College Placement Success at Sidwell/GDS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.lotusprep.com/best-high-schools-dc/

"The schools included were Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Williams, Pomona, Swarthmore, Chicago, Johns Hopkins, Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, the University of Chicago, and the University of Pennsylvania."

Why is Chicago written twice? Was there a reason they left off Northwestern? NU is a better college than Cornell. And I'd add Georgetown over both Swarthmore and Pomona. Makes me assume the authors are grads of one of those tiny LAC...

Those "tiny LACs" are better than Georgetown for undergrad. See- Forbes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand how a school with such a small graduating class size (like at a Sidwell or GDS) can send such large numbers of kids to the same top schools. Rumor has it a few years ago that 10 Sidwell kids got into Yale. This year, we heard a similar amount got into Penn and 8-10 into Northwestern (both ED). Similar outcomes rumored at GDS. it's not the getting into good schools that I question, it's the seemingly large numbers getting into the same one or two schools. That doesn't seem possible percentage-wise....or do private school admissions people really have that strong of connections with schools of that caliber? We're considering Sidwell for HS and I don't know if the rumor mill here is working overtime?

Note that Quaker colleges (Upenn, Swarthmore, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, etc) give a nod to grads from Quaker high schools (Sidwell, Friends, Friends School of Baltimore, etc) assuming the student has the other good credentials. The extra nod certainly doesn't hurt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1. Sidwell doesn't face the same competition as New England/NY/Philly Boarding schools do. It is widely known as the best school in the D.C. area, and every top school stops by to recruit/take students from there.
2. Sidwell is quite small, with only 80 or so people in each graduating class. Compare this to Exeter and others, which have 200 or more.
3. By virtue of its small size and lack of competition, Sidwell can take the best students out there. The average SAT/ACT are comparable to that of the lower Ivies, so the student profile is quite strong. Students themselves are also interested in the Ivies to a greater degree than those at other schools, so the numbers look high.

Please check your facts before posting. The graduating classes always have at least 100 and class of 2017 has 122.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree with poster above. Sidwell is a magical place.

I don't know so much about magical but it damn sure gave my DC a top education and definitely will be able to hit the ground running in the fall. It was worth the extra overtime on the job.

[Anonymous]

OP -- most of those rumors are true. This year's Sidwell class is particularly strong, so expect the final results to be even better than in past years. No, it's not just about the college counselor's connections with certain colleges; in fact, the head counselor at Sidwell was new this year. It has more to do with the reputation of the school (and quality of students/legacy status, etc.).

[Anonymous]

The top schools pull from private high schools at a much higher rate than from public schools. Yale for example published the profile of the class entering in the fall. Over 30% are from private schools, which is far higher than the percentage of kids who attend private overall.

[Anonymous]

DC is a wealthy, highly educated area and the elite local independent schools all offer really strong academic programs. The college counselors and teachers don't have any special pull, but they do help students make their best case. Sidwell students don't get an advantage boost because of the Friends origin at Penn, though Friends are advantaged in Sidwell admissions. And all of the Ivy+ (but not all the SLACS) are need blind so being full pay makes no difference.

These students have every advantage in life, so why should it be surprising that they do well in college admissions? Its hard to find a more worldly, well-travelled bunch of high schoolers than at the top local independents. Unlike the public magnets, they are not dominated by children of first generation immigrants, so the students have a lot more social capital to navigate the process and make their cases. They know how to exhibit the intangibles that influence holistic admissions that go beyond test scores and grades. And, legacy is a plus (though most legacy are rejected) and, judging from my DC's friends, maybe half of the class is legacy somewhere. In fact, Sidwell (but none of the others) used to ask where parents went to college in the admissions process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC is a wealthy, highly educated area and the elite local independent schools all offer really strong academic programs. The college counselors and teachers don't have any special pull, but they do help students make their best case. Sidwell students don't get an advantage boost because of the Friends origin at Penn, though Friends are advantaged in Sidwell admissions. And all of the Ivy+ (but not all the SLACS) are need blind so being full pay makes no difference.

These students have every advantage in life, so why should it be surprising that they do well in college admissions? Its hard to find a more worldly, well-travelled bunch of high schoolers than at the top local independents. Unlike the public magnets, they are not dominated by children of first generation immigrants, so the students have a lot more social capital to navigate the process and make their cases. They know how to exhibit the intangibles that influence holistic admissions that go beyond test scores and grades. And, legacy is a plus (though most legacy are rejected) and, judging from my DC's friends, maybe half of the class is legacy somewhere. In fact, Sidwell (but none of the others) used to ask where parents went to college in the admissions process.

Not true that none of the other privates asked where the parents went to college. DC attended Sidwell and another well known area private that DID ask where the parents attended.

[Anonymous]

Simple, these schools breed strong students.

[Anonymous]

Does Sidwell publish matriculations?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.lotusprep.com/best-high-schools-dc/

"The schools included were Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Williams, Pomona, Swarthmore, Chicago, Johns Hopkins, Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, the University of Chicago, and the University of Pennsylvania."

Why is Chicago written twice? Was there a reason they left off Northwestern? NU is a better college than Cornell. And I'd add Georgetown over both Swarthmore and Pomona. Makes me assume the authors are grads of one of those tiny LAC...

Those "tiny LACs" are better than Georgetown for undergrad. See- Forbes.

+1 And see just about any published list of college rankings

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree with poster above. Sidwell is a magical place.

gag me with a spoon

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here the thing, a lot of those kids were going to go to those schools no matter where they went. It's not the high school. It's the students(and families) and their connections. If you have no connections, you better be one of the top 10 students in the class.

This. I have a friend who's very smart child went to William and Mary after Sidwell. None of the parent are ivy legacy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Simple, these schools breed strong students.

I think, overall, students are average. It's just there are more legacy parents with money in these schools that definitely helps to swing the scale. If you take kids from the TJ, a lot of them get accepted to ivys, but not too many actually going there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here the thing, a lot of those kids were going to go to those schools no matter where they went. It's not the high school. It's the students(and families) and their connections. If you have no connections, you better be one of the top 10 students in the class.

This. I have a friend who's very smart child went to William and Mary after Sidwell. None of the parent are ivy legacy.

And for every story like this, there's the unhooked Sidwell grad at Princeton and Yale.