recognition Program are valuable to AOs.

I thought about that although a significant number of the names at T10 don’t sound Hispanic (obviously can’t know for sure)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The academics at Ransom are excellent but the culture is very, very different than a DC prep school.

The students and families at RE and other Miami privates are much flashier with money and aren't afraid to let everyone know they're rich.

DC, by contrast, is far more restrained when it comes to showing wealth. It's just considered gauche and rude in DC to show off money.

They have much, much more fun and live bigger in Miami.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The instagram page for seniors is absolutely insane. @ransomseniors
Even Sidwell pales in comparison to those results. They are out of this world.

Y’all love to compare Sidwell to other schools, anywhere in the U.S.

Pales in comparison? 🤣
No. RE has about 55 more seniors than Sidwell, but it’s only sending 11 more students to Ivies than Sidwell. Relax…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Never heard of it.

+1. Is this school in Miami or a neighboring suburb?

[Anonymous]

Belen Jesuit the best private in Miami

[Anonymous]

I'm OP. I called yesterday and they informed me there's 160 seats for 480 applicants. They're expecting 7's and 8's on the SSAT with a strong transcript. It doesn't sound too competitive compared other DC/NYC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm OP. I called yesterday and they informed me there's 160 seats for 480 applicants. They're expecting 7's and 8's on the SSAT with a strong transcript. It doesn't sound too competitive compared other DC/NYC.

Do you have a backup plan?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm OP. I called yesterday and they informed me there's 160 seats for 480 applicants. They're expecting 7's and 8's on the SSAT with a strong transcript. It doesn't sound too competitive compared other DC/NYC.

Do you have a backup plan?

I'm OP again.

Yeah, we are looking at other Miami privates such as Gulliver and Pine Crest. All are difficult to gain admission to. Perhaps we might consider boarding.

Unlike DC privates, Miami privates seem to admit the overwhelming majority of their class in 6th/7th grade and then very small classes ~20 students in the 9th grade. My kid will be in 7th grade next year, so he will miss the natural entry points.

[Anonymous]

Ransom Everglades also has the Breakthrough Miami program on campus. They take quite a few scholarship URMs from there, so that also reduces seats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hmmm wonder if we know each other? I was there a bit past the cocaine cowboys days...but not by much.

It's a very strong school. Many grads in my class off to harvard, yale, etc. There will always be folks at mid-to-lower tier schools too, but their admissions record is strong. It is quite similar to the big three here in that way - you get the super rich/influential folks who get in that way and may end up at UF, and the very smart kids who get in that way. I'd say I had a very positive experience there, and the academics are quite rigorous if they are at all similar to where things were (cough cough) years ago. From what I remember it's like a larger Maret, maybe more rigorous, definitely more 'moderate to conservative.' It is Florida after all. And if you don't like traditional sports...they have sailing and water polo (actually KILLER water polo teams).

Other great schools in the area - Gulliver I think has grown and can be solid, Carrolton (next to ransom) is a good all girls school. There are lots of good private options there.

It's not the schools/teachers...it's the Miami crowd. As you're getting from the other posts...it's a vibe, which has changed since covid days. You'll have some culture shock but it's a great place to live, and coral gables/coconut grove is great.

Anonymous wrote:It is Niche, but hi 👋, probably going to out myself to anyone who knows my background that I'm on here, BUT I will answer your question.

So it is definitely a high quality school that is very comparable to the DC Big 3 in all but historical old guard prestige. My grandmother was a NCS girl but when she and my grandfather moved down to South Florida after graduating from Georgetown law, my grandmother thought none of the private schools were up to snuff at the time. Bear in mind, this was back in the day of the cocaine cowboys and the rest of Florida was a pretty backwaters small town place. Miami was just turning into a place to be and it was a pretty seedy. However, I'm sure we are all aware that air conditioning did a LOT for Florida and now it is a very different place. Miami is a tech and finance hub connecting the Americas. Even before the pandemic, NYC money had been moving down and they brought their prep school ideals with them. At that point money was also coming in from South America, which helped raise sheer numbers as far as kids private schools were serving. So today, the private schools are significantly better than they were when we were kids.

If I had to say one school in DC that Everglades compares to, I would probably say it is if Maret doubled in size with a touch of WIS's global mobility flavor. Most of the money there is going to be International Finance money.

HA maybe🙈 if you knew a girl who told people in the bars that she was from Alaska (because she thought being born and raised there was boring despite having such origin stories as "my parents finally agreed it was time to move to a bigger house when the neighbor's tiger jumped over the fence and bit another neighborhood kid") than you knew my mother slightly past the cocaine cowboy era 🤣 but not to long past she would have been raising kids back in the DMV.

Fully agree with your take especially the part about the culture shock is going to be Miami not Ransom in particular. They are very different places. Money feels and plays differently down there!

I also have eyed up their sailing summer camp for a future potential vacation for us, camp/skill building for DC. Could be a good "testing the waters" idea for OP if they have time to decide. (They have other really cool camps that are different from ours if sailing isn't your game, but boating skills do come in handy more often than you would think).

NP - Just adding some background info on sailing there, since I’ve seen it mentioned several times. The team is one of the top in the country, based in an area that develops many of the best junior sailors. They finished 4th last weekend at a National Championship and have another one next week (2 different types of sailing). Seniors on the team are going to Harvard, Stanford, Georgetown and Penn to sail. Absolutely go learn to sail and try a camp for life skills, but unless you are super strong and 100lbs (to be a crew), it’s going to be a tough team to make without prior experience.