Top Tier

[Anonymous]

I was reading the blog Urban Baby which is very similiar to our dear DC Urban Moms and Dads. There was a thread about Top Tier schools in NY. Which schools in the DC area are considered Top Tier or is that the same as our Big Three?

[Anonymous]

First tier is the same as the "Big Three".

Second tier would be schools like Maret, WIS, Lowell, etc.

[Anonymous]

Although in terms of difficulty for admissions (small size) Maret has been included in the "Big 3" (or big 4) discussion.

[Anonymous]

Is top tier differentiated between lower and upper schools? What are considered the top tier elementary schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is top tier differentiated between lower and upper schools? What are considered the top tier elementary schools?

They're all the same. The only confusion for some is the Cathedral School group (Beauvoir, STA, NCS).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is top tier differentiated between lower and upper schools? What are considered the top tier elementary schools?

They're all the same. The only confusion for some is the Cathedral School group (Beauvoir, STA, NCS).

What is so confusing about the Cathedral schools and their placement in the Top Tier category? Are all the Cathedral schools considered top tier (STA, NCS, and Beauvoir)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Although in terms of difficulty for admissions (small size) Maret has been included in the "Big 3" (or big 4) discussion.

Yes, but - unlike colleges where that is a determining factor - the "tier" descriptions for high schools are usually based on their college exmissions records. And the "tier" rating for a preschool or elementary school would likely generally be used based on admission to the upper schools with the best college exmissions records.

Keep in mind that none of it has to do with the appropriateness of fit for a given child.

[Anonymous]

Face it, ladies, the "top tier" is 1) whatever school your child(ren) attends, and 2) the ones that you were not admitted to. This is such a matter of personal opinion and no matter what the literature, AD directors and local gossip says, there is no true objective listing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Face it, ladies, the "top tier" is 1) whatever school your child(ren) attends, and 2) the ones that you were not admitted to. This is such a matter of personal opinion and no matter what the literature, AD directors and local gossip says, there is no true objective listing.

Perhaps this is meant to be humorous but it comes across as quite condescending ("ladies"? and "gossip"?). Thanks anyway, but all of us are aware that this is an issue of perception - perception informed by the realities of the exmissions records of the various schools.

[Anonymous]

I agree with PP 21:00 and do not think what she says is condescending, just tongue-in-cheek humorous. Truly, no one on these boards agress on which schools are top tier, second tier or third tier. It is also really difficult to rank WDC schools because we have some that are N/PK thru 3rd or 6th or 8th and some 3rd or 4th thru 12th and a few PK or K thru 12th. The ones called "top 3" on this boards are usually in the last group or second group because its easiest to cite facts like college exmissions (that includes the "Cathedral threesome"). Regardless, the WDC school field is VERY different from NYC and much harder to qualify into tiers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is top tier differentiated between lower and upper schools? What are considered the top tier elementary schools?

They're all the same. The only confusion for some is the Cathedral School group (Beauvoir, STA, NCS).

What is so confusing about the Cathedral schools and their placement in the Top Tier category? Are all the Cathedral schools considered top tier (STA, NCS, and Beauvoir)?

For those new to the private school scene, it is not immediately apparent that Beauvoir (which is the most discussed of the Cathedral schools on DCUM), NCS and STA are synonymous for the "tier" purposes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with PP 21:00 and do not think what she says is condescending, just tongue-in-cheek humorous. Truly, no one on these boards agress on which schools are top tier, second tier or third tier. It is also really difficult to rank WDC schools because we have some that are N/PK thru 3rd or 6th or 8th and some 3rd or 4th thru 12th and a few PK or K thru 12th. The ones called "top 3" on this boards are usually in the last group or second group because its easiest to cite facts like college exmissions (that includes the "Cathedral threesome"). Regardless, the WDC school field is VERY different from NYC and much harder to qualify into tiers.

Having moved here from NYC, I have to respectfully disagree with this. The situations in NYC and DC with respect to private schools share more in common than they differ. The biggest differences are that there are better public options in NYC than in DC (although not true vis a vis Montgomery County or areas of Virginia). And the NYC top tier schools are far, far more difficult to get into than the ones in DC simply by order of magnitude (from what I understand there are approx 300 or so applications for 30ish spots here, versus around 800-1200 for 30-40 spots at the school in NYC - and then you have the whole Seinfeld-type parents who donate $10 million wings to their daughter's school of choice, etc.). In addition, there actually seems to be a remarkable level of consensus about the "top tier" privates in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with PP 21:00 and do not think what she says is condescending, just tongue-in-cheek humorous. Truly, no one on these boards agress on which schools are top tier, second tier or third tier. It is also really difficult to rank WDC schools because we have some that are N/PK thru 3rd or 6th or 8th and some 3rd or 4th thru 12th and a few PK or K thru 12th. The ones called "top 3" on this boards are usually in the last group or second group because its easiest to cite facts like college exmissions (that includes the "Cathedral threesome"). Regardless, the WDC school field is VERY different from NYC and much harder to qualify into tiers.

Having moved here from NYC, I have to respectfully disagree with this. The situations in NYC and DC with respect to private schools share more in common than they differ. The biggest differences are that there are better public options in NYC than in DC (although not true vis a vis Montgomery County or areas of Virginia). And the NYC top tier schools are far, far more difficult to get into than the ones in DC simply by order of magnitude (from what I understand there are approx 300 or so applications for 30ish spots here, versus around 800-1200 for 30-40 spots at the school in NYC - and then you have the whole Seinfeld-type parents who donate $10 million wings to their daughter's school of choice, etc.). In addition, there actually seems to be a remarkable level of consensus about the "top tier" privates in DC.

What's your view on the NYC top tier?

[Anonymous]

What is the consenus about the DC Top Tier Schools? Please identify the schools in the DC top tier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the consenus about the DC Top Tier Schools? Please identify the schools in the DC top tier.

Cathedral Schools (Beauvoir, STA, NCS)

Sidwell

GDS