Where does a 3.5 Sidwell kid end up going to college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Assuming mostly advanced-level classes, plus decent extracurriculars. Just trying to get my expectations in the right place.

wherever the parents consistently donated to and know board members.

[Anonymous]

What is considered a hook when it comes to ECs?

[Anonymous]

I think the only real EC hook is athletic recruitment.

[Anonymous]

to a much better school than a 3.5 public school student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the only real EC hook is athletic recruitment.

We know someone recruited to Harvard for debate from a W. school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the only real EC hook is athletic recruitment.

We know someone recruited to Harvard for debate from a W. school.

I am not sure what the Sidwell parent could mean by this. Harvard does not recruit for its Debate team, as it does not recruit for its Model United Nations team, the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club, The Crimson, the Jazz Bands, or the Collegium Musicum. In that sense those student activities and organizations are different than the Harvard Athletics teams, which coaches do actually recruit for, although they do not provide any athletic scholarships to students. However, these types of activities and interests can be characterized as meaningful extracurriculars or 'hooks' that may help a candidate to stand out in her or his application. I suppose the Director of Choral Activities could - but likely does not (?) - let the Admissions Office know that they need more voices in a certain year, and I do not doubt that some students may reach out to the Director of the Harvard Band to let her or him know they are applying and can play the rare tuba. The student you know who was admitted to Harvard may have been an attractive candidate because they were a good high school debater, but was probably not technically recruited to debate for the university.

[Anonymous]

That is not true. A mid-level student at Sidwell is going to end up at some mid-tier SLAC or a state school such as UMD

Anonymous wrote:Pretty much where she or he wants to go barring the very top tier (HPY/Stanford).

A solid B student at Sidwell or STA/NCS pretty much has their pick of all but the very, very top academic institutions unless they have legacy status or another extra hook to help them get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

That is not true. A mid-level student at Sidwell is going to end up at some mid-tier SLAC or a state school such as UMD

Anonymous wrote:Pretty much where she or he wants to go barring the very top tier (HPY/Stanford).

A solid B student at Sidwell or STA/NCS pretty much has their pick of all but the very, very top academic institutions unless they have legacy status or another extra hook to help them get in.

Neither is quite true, when you consider the fact that 25% of the class ends up at Ivy League schools plus MIT and Stanford -- and not strictly the top 25% by GPA. The middle two quartiles, some of whom are included in the aforementioned group, can often make it into highly selective schools as well.

[Anonymous]

Really depends on the SAT scores with those mid-level grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the only real EC hook is athletic recruitment.

We know someone recruited to Harvard for debate from a W. school.

If you know a student who was "recruited to Harvard for debate from a W[ashington] school", I assume that school would likely be GDS, as it is the only private school in DC itself that competes in policy debate on the national circuit.

[Anonymous]

Virginia Tech

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

That is not true. A mid-level student at Sidwell is going to end up at some mid-tier SLAC or a state school such as UMD

Anonymous wrote:Pretty much where she or he wants to go barring the very top tier (HPY/Stanford).

A solid B student at Sidwell or STA/NCS pretty much has their pick of all but the very, very top academic institutions unless they have legacy status or another extra hook to help them get in.

It depends on a lot of factors. I would agree that a solid B student -- mostly B and B+ grades -- would have a hard time ending up at top universities or LACs. At the same time, the 3.5 kid with great test scores, strong ECs, and some advanced classes should have very good options.

[Anonymous]

What counts as great test scores? I'd say 1500+ SAT and 34+ ACT, but I'd be interested in other opinions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the only real EC hook is athletic recruitment.

We know someone recruited to Harvard for debate from a W. school.

and that former debate coach at Northwestern. He has like 5 SCOTUS clerks in his alumni group!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the only real EC hook is athletic recruitment.

We know someone recruited to Harvard for debate from a W. school.

If you know a student who was "recruited to Harvard for debate from a W[ashington] school", I assume that school would likely be GDS, as it is the only private school in DC itself that competes in policy debate on the national circuit.

Not to mentioned GDS's track record of sending a lot of its students to Harvard.