NCS Parents - "I wish I had known x" type advice.

[Anonymous]

I wish someone with some power at the school would read this thread. I have long felt admissions was part of the problem.

[Anonymous]

Interesting pp. My dd applied several years ago to the middle school and the admissions person was really quite rude/snobbish. She had a set of twin boys who I understand caused her quite a bit of trouble. I guess what goes around does come around.

The woman looked us up and down and must have decided we weren't NCS material. Joke is on her...my child is at an Ivy now and I understand her boys didn't end up anywhere near that from the beloved STA.

[Anonymous]

We had the same experience that 9:53 had with the middle school admissions person. She seemed to have a visible, visceral negative reaction to DD and to us parents, who are humble government workers who present well, but apparently not well enough. DD got into NCS, but I'm one of the PPs above who mentioned that NCS also took our private's meanest girl, and between that and the negative vibes from the AD, DD wanted to go elsewhere and we didn't stop her. Our DD too is now headed to an ivy.

[Anonymous]

Congrats to your dd pp. I was the pp to you. Nice that the Ivies aren't as snobbish as that NCS woman!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Congrats to your dd pp. I was the pp to you. Nice that the Ivies aren't as snobbish as that NCS woman!

Congrats to your DD, too! I was really taken aback at the interview, quite frankly.

[Anonymous]

Where did your girls end up if you don't mind my asking?

[Anonymous]

For HS I meant

[Anonymous]

I am an NCS parent and am not a cheerleader for the school by any means. I think it is only a good fit for certain girls and is not a touchy feely environment at all. However, for purposes of balance I feel bound to mention that my DD chose NCS in part to get away from the girls who were bullies at her former school who were at Maret and GDS. So, while there certainly are difficult girls who make their way into NCS (although I do feel like the school does a good job of keeping those girls from taking over and doing anything to the other girls) it is a problem that plagues all the local middle/high schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where did your girls end up if you don't mind my asking?

I guess I'd prefer not to answer because DD might be recognizable. Not Holton, if that's what you were wondering.

[Anonymous]

Pp, do you think a coed environment reduces the intensity? Or better, defuses it into multiple smaller problems?

[Anonymous]

We didn't even look at NCS because I'd heard horror stories about a particular student's experience there. We haven't had any "mean girl" bullying problems at Maret. DD absolutely adores it!

[Anonymous]

Thanks! It's nice to find some nice folks on DCUM. I was also really taken aback by that interview. I have to say that even though my DH and I have been really successful (thank God!) -- I felt really bad at NCS with that woman since I came from a really poor family and I think sometimes I am still intimidated by snobbish blue bloods.

For another poster who asked where my DD went to school -- another elite private here. It might i.d. dd too much if I said which one...just another elite one.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Congrats to your dd pp. I was the pp to you. Nice that the Ivies aren't as snobbish as that NCS woman!

Congrats to your DD, too! I was really taken aback at the interview, quite frankly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Thanks! It's nice to find some nice folks on DCUM. I was also really taken aback by that interview. I have to say that even though my DH and I have been really successful (thank God!) -- I felt really bad at NCS with that woman since I came from a really poor family and I think sometimes I am still intimidated by snobbish blue bloods.

For another poster who asked where my DD went to school -- another elite private here. It might i.d. dd too much if I said which one...just another elite one.

I'm 10:17 and we ARE blue bloods, despite the two government jobs. DH, who is really good looking, can pull off the Brooks Brothers thing really well and I wore my most expensive ($400) dress to all the interviews. At the time I wondered I'd the AD didn't realize that family money would be paying the tuition, which is not something we thought we had to volunteer. Reading these comments makes me think the problem was just unpleasantness on her side instead of anything we did or didn't do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am an NCS parent and am not a cheerleader for the school by any means. I think it is only a good fit for certain girls and is not a touchy feely environment at all. However, for purposes of balance I feel bound to mention that my DD chose NCS in part to get away from the girls who were bullies at her former school who were at Maret and GDS. So, while there certainly are difficult girls who make their way into NCS (although I do feel like the school does a good job of keeping those girls from taking over and doing anything to the other girls) it is a problem that plagues all the local middle/high schools.

I'm an NCS parent, too. My daughter loves the school. After reading the horror stories on this thread I asked her if there were mean girls and bullies at the school. She said no. That doesn't mean that they aren't there, but I think it is worth noting that the negative experiences being reported on this thread are, in my opinion, unrepresentative.

Unfortunately, if someone is reading the "NCS Parents - 'I wish I had known x' type advice" for actual advice, they are out of luck.

Just visit the school and judge for yourself.

[Anonymous]

10:57 again. To be clear, I think the school has a lot to offer students in the way of a great education and great teachers, at least from what we learned while applying. I also think single-sex education has some benefits. I just think there's something a little broken about the admissions process, even though they accepted DD.