As for the whole Sidwell admissions process....
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Anonymous
Actually this thread was from a year and a half ago. How do you even find old threads like that? |
Anonymous
| You know, every single person I know that got into Sidwell did not take the application process too seriously. Half did not go for one reason or the other (mostly financial). I wonder if you play hard to get, the school wants you more. |
Anonymous
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I think the people who get in don't "play" at all. They adhere to the rules and are polite and sincere. I know folks here think the admissions process was onerous, but we went through it this year and were constantly stunned by how over-the-top competitive the parents were. I think the whole process is designed to weed those people out. So I guess I agree with PP that they don't want people who try TOO hard, but they certainly want people to take it seriously.
The surprise essay, for instance, is to make sure your answers are sincere and you don't spend ridiculous hours debating which extracurricular makes DC sound like the perfect applicant and hiring a consultant to edit it for you. And yet people still managed to cheat. Horrific. I was sort of impressed the whole way through by the school's dedication to getting past all of tha BS. |
Anonymous
| Our experience had been an admission director that gave the presentation while looking at his watch the entire time at the main admission building. We took the tour around the school with a Junior who told us stories about the kids not being able to carry water bottles because they were afraid the kids would be drinking other things such as alcohol. The zen of the school is quite different than you would expect. They try to act like they are just an ordinary school but you can feel the pressure as soon as you walk in. That pressure extends socially also to the haves and the have nots. Too bad they do not recognize where they have come from. |
Anonymous
| My child was rejected by Sidwell for preK, and they now attend Harvard. If one school is not the right fit, then happily embrace the school that is. |
Anonymous
| Wait, is this the annual thread where we all dump on Sidwell to try to scare others away, and thus improve the chances of our own children getting a spot off the wait list? LMK. |
Anonymous
If it is, let's make sure that we add several humblebrags about the unconnected nobodies whose special little guy or gal got admitted! |
Anonymous
And also the humblebrags from the dozens who claim they turned Sidwell down. If just half the people who make that claim are to be believed, then Sidwell must go deep into its waitlist every year! |
Anonymous
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Well both the prior head of school and admissions director, neither of whom had much personality, are gone. Their replacements are great. So the vibe should be better. Also, as the Obama effect peters out, the applicant pool will chill out a little.
Finally, parents may project their own stress and anxieties on the school, but the kids that are actually going there are as happy as kids at any other high level school. |
Anonymous
Sounds awesome! Keep up the good work. |
Anonymous
Did your child graduate from GDS? |
Anonymous
No, they were rejected by GDS also. |
Anonymous
"They" is plural. |
Anonymous
| People don't even bother with rationales to re-open these negative discussions anymore. Okay, the admissions events are crowded because so many people want to attend the school. Whether that's a good reason to dislike the scho (as opposed to the admission process) and not wanting your child to attend there is a judgment that everyone is obviously welcome to make for himself. |
Anonymous
I think that people on these forum use "they" to mask whether their child is a girl or boy. |