GDS - Wow!

[Anonymous]

If your argument is so strong, then me "picking at" names should present no issue.

https://www.dailycardinal.com/article/2023/10/uw-madison-has-a-selectivity-problem-in-state-students-pay-the-price

Under 20 percent of out of state applicants are admitted, so to me it's laughable that you call it a safety school.

A 3.85/34 is strong. I have kids at GDS, and if either of them applied with those numbers, we'd be thrilled with admission to schools like Wisconsin or comparable in rank, if the fit is right. There are valedictorians around the country with 36 ACT getting shut out of top 20 schools, and you think that Wisconsin would be slumming it for someone with a 34?

[Anonymous]

GDS parent. 3.85 - I am impressed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:What are the sub-standard schools? Where might they have ended up?

Yeah, without any specifics, I call BS.

Sub standard schools = one the parents can’t brag about in social circles

No. It’s the 3.85 pointy kid and a 34 ending up at Wisconsin.
Not ideal.

3.85/34 is on par with Wisconsin. Were you expecting an Ivy with those numbers?

So non-GDS parents can follow: where would 3.85/34 put a student roughly in terms of "class rank". Roughly..

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:GDS college counseling should get a huge raise every year. They by far place all the kids in great colleges. Even the colleges some on this thread got snarky about have a special program that is harder to get into than the said college as a whole. I have talked to families from GDS and it seems everyone feels heard and seems no drama at all.

Some thoughts on this. There has been drama and there are still weak points, but this academic year has been better than the recent past.
The newest college counselor is excellent, by all accounts.
Families don't have direct access to SCOIR data -- everything is mediated through the CCO.
The AP fiasco will have repercussions for this year's junior class. I would not be surprised, given the direction that Dartmouth and others are heading, if GDS's attitude towards national testing (APs, ACTs, SATSs) will be reassessed. The CCO has been eager to ditch the importance of testing, but now that the data is suggesting that the lack of testing actually may hurt diversity efforts, testing will hopefully be emphasized again.
Many GDS families hire a private counselor and keep it on the DL.
Many GDS families hire a tutor for SAT/ACT testing.
GDS has a disproportionately high percentages of parents who are alum at competitive colleges and who are also full pay.
The overall curriculum at GDS aligns well with the current trend of colleges wanting "pointy" kids. Students are encouraged to nurture their unique interests rather than be excellent at everything. (GDS students still need to be solid across the board, but not geniuses in science, literature, sports, and the arts, for ex.)

What's the AP fiasco? Our DCs used to be @ GDS, but are now at another private in another metro area. Their new school does not offer APs, hasn't for years, and doesn't seem an issue for college placements.

Their new school also doesn't offer ANY access to Naviance/SCOIR data to either students or parents.

GDS does not offer AP testing on campus anymore. Students have been scrambling to find places to take AP tests.
This may not be an issue for you, but many GDS students apply to colleges in the UK that require a minimum number of AP tests (with scores in the 4-5 range) to apply.

Many? What's the threshold for many? IDK any of their GDS friends or friends of friends who are studying in the UK. Yeah, some in Canada, but not UK.

Are you suggesting that kids who hold dual citizenship or who have ties to the UK, Europe, or Canada, should not be a concern for the CCO because there are too few students in that category? I'd guess about a dozen of so kids every year apply to schools in the UK, Canada, and Europe. In a class of about 120, that's not an insignificant number if you have 10% of the class strongly considering international colleges. Last year, 7 students matriculated to colleges outside the US, including Cambridge, St. Andrews, McGill, and Toronto.

Curious, what are they studying at Cambridge? We are looking at it this year. Got an offer.

NP. Cambridge Physics. Very impressed. Far superior academic experience as compared to other DC who is a top 5 US college for STEM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one's asking you to out any specific students. I'm trying to find out what schools better than lowly Wisconsin a student with 3.85/34 should be targeting instead.

The way you are asking suggests you want to fight, and will be scornful of any names. Or find a reason to pick at them. The bottom line is, Wisconsin (and others like it) are not the right fit for every student’s safety list.

Why wouldn’t schools like Wisconsin be a good fit for this kid’s profile? Serious question. Every flagship of this caliber has incredible opportunities to offer for bright students (as do most large universities that are not ranked in the same tier as Wisconsin.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:What are the sub-standard schools? Where might they have ended up?

Yeah, without any specifics, I call BS.

Sub standard schools = one the parents can’t brag about in social circles

No. It’s the 3.85 pointy kid and a 34 ending up at Wisconsin.
Not ideal.

3.85/34 is on par with Wisconsin. Were you expecting an Ivy with those numbers?

So non-GDS parents can follow: where would 3.85/34 put a student roughly in terms of "class rank". Roughly..

GDS parent here. A 3.85 kid is really up there. I am not sure how to put the 34 in context. But the 3.85 kids (with everything else in place) will get into very highly ranked schools. It would not make a lot of sense to attend Wisconsin unless the kid really wants that.

[Anonymous]

All depends what the students wants...and wants to study. No horse in this race, but Wisconsin is top 20 and even 15 perhaps in Comp Sci, Real Estate and a few other areas.

All universities have strengths and weaknesses, yes even the "top ranked" ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Now that the initial ED rush has settled, the last few admits look decidedly unimpressive: CU Boulder, Denison, Syracuse, Brandeis. The public that admits almost everyone who can smoke weed, and private universities where the wealthy park their offspring for a degree.

Few things are so clear cut.

For example, Syracuse offers a wide range of programs that vary widely in terms of quality and competitiveness.

On the high end, the Newhouse School is perhaps best in class for communications and media-related studies with a deeply connected and loyal base of alums. Not surprisingly, Newhouse grads tend to go on to phenomenal careers.

It's also way more selective than many other programs at the school (and elsewhere): "Newhouse received approximately 5,000 applications for a first-year class of 425. The typical admitted first-year student has a 3.9 GPA."

https://newhouse.syracuse.edu/

(FWIW, I don't have skin in this game. Our DCs are not at Syracuse. Just reminding PP that there's usually more to a university than it's broad stereotype or general ranking . . . . )

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:St Andrews ends up being on quite a few lists of the reasonably above-average student at GDS. That type of student can get in quite easily at St Andrews if they are full pay. And it is a MUCH better school than the same type of kids' other safeties as pushed by GDS - Wisconsin, Syracuse, VT, Pitt.

Why would St. Andrew's be better? How much brand recognition do you really think that has in the U.S.? Beyond being Kate and Wills' alma mater? I realize DCUM people are into to discussing it...but I never see anyone name checking it in major media in the US except for the Royalty columns. I'm sure it could be a fine school...but...for everyday US jobs...how much of a first impression is it really going to make? It's not Oxbridge!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St Andrews ends up being on quite a few lists of the reasonably above-average student at GDS. That type of student can get in quite easily at St Andrews if they are full pay. And it is a MUCH better school than the same type of kids' other safeties as pushed by GDS - Wisconsin, Syracuse, VT, Pitt.

Why would St. Andrew's be better? How much brand recognition do you really think that has in the U.S.? Beyond being Kate and Wills' alma mater? I realize DCUM people are into to discussing it...but I never see anyone name checking it in major media in the US except for the Royalty columns. I'm sure it could be a fine school...but...for everyday US jobs...how much of a first impression is it really going to make? It's not Oxbridge!

I'm not sure that the kids who go off to St Andrews are looking for everyday US jobs. They frequently are interested in international relations, which is a specialty of the school and much more difficult to get into than other courses offered by St Andrews.

[Anonymous]

These poor kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These poor kids

+1000 So glad my kids don't go to GDS. What awful pressure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These poor kids

+1000 So glad my kids don't go to GDS. What awful pressure.

Unfortunately, this is in no way specific to GDS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These poor kids

+1000 So glad my kids don't go to GDS. What awful pressure.

Unfortunately, this is in no way specific to GDS.

Yep. It’s universal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a current parent I can say that the GDS college counseling is fine, but not stellar. There are some areas of rigidity that can be baffling. It hit us hard that the same few safeties were suggested for a huge number of kids. It did not seem personalized at all. They didn’t try to steer kids toward thinking seriously about fit, and pros and cons of different types of schools. Rather it was Syracuse, Boulder, VT, Pitt for almost all relatively good students who needed safeties on their list. Wisconsin as a target for the same kids. There are so many excellent schools out there for all types of kids. Kids needed those private consultants to tease out other options. (Obvious equity issues here.) GDS counseling wants to just make sure every kid lands somewhere which is a laudable goal, but it is crazy jarring when good students are heavily dissuaded from applying more broadly. This dissatisfaction also ties into the rule that all kids only apply to 10-12, with a large number of safeties. We all know this is a numbers game. This strategy sends a lot of really good students to sub-standard schools (compared with where they could end up if they had the freedom to apply out more broadly

This happens a lot