Sidwell vs GDS upper school

[Anonymous]

GDS is stronger in math - has a much better cohort, and faculty that are much more willing to mentor. Sidwell is a little more afraid of outstanding math students, honestly (though they do have some very strong kids). In sciences, my sense is Sidwell is slightly stronger. As for college acceptances, it may be that Sidwell kids feel more competitive, and so strive more to get into the best places. That might account for a better placement; but I don't know the facts on placement. Neither places produce a lot of 4.0s, much less 4.0+ GPAs, and neither have class rank.

[Anonymous]

Cohort varies from year to year. That said, GDS is really excited by/proud of its math/science offerings at the HS, so I think that there's an institutional commitment to play to this strength. It's probably worth checking out the course offerings in science at both schools. For a kid interested in astronomy, astrophysics, environmental sciences, GDS might be the better pick. For a kid interested in biomed, Sidwell might be more appealing.

[Anonymous]

I went to gds and now I have a school age kid. Reading thses messages from gds parents is weird. It's clearly a toally different, hyper status aware place. Who cares about comparisons to sidwell? Stop freaking out. Jesus

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wold pick the one your child liked the best. Splitting hairs here about college placement, etc. Both are top schools.

Sidwell parent here and ITA. Also, I would certainly not pick based on facilities. Yes, Sidwell has a lot of fancy new buildings, but the best thing about the school is really the human capital -- teachers and kids.

[Anonymous]

Another Sidwell parent here. I like both schools, considered them both, accepted at both many years ago, but at the end of the day, I felt that my kid would benefit from a firmer, more structured atmosphere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to gds and now I have a school age kid. Reading thses messages from gds parents is weird. It's clearly a toally different, hyper status aware place. Who cares about comparisons to sidwell? Stop freaking out. Jesus

Who cares? The OP. Which is why people responding are comparing the two schools -- that was the question posed.

[Anonymous]

ttps://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AnukIDABt_JKdDdZYXlQbnFUQ0VfMHRpTFp1SUIxS2c&hl=en&pli=1#gid=0

According to this, GDS is not particularly strong in math

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ttps://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AnukIDABt_JKdDdZYXlQbnFUQ0VfMHRpTFp1SUIxS2c&hl=en&pli=1#gid=0

According to this, GDS is not particularly strong in math

Don't know what the link is to (didn't work for me as-is and required a log-in when I added an h at the beginning), but certainly the kids at GDS who are most into math are exceptionally talented (e.g. the math team does quite well at college invitationals) and the HS curriculum offers courses that extend two years beyond Calc BC.

That said, I don't know how the middle of the pack at GDS compares mathematically to the middle of the pack at Sidwell.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry I can't make the link work. I found the spreadsheet under this thread. ``Which Schools in this area have a strong math curriculum.
10/21/2010 11:42 is where I found these math rankings posted.
1) Sidwell 2) STA 3) NCS 4) Holton 5) GDS 6) Potomac 7) Maret.
I can't vouch for the methodology but it doesn't look like GDS is particularly strong in math...

[Anonymous]

spreadsheet link
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AnukIDABt_JKdDdZYXlQbnFUQ0VfMHRpTFp1SUIxS2c&hl=en&pli=1#gid=11

[Anonymous]

****Just want to let everyone know that the last two pages are full of posts by students themselves, not parents.****

(which to my way of thinking is actually quite valuable).


There's no effing way there are THAT many parents of high school children on DCUM, all with children in either Sidwell or GDS. You know how you can tell? Post a fake question about securing a location for a bar mitzvah/Sweet 16 or needing a GYN sensitive to adolescents. Or, 'What are some economical Study Abroad programs for HS juniors with good supervision?'

You'll get zero or 1 one response -- because there are five actual parents of high schoolers on here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:****Just want to let everyone know that the last two pages are full of posts by students themselves, not parents.****

(which to my way of thinking is actually quite valuable).


There's no effing way there are THAT many parents of high school children on DCUM, all with children in either Sidwell or GDS. You know how you can tell? Post a fake question about securing a location for a bar mitzvah/Sweet 16 or needing a GYN sensitive to adolescents. Or, 'What are some economical Study Abroad programs for HS juniors with good supervision?'

You'll get zero or 1 one response -- because there are five actual parents of high schoolers on here.

And you are ... a parent, or a high schooler yourself?

[Anonymous]

a parent! who's been on DCUM way too long, so long that I can detect speech and tone patterns among posts.

[Anonymous]

Uh, I am a parent and i posted the link. So, you better go back to your speech and tone class. Also, what kid is going to be posting at 11 am. Shouldn't they be in math class?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry I can't make the link work. I found the spreadsheet under this thread. ``Which Schools in this area have a strong math curriculum.
10/21/2010 11:42 is where I found these math rankings posted.
1) Sidwell 2) STA 3) NCS 4) Holton 5) GDS 6) Potomac 7) Maret.
I can't vouch for the methodology but it doesn't look like GDS is particularly strong in math...

If you want to compare curricula, look at curricula. GDS's is available online and I think the chart that shows the various paths/points at which you can accelerate is public access as well.

The spreadsheet is for a series of math competitions that GDS doesn't regularly participate in.