DCPS Selective HSs: What to know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For Walls, you really, really need to understand that there is a massive amount of luck involved, even if your kid wildly exceeds the baseline stuff.

That is what parents say with no accountability. My child is not even in Walls and I am fairly confident they are in the running because they have a massive extracurricular load in addition to the standard 4.0. This discussion is the same for college admissions. It is kind of interesting that the answers to the test are available but people don't want to see it. Develop well rounded humans and the process will recognize them. Focus on metrics and validation of their mental superiority and the process will not.

Ugh, I hope for their sake that your kid gets into Walls, and then into whatever elite college you’re so sure they’ll get into without a decent SAT score.

The fact is that some of the most well-rounded kids I know got in to Walls — and some of the most well-rounded kids I know were rejected. The admissions process at Walls is a jury-rigged, fly-by-night operation compared to admissions at an elite college. That inevitably introduces a lot of randomness into the process.

This, kids with EC and top grades did not get in. There is no transparency and rhyme or reason. It’s totally random and luck.
You have no control over it, no matter now great an applicant your kid is.

Don’t rely on it and make sure you have other options or even better, of better options, move on.

For Walls, ECs don't matter at all for admissions, per Walls staff during the school open house.

Agree and grades are only 10% and they don’t look at what courses you took at all.

My god so recommendations and interview account for 90% of admissions??

That is crazy and so subjective.

Well no. There is a GPA cutoff first. So those things, as well as the essay, account for most of it *after* the GPA cutoff is applied.

There is so much grade inflation in DCPS that grades are just not enough. You need to be looking at courses and have some type of standardized objective testing.

I also bet the interview weighs a ton more in the 60% then the required “essay”

How can you call Walls a selective school when the admissions criteria is not objective at all. Let’s call it the whim of the admissions committee to be more accurate.

I do find it maddeningly subjective and squishy. But it's just not correct to say grades don't matter. And at my kid's school, there absolutely are parents sweating the 3.5 GPA cutoff.

The grades are so school dependent too. Lots of the charters talked about on here don’t grade inflate.

Best shot at getting the highest grade is going to DCPS middle school and taking the easiest courses. Done and easy. This helps no one because it is easy to game the system, and why you see the academic cohort getting weaker at Walls along with such subjective admissions criteria.

Take the easiest courses? Except for math and language choice, all kids at Deal take the same classes. Where are these MSs where kids can "game the system" like this?

Also, I doubt that parents are doing this. Walls isn't a guarantee, so there's an incentive for bright kids to take classes at the appropriate level if they want to apply to private, or take APs in HS, and I can't see parents who care about their kids' education letting them do this.

I personally know many kids at my children’s dcps middle who purposely took the easiest courses to get good grades. No “honors” anything. I’m angry that I pushed my kid to take the hardest classes that did result in a few Bs, but I also don’t think my kid is missing out on much. I’d rather have a prepared kid for college.

I don't know why you're angry (or how you know this about "many" kids).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For Walls, you really, really need to understand that there is a massive amount of luck involved, even if your kid wildly exceeds the baseline stuff.

That is what parents say with no accountability. My child is not even in Walls and I am fairly confident they are in the running because they have a massive extracurricular load in addition to the standard 4.0. This discussion is the same for college admissions. It is kind of interesting that the answers to the test are available but people don't want to see it. Develop well rounded humans and the process will recognize them. Focus on metrics and validation of their mental superiority and the process will not.

Ugh, I hope for their sake that your kid gets into Walls, and then into whatever elite college you’re so sure they’ll get into without a decent SAT score.

The fact is that some of the most well-rounded kids I know got in to Walls — and some of the most well-rounded kids I know were rejected. The admissions process at Walls is a jury-rigged, fly-by-night operation compared to admissions at an elite college. That inevitably introduces a lot of randomness into the process.

This, kids with EC and top grades did not get in. There is no transparency and rhyme or reason. It’s totally random and luck.
You have no control over it, no matter now great an applicant your kid is.

Don’t rely on it and make sure you have other options or even better, of better options, move on.

For Walls, ECs don't matter at all for admissions, per Walls staff during the school open house.

Agree and grades are only 10% and they don’t look at what courses you took at all.

My god so recommendations and interview account for 90% of admissions??

That is crazy and so subjective.

Well no. There is a GPA cutoff first. So those things, as well as the essay, account for most of it *after* the GPA cutoff is applied.

There is so much grade inflation in DCPS that grades are just not enough. You need to be looking at courses and have some type of standardized objective testing.

I also bet the interview weighs a ton more in the 60% then the required “essay”

How can you call Walls a selective school when the admissions criteria is not objective at all. Let’s call it the whim of the admissions committee to be more accurate.

I do find it maddeningly subjective and squishy. But it's just not correct to say grades don't matter. And at my kid's school, there absolutely are parents sweating the 3.5 GPA cutoff.

The grades are so school dependent too. Lots of the charters talked about on here don’t grade inflate.

Best shot at getting the highest grade is going to DCPS middle school and taking the easiest courses. Done and easy. This helps no one because it is easy to game the system, and why you see the academic cohort getting weaker at Walls along with such subjective admissions criteria.

Take the easiest courses? Except for math and language choice, all kids at Deal take the same classes. Where are these MSs where kids can "game the system" like this?

Also, I doubt that parents are doing this. Walls isn't a guarantee, so there's an incentive for bright kids to take classes at the appropriate level if they want to apply to private, or take APs in HS, and I can't see parents who care about their kids' education letting them do this.

I personally know many kids at my children’s dcps middle who purposely took the easiest courses to get good grades. No “honors” anything. I’m angry that I pushed my kid to take the hardest classes that did result in a few Bs, but I also don’t think my kid is missing out on much. I’d rather have a prepared kid for college.

I don't know why you're angry (or how you know this about "many" kids).

I do know it. It was a hot topic in my parents group chat. I can’t believe the parents who told their kids to take the easiest classes (who am I kidding the kids were super happy about this) were right. So here’s your advice- take the easiest classes at your dcps and get As. Trust me you’ll get an A for attendance anyway. You’re a sure fire admit at walls!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For Walls, you really, really need to understand that there is a massive amount of luck involved, even if your kid wildly exceeds the baseline stuff.

That is what parents say with no accountability. My child is not even in Walls and I am fairly confident they are in the running because they have a massive extracurricular load in addition to the standard 4.0. This discussion is the same for college admissions. It is kind of interesting that the answers to the test are available but people don't want to see it. Develop well rounded humans and the process will recognize them. Focus on metrics and validation of their mental superiority and the process will not.

Ugh, I hope for their sake that your kid gets into Walls, and then into whatever elite college you’re so sure they’ll get into without a decent SAT score.

The fact is that some of the most well-rounded kids I know got in to Walls — and some of the most well-rounded kids I know were rejected. The admissions process at Walls is a jury-rigged, fly-by-night operation compared to admissions at an elite college. That inevitably introduces a lot of randomness into the process.

This, kids with EC and top grades did not get in. There is no transparency and rhyme or reason. It’s totally random and luck.
You have no control over it, no matter now great an applicant your kid is.

Don’t rely on it and make sure you have other options or even better, of better options, move on.

For Walls, ECs don't matter at all for admissions, per Walls staff during the school open house.

Agree and grades are only 10% and they don’t look at what courses you took at all.

My god so recommendations and interview account for 90% of admissions??

That is crazy and so subjective.

Well no. There is a GPA cutoff first. So those things, as well as the essay, account for most of it *after* the GPA cutoff is applied.

There is so much grade inflation in DCPS that grades are just not enough. You need to be looking at courses and have some type of standardized objective testing.

I also bet the interview weighs a ton more in the 60% then the required “essay”

How can you call Walls a selective school when the admissions criteria is not objective at all. Let’s call it the whim of the admissions committee to be more accurate.

I do find it maddeningly subjective and squishy. But it's just not correct to say grades don't matter. And at my kid's school, there absolutely are parents sweating the 3.5 GPA cutoff.

The grades are so school dependent too. Lots of the charters talked about on here don’t grade inflate.

Best shot at getting the highest grade is going to DCPS middle school and taking the easiest courses. Done and easy. This helps no one because it is easy to game the system, and why you see the academic cohort getting weaker at Walls along with such subjective admissions criteria.

Take the easiest courses? Except for math and language choice, all kids at Deal take the same classes. Where are these MSs where kids can "game the system" like this?

Also, I doubt that parents are doing this. Walls isn't a guarantee, so there's an incentive for bright kids to take classes at the appropriate level if they want to apply to private, or take APs in HS, and I can't see parents who care about their kids' education letting them do this.

I personally know many kids at my children’s dcps middle who purposely took the easiest courses to get good grades. No “honors” anything. I’m angry that I pushed my kid to take the hardest classes that did result in a few Bs, but I also don’t think my kid is missing out on much. I’d rather have a prepared kid for college.

The big news in this comment is that there is now a DCPS middle school that has honors classes. Pray tell, which one?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For Walls, you really, really need to understand that there is a massive amount of luck involved, even if your kid wildly exceeds the baseline stuff.

That is what parents say with no accountability. My child is not even in Walls and I am fairly confident they are in the running because they have a massive extracurricular load in addition to the standard 4.0. This discussion is the same for college admissions. It is kind of interesting that the answers to the test are available but people don't want to see it. Develop well rounded humans and the process will recognize them. Focus on metrics and validation of their mental superiority and the process will not.

Ugh, I hope for their sake that your kid gets into Walls, and then into whatever elite college you’re so sure they’ll get into without a decent SAT score.

The fact is that some of the most well-rounded kids I know got in to Walls — and some of the most well-rounded kids I know were rejected. The admissions process at Walls is a jury-rigged, fly-by-night operation compared to admissions at an elite college. That inevitably introduces a lot of randomness into the process.

This, kids with EC and top grades did not get in. There is no transparency and rhyme or reason. It’s totally random and luck.
You have no control over it, no matter now great an applicant your kid is.

Don’t rely on it and make sure you have other options or even better, of better options, move on.

For Walls, ECs don't matter at all for admissions, per Walls staff during the school open house.

Agree and grades are only 10% and they don’t look at what courses you took at all.

My god so recommendations and interview account for 90% of admissions??

That is crazy and so subjective.

Well no. There is a GPA cutoff first. So those things, as well as the essay, account for most of it *after* the GPA cutoff is applied.

There is so much grade inflation in DCPS that grades are just not enough. You need to be looking at courses and have some type of standardized objective testing.

I also bet the interview weighs a ton more in the 60% then the required “essay”

How can you call Walls a selective school when the admissions criteria is not objective at all. Let’s call it the whim of the admissions committee to be more accurate.

I do find it maddeningly subjective and squishy. But it's just not correct to say grades don't matter. And at my kid's school, there absolutely are parents sweating the 3.5 GPA cutoff.

The grades are so school dependent too. Lots of the charters talked about on here don’t grade inflate.

Best shot at getting the highest grade is going to DCPS middle school and taking the easiest courses. Done and easy. This helps no one because it is easy to game the system, and why you see the academic cohort getting weaker at Walls along with such subjective admissions criteria.

Take the easiest courses? Except for math and language choice, all kids at Deal take the same classes. Where are these MSs where kids can "game the system" like this?

Also, I doubt that parents are doing this. Walls isn't a guarantee, so there's an incentive for bright kids to take classes at the appropriate level if they want to apply to private, or take APs in HS, and I can't see parents who care about their kids' education letting them do this.

I personally know many kids at my children’s dcps middle who purposely took the easiest courses to get good grades. No “honors” anything. I’m angry that I pushed my kid to take the hardest classes that did result in a few Bs, but I also don’t think my kid is missing out on much. I’d rather have a prepared kid for college.

I don't know why you're angry (or how you know this about "many" kids).

I do know it. It was a hot topic in my parents group chat. I can’t believe the parents who told their kids to take the easiest classes (who am I kidding the kids were super happy about this) were right. So here’s your advice- take the easiest classes at your dcps and get As. Trust me you’ll get an A for attendance anyway. You’re a sure fire admit at walls!

Except that you're NOT a surefire admit for Walls. I know straight-A students who didn’t get in. So that's dumb advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For Walls, you really, really need to understand that there is a massive amount of luck involved, even if your kid wildly exceeds the baseline stuff.

That is what parents say with no accountability. My child is not even in Walls and I am fairly confident they are in the running because they have a massive extracurricular load in addition to the standard 4.0. This discussion is the same for college admissions. It is kind of interesting that the answers to the test are available but people don't want to see it. Develop well rounded humans and the process will recognize them. Focus on metrics and validation of their mental superiority and the process will not.

Ugh, I hope for their sake that your kid gets into Walls, and then into whatever elite college you’re so sure they’ll get into without a decent SAT score.

The fact is that some of the most well-rounded kids I know got in to Walls — and some of the most well-rounded kids I know were rejected. The admissions process at Walls is a jury-rigged, fly-by-night operation compared to admissions at an elite college. That inevitably introduces a lot of randomness into the process.

This, kids with EC and top grades did not get in. There is no transparency and rhyme or reason. It’s totally random and luck.
You have no control over it, no matter now great an applicant your kid is.

Don’t rely on it and make sure you have other options or even better, of better options, move on.

For Walls, ECs don't matter at all for admissions, per Walls staff during the school open house.

Agree and grades are only 10% and they don’t look at what courses you took at all.

My god so recommendations and interview account for 90% of admissions??

That is crazy and so subjective.

Well no. There is a GPA cutoff first. So those things, as well as the essay, account for most of it *after* the GPA cutoff is applied.

There is so much grade inflation in DCPS that grades are just not enough. You need to be looking at courses and have some type of standardized objective testing.

I also bet the interview weighs a ton more in the 60% then the required “essay”

How can you call Walls a selective school when the admissions criteria is not objective at all. Let’s call it the whim of the admissions committee to be more accurate.

I do find it maddeningly subjective and squishy. But it's just not correct to say grades don't matter. And at my kid's school, there absolutely are parents sweating the 3.5 GPA cutoff.

The grades are so school dependent too. Lots of the charters talked about on here don’t grade inflate.

Best shot at getting the highest grade is going to DCPS middle school and taking the easiest courses. Done and easy. This helps no one because it is easy to game the system, and why you see the academic cohort getting weaker at Walls along with such subjective admissions criteria.

Take the easiest courses? Except for math and language choice, all kids at Deal take the same classes. Where are these MSs where kids can "game the system" like this?

Also, I doubt that parents are doing this. Walls isn't a guarantee, so there's an incentive for bright kids to take classes at the appropriate level if they want to apply to private, or take APs in HS, and I can't see parents who care about their kids' education letting them do this.

I personally know many kids at my children’s dcps middle who purposely took the easiest courses to get good grades. No “honors” anything. I’m angry that I pushed my kid to take the hardest classes that did result in a few Bs, but I also don’t think my kid is missing out on much. I’d rather have a prepared kid for college.

The big news in this comment is that there is now a DCPS middle school that has honors classes. Pray tell, which one?

Right? What school is this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For Walls, you really, really need to understand that there is a massive amount of luck involved, even if your kid wildly exceeds the baseline stuff.

That is what parents say with no accountability. My child is not even in Walls and I am fairly confident they are in the running because they have a massive extracurricular load in addition to the standard 4.0. This discussion is the same for college admissions. It is kind of interesting that the answers to the test are available but people don't want to see it. Develop well rounded humans and the process will recognize them. Focus on metrics and validation of their mental superiority and the process will not.

Ugh, I hope for their sake that your kid gets into Walls, and then into whatever elite college you’re so sure they’ll get into without a decent SAT score.

The fact is that some of the most well-rounded kids I know got in to Walls — and some of the most well-rounded kids I know were rejected. The admissions process at Walls is a jury-rigged, fly-by-night operation compared to admissions at an elite college. That inevitably introduces a lot of randomness into the process.

This, kids with EC and top grades did not get in. There is no transparency and rhyme or reason. It’s totally random and luck.
You have no control over it, no matter now great an applicant your kid is.

Don’t rely on it and make sure you have other options or even better, of better options, move on.

For Walls, ECs don't matter at all for admissions, per Walls staff during the school open house.

Agree and grades are only 10% and they don’t look at what courses you took at all.

My god so recommendations and interview account for 90% of admissions??

That is crazy and so subjective.

Well no. There is a GPA cutoff first. So those things, as well as the essay, account for most of it *after* the GPA cutoff is applied.

There is so much grade inflation in DCPS that grades are just not enough. You need to be looking at courses and have some type of standardized objective testing.

I also bet the interview weighs a ton more in the 60% then the required “essay”

How can you call Walls a selective school when the admissions criteria is not objective at all. Let’s call it the whim of the admissions committee to be more accurate.

I do find it maddeningly subjective and squishy. But it's just not correct to say grades don't matter. And at my kid's school, there absolutely are parents sweating the 3.5 GPA cutoff.

The grades are so school dependent too. Lots of the charters talked about on here don’t grade inflate.

Best shot at getting the highest grade is going to DCPS middle school and taking the easiest courses. Done and easy. This helps no one because it is easy to game the system, and why you see the academic cohort getting weaker at Walls along with such subjective admissions criteria.

Take the easiest courses? Except for math and language choice, all kids at Deal take the same classes. Where are these MSs where kids can "game the system" like this?

Also, I doubt that parents are doing this. Walls isn't a guarantee, so there's an incentive for bright kids to take classes at the appropriate level if they want to apply to private, or take APs in HS, and I can't see parents who care about their kids' education letting them do this.

I personally know many kids at my children’s dcps middle who purposely took the easiest courses to get good grades. No “honors” anything. I’m angry that I pushed my kid to take the hardest classes that did result in a few Bs, but I also don’t think my kid is missing out on much. I’d rather have a prepared kid for college.

The big news in this comment is that there is now a DCPS middle school that has honors classes. Pray tell, which one?

Right? What school is this?

There are dcps middles with honors, but they’re “honors” classes at best.

Also calm down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For Walls, you really, really need to understand that there is a massive amount of luck involved, even if your kid wildly exceeds the baseline stuff.

That is what parents say with no accountability. My child is not even in Walls and I am fairly confident they are in the running because they have a massive extracurricular load in addition to the standard 4.0. This discussion is the same for college admissions. It is kind of interesting that the answers to the test are available but people don't want to see it. Develop well rounded humans and the process will recognize them. Focus on metrics and validation of their mental superiority and the process will not.

Ugh, I hope for their sake that your kid gets into Walls, and then into whatever elite college you’re so sure they’ll get into without a decent SAT score.

The fact is that some of the most well-rounded kids I know got in to Walls — and some of the most well-rounded kids I know were rejected. The admissions process at Walls is a jury-rigged, fly-by-night operation compared to admissions at an elite college. That inevitably introduces a lot of randomness into the process.

This, kids with EC and top grades did not get in. There is no transparency and rhyme or reason. It’s totally random and luck.
You have no control over it, no matter now great an applicant your kid is.

Don’t rely on it and make sure you have other options or even better, of better options, move on.

For Walls, ECs don't matter at all for admissions, per Walls staff during the school open house.

Agree and grades are only 10% and they don’t look at what courses you took at all.

My god so recommendations and interview account for 90% of admissions??

That is crazy and so subjective.

Well no. There is a GPA cutoff first. So those things, as well as the essay, account for most of it *after* the GPA cutoff is applied.

There is so much grade inflation in DCPS that grades are just not enough. You need to be looking at courses and have some type of standardized objective testing.

I also bet the interview weighs a ton more in the 60% then the required “essay”

How can you call Walls a selective school when the admissions criteria is not objective at all. Let’s call it the whim of the admissions committee to be more accurate.

I do find it maddeningly subjective and squishy. But it's just not correct to say grades don't matter. And at my kid's school, there absolutely are parents sweating the 3.5 GPA cutoff.

The grades are so school dependent too. Lots of the charters talked about on here don’t grade inflate.

Best shot at getting the highest grade is going to DCPS middle school and taking the easiest courses. Done and easy. This helps no one because it is easy to game the system, and why you see the academic cohort getting weaker at Walls along with such subjective admissions criteria.

Take the easiest courses? Except for math and language choice, all kids at Deal take the same classes. Where are these MSs where kids can "game the system" like this?

Also, I doubt that parents are doing this. Walls isn't a guarantee, so there's an incentive for bright kids to take classes at the appropriate level if they want to apply to private, or take APs in HS, and I can't see parents who care about their kids' education letting them do this.

I personally know many kids at my children’s dcps middle who purposely took the easiest courses to get good grades. No “honors” anything. I’m angry that I pushed my kid to take the hardest classes that did result in a few Bs, but I also don’t think my kid is missing out on much. I’d rather have a prepared kid for college.

I don't know why you're angry (or how you know this about "many" kids).

I do know it. It was a hot topic in my parents group chat. I can’t believe the parents who told their kids to take the easiest classes (who am I kidding the kids were super happy about this) were right. So here’s your advice- take the easiest classes at your dcps and get As. Trust me you’ll get an A for attendance anyway. You’re a sure fire admit at walls!

Except that you're NOT a surefire admit for Walls. I know straight-A students who didn’t get in. So that's dumb advice.

As noted above- grades are a paltry 10%. That’s why it’s a “selective” school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For Walls, you really, really need to understand that there is a massive amount of luck involved, even if your kid wildly exceeds the baseline stuff.

That is what parents say with no accountability. My child is not even in Walls and I am fairly confident they are in the running because they have a massive extracurricular load in addition to the standard 4.0. This discussion is the same for college admissions. It is kind of interesting that the answers to the test are available but people don't want to see it. Develop well rounded humans and the process will recognize them. Focus on metrics and validation of their mental superiority and the process will not.

Ugh, I hope for their sake that your kid gets into Walls, and then into whatever elite college you’re so sure they’ll get into without a decent SAT score.

The fact is that some of the most well-rounded kids I know got in to Walls — and some of the most well-rounded kids I know were rejected. The admissions process at Walls is a jury-rigged, fly-by-night operation compared to admissions at an elite college. That inevitably introduces a lot of randomness into the process.

This, kids with EC and top grades did not get in. There is no transparency and rhyme or reason. It’s totally random and luck.
You have no control over it, no matter now great an applicant your kid is.

Don’t rely on it and make sure you have other options or even better, of better options, move on.

For Walls, ECs don't matter at all for admissions, per Walls staff during the school open house.

Agree and grades are only 10% and they don’t look at what courses you took at all.

My god so recommendations and interview account for 90% of admissions??

That is crazy and so subjective.

Well no. There is a GPA cutoff first. So those things, as well as the essay, account for most of it *after* the GPA cutoff is applied.

There is so much grade inflation in DCPS that grades are just not enough. You need to be looking at courses and have some type of standardized objective testing.

I also bet the interview weighs a ton more in the 60% then the required “essay”

How can you call Walls a selective school when the admissions criteria is not objective at all. Let’s call it the whim of the admissions committee to be more accurate.

I do find it maddeningly subjective and squishy. But it's just not correct to say grades don't matter. And at my kid's school, there absolutely are parents sweating the 3.5 GPA cutoff.

The grades are so school dependent too. Lots of the charters talked about on here don’t grade inflate.

Best shot at getting the highest grade is going to DCPS middle school and taking the easiest courses. Done and easy. This helps no one because it is easy to game the system, and why you see the academic cohort getting weaker at Walls along with such subjective admissions criteria.

Take the easiest courses? Except for math and language choice, all kids at Deal take the same classes. Where are these MSs where kids can "game the system" like this?

Also, I doubt that parents are doing this. Walls isn't a guarantee, so there's an incentive for bright kids to take classes at the appropriate level if they want to apply to private, or take APs in HS, and I can't see parents who care about their kids' education letting them do this.

I personally know many kids at my children’s dcps middle who purposely took the easiest courses to get good grades. No “honors” anything. I’m angry that I pushed my kid to take the hardest classes that did result in a few Bs, but I also don’t think my kid is missing out on much. I’d rather have a prepared kid for college.

The big news in this comment is that there is now a DCPS middle school that has honors classes. Pray tell, which one?

Right? What school is this?

There are dcps middles with honors, but they’re “honors” classes at best.

Also calm down.

What DCPS middle school has classes labeled "honors"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For Walls, you really, really need to understand that there is a massive amount of luck involved, even if your kid wildly exceeds the baseline stuff.

That is what parents say with no accountability. My child is not even in Walls and I am fairly confident they are in the running because they have a massive extracurricular load in addition to the standard 4.0. This discussion is the same for college admissions. It is kind of interesting that the answers to the test are available but people don't want to see it. Develop well rounded humans and the process will recognize them. Focus on metrics and validation of their mental superiority and the process will not.

Ugh, I hope for their sake that your kid gets into Walls, and then into whatever elite college you’re so sure they’ll get into without a decent SAT score.

The fact is that some of the most well-rounded kids I know got in to Walls — and some of the most well-rounded kids I know were rejected. The admissions process at Walls is a jury-rigged, fly-by-night operation compared to admissions at an elite college. That inevitably introduces a lot of randomness into the process.

This, kids with EC and top grades did not get in. There is no transparency and rhyme or reason. It’s totally random and luck.
You have no control over it, no matter now great an applicant your kid is.

Don’t rely on it and make sure you have other options or even better, of better options, move on.

For Walls, ECs don't matter at all for admissions, per Walls staff during the school open house.

Agree and grades are only 10% and they don’t look at what courses you took at all.

My god so recommendations and interview account for 90% of admissions??

That is crazy and so subjective.

Well no. There is a GPA cutoff first. So those things, as well as the essay, account for most of it *after* the GPA cutoff is applied.

There is so much grade inflation in DCPS that grades are just not enough. You need to be looking at courses and have some type of standardized objective testing.

I also bet the interview weighs a ton more in the 60% then the required “essay”

How can you call Walls a selective school when the admissions criteria is not objective at all. Let’s call it the whim of the admissions committee to be more accurate.

I do find it maddeningly subjective and squishy. But it's just not correct to say grades don't matter. And at my kid's school, there absolutely are parents sweating the 3.5 GPA cutoff.

The grades are so school dependent too. Lots of the charters talked about on here don’t grade inflate.

Best shot at getting the highest grade is going to DCPS middle school and taking the easiest courses. Done and easy. This helps no one because it is easy to game the system, and why you see the academic cohort getting weaker at Walls along with such subjective admissions criteria.

Take the easiest courses? Except for math and language choice, all kids at Deal take the same classes. Where are these MSs where kids can "game the system" like this?

Also, I doubt that parents are doing this. Walls isn't a guarantee, so there's an incentive for bright kids to take classes at the appropriate level if they want to apply to private, or take APs in HS, and I can't see parents who care about their kids' education letting them do this.

I personally know many kids at my children’s dcps middle who purposely took the easiest courses to get good grades. No “honors” anything. I’m angry that I pushed my kid to take the hardest classes that did result in a few Bs, but I also don’t think my kid is missing out on much. I’d rather have a prepared kid for college.

The big news in this comment is that there is now a DCPS middle school that has honors classes. Pray tell, which one?

Right? What school is this?

There are dcps middles with honors, but they’re “honors” classes at best.

Wait, I thought the Honors classes were much harder and so it's not fair that they aren't taken into account? If they aren't real Honors, then why be angry?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For Walls, you really, really need to understand that there is a massive amount of luck involved, even if your kid wildly exceeds the baseline stuff.

That is what parents say with no accountability. My child is not even in Walls and I am fairly confident they are in the running because they have a massive extracurricular load in addition to the standard 4.0. This discussion is the same for college admissions. It is kind of interesting that the answers to the test are available but people don't want to see it. Develop well rounded humans and the process will recognize them. Focus on metrics and validation of their mental superiority and the process will not.

Ugh, I hope for their sake that your kid gets into Walls, and then into whatever elite college you’re so sure they’ll get into without a decent SAT score.

The fact is that some of the most well-rounded kids I know got in to Walls — and some of the most well-rounded kids I know were rejected. The admissions process at Walls is a jury-rigged, fly-by-night operation compared to admissions at an elite college. That inevitably introduces a lot of randomness into the process.

This, kids with EC and top grades did not get in. There is no transparency and rhyme or reason. It’s totally random and luck.
You have no control over it, no matter now great an applicant your kid is.

Don’t rely on it and make sure you have other options or even better, of better options, move on.

For Walls, ECs don't matter at all for admissions, per Walls staff during the school open house.

Agree and grades are only 10% and they don’t look at what courses you took at all.

My god so recommendations and interview account for 90% of admissions??

That is crazy and so subjective.

Well no. There is a GPA cutoff first. So those things, as well as the essay, account for most of it *after* the GPA cutoff is applied.

There is so much grade inflation in DCPS that grades are just not enough. You need to be looking at courses and have some type of standardized objective testing.

I also bet the interview weighs a ton more in the 60% then the required “essay”

How can you call Walls a selective school when the admissions criteria is not objective at all. Let’s call it the whim of the admissions committee to be more accurate.

I do find it maddeningly subjective and squishy. But it's just not correct to say grades don't matter. And at my kid's school, there absolutely are parents sweating the 3.5 GPA cutoff.

The grades are so school dependent too. Lots of the charters talked about on here don’t grade inflate.

Best shot at getting the highest grade is going to DCPS middle school and taking the easiest courses. Done and easy. This helps no one because it is easy to game the system, and why you see the academic cohort getting weaker at Walls along with such subjective admissions criteria.

Take the easiest courses? Except for math and language choice, all kids at Deal take the same classes. Where are these MSs where kids can "game the system" like this?

Also, I doubt that parents are doing this. Walls isn't a guarantee, so there's an incentive for bright kids to take classes at the appropriate level if they want to apply to private, or take APs in HS, and I can't see parents who care about their kids' education letting them do this.

I personally know many kids at my children’s dcps middle who purposely took the easiest courses to get good grades. No “honors” anything. I’m angry that I pushed my kid to take the hardest classes that did result in a few Bs, but I also don’t think my kid is missing out on much. I’d rather have a prepared kid for college.

The big news in this comment is that there is now a DCPS middle school that has honors classes. Pray tell, which one?

Right? What school is this?

There are dcps middles with honors, but they’re “honors” classes at best.

Wait, I thought the Honors classes were much harder and so it's not fair that they aren't taken into account? If they aren't real Honors, then why be angry?

The key point here is that they don’t exist at all. No DCPS middle school has classes labeled “honors.” This person is just making things up to pretend to be mad about, because on the internet nobody knows you’re a dog.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For Walls, you really, really need to understand that there is a massive amount of luck involved, even if your kid wildly exceeds the baseline stuff.

That is what parents say with no accountability. My child is not even in Walls and I am fairly confident they are in the running because they have a massive extracurricular load in addition to the standard 4.0. This discussion is the same for college admissions. It is kind of interesting that the answers to the test are available but people don't want to see it. Develop well rounded humans and the process will recognize them. Focus on metrics and validation of their mental superiority and the process will not.

Ugh, I hope for their sake that your kid gets into Walls, and then into whatever elite college you’re so sure they’ll get into without a decent SAT score.

The fact is that some of the most well-rounded kids I know got in to Walls — and some of the most well-rounded kids I know were rejected. The admissions process at Walls is a jury-rigged, fly-by-night operation compared to admissions at an elite college. That inevitably introduces a lot of randomness into the process.

This, kids with EC and top grades did not get in. There is no transparency and rhyme or reason. It’s totally random and luck.
You have no control over it, no matter now great an applicant your kid is.

Don’t rely on it and make sure you have other options or even better, of better options, move on.

For Walls, ECs don't matter at all for admissions, per Walls staff during the school open house.

Agree and grades are only 10% and they don’t look at what courses you took at all.

My god so recommendations and interview account for 90% of admissions??

That is crazy and so subjective.

Well no. There is a GPA cutoff first. So those things, as well as the essay, account for most of it *after* the GPA cutoff is applied.

There is so much grade inflation in DCPS that grades are just not enough. You need to be looking at courses and have some type of standardized objective testing.

I also bet the interview weighs a ton more in the 60% then the required “essay”

How can you call Walls a selective school when the admissions criteria is not objective at all. Let’s call it the whim of the admissions committee to be more accurate.

I do find it maddeningly subjective and squishy. But it's just not correct to say grades don't matter. And at my kid's school, there absolutely are parents sweating the 3.5 GPA cutoff.

The grades are so school dependent too. Lots of the charters talked about on here don’t grade inflate.

Best shot at getting the highest grade is going to DCPS middle school and taking the easiest courses. Done and easy. This helps no one because it is easy to game the system, and why you see the academic cohort getting weaker at Walls along with such subjective admissions criteria.

Take the easiest courses? Except for math and language choice, all kids at Deal take the same classes. Where are these MSs where kids can "game the system" like this?

Also, I doubt that parents are doing this. Walls isn't a guarantee, so there's an incentive for bright kids to take classes at the appropriate level if they want to apply to private, or take APs in HS, and I can't see parents who care about their kids' education letting them do this.

I personally know many kids at my children’s dcps middle who purposely took the easiest courses to get good grades. No “honors” anything. I’m angry that I pushed my kid to take the hardest classes that did result in a few Bs, but I also don’t think my kid is missing out on much. I’d rather have a prepared kid for college.

The big news in this comment is that there is now a DCPS middle school that has honors classes. Pray tell, which one?

Right? What school is this?

There are dcps middles with honors, but they’re “honors” classes at best.

Wait, I thought the Honors classes were much harder and so it's not fair that they aren't taken into account? If they aren't real Honors, then why be angry?

The key point here is that they don’t exist at all. No DCPS middle school has classes labeled “honors.” This person is just making things up to pretend to be mad about, because on the internet nobody knows you’re a dog.

Definitely not what I was told.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For Walls, you really, really need to understand that there is a massive amount of luck involved, even if your kid wildly exceeds the baseline stuff.

That is what parents say with no accountability. My child is not even in Walls and I am fairly confident they are in the running because they have a massive extracurricular load in addition to the standard 4.0. This discussion is the same for college admissions. It is kind of interesting that the answers to the test are available but people don't want to see it. Develop well rounded humans and the process will recognize them. Focus on metrics and validation of their mental superiority and the process will not.

Ugh, I hope for their sake that your kid gets into Walls, and then into whatever elite college you’re so sure they’ll get into without a decent SAT score.

The fact is that some of the most well-rounded kids I know got in to Walls — and some of the most well-rounded kids I know were rejected. The admissions process at Walls is a jury-rigged, fly-by-night operation compared to admissions at an elite college. That inevitably introduces a lot of randomness into the process.

This, kids with EC and top grades did not get in. There is no transparency and rhyme or reason. It’s totally random and luck.
You have no control over it, no matter now great an applicant your kid is.

Don’t rely on it and make sure you have other options or even better, of better options, move on.

For Walls, ECs don't matter at all for admissions, per Walls staff during the school open house.

Agree and grades are only 10% and they don’t look at what courses you took at all.

My god so recommendations and interview account for 90% of admissions??

That is crazy and so subjective.

Well no. There is a GPA cutoff first. So those things, as well as the essay, account for most of it *after* the GPA cutoff is applied.

There is so much grade inflation in DCPS that grades are just not enough. You need to be looking at courses and have some type of standardized objective testing.

I also bet the interview weighs a ton more in the 60% then the required “essay”

How can you call Walls a selective school when the admissions criteria is not objective at all. Let’s call it the whim of the admissions committee to be more accurate.

I do find it maddeningly subjective and squishy. But it's just not correct to say grades don't matter. And at my kid's school, there absolutely are parents sweating the 3.5 GPA cutoff.

The grades are so school dependent too. Lots of the charters talked about on here don’t grade inflate.

Best shot at getting the highest grade is going to DCPS middle school and taking the easiest courses. Done and easy. This helps no one because it is easy to game the system, and why you see the academic cohort getting weaker at Walls along with such subjective admissions criteria.

Take the easiest courses? Except for math and language choice, all kids at Deal take the same classes. Where are these MSs where kids can "game the system" like this?

Also, I doubt that parents are doing this. Walls isn't a guarantee, so there's an incentive for bright kids to take classes at the appropriate level if they want to apply to private, or take APs in HS, and I can't see parents who care about their kids' education letting them do this.

I personally know many kids at my children’s dcps middle who purposely took the easiest courses to get good grades. No “honors” anything. I’m angry that I pushed my kid to take the hardest classes that did result in a few Bs, but I also don’t think my kid is missing out on much. I’d rather have a prepared kid for college.

The big news in this comment is that there is now a DCPS middle school that has honors classes. Pray tell, which one?

Right? What school is this?

There are dcps middles with honors, but they’re “honors” classes at best.

Wait, I thought the Honors classes were much harder and so it's not fair that they aren't taken into account? If they aren't real Honors, then why be angry?

The key point here is that they don’t exist at all. No DCPS middle school has classes labeled “honors.” This person is just making things up to pretend to be mad about, because on the internet nobody knows you’re a dog.

Definitely not what I was told.

Told by who? The person who insists that her kid's chances at Walls were tanked because she made him take all the honors classes and all the other parents *made* their kids take the easiest classes didn't identify the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For Walls, you really, really need to understand that there is a massive amount of luck involved, even if your kid wildly exceeds the baseline stuff.

That is what parents say with no accountability. My child is not even in Walls and I am fairly confident they are in the running because they have a massive extracurricular load in addition to the standard 4.0. This discussion is the same for college admissions. It is kind of interesting that the answers to the test are available but people don't want to see it. Develop well rounded humans and the process will recognize them. Focus on metrics and validation of their mental superiority and the process will not.

Ugh, I hope for their sake that your kid gets into Walls, and then into whatever elite college you’re so sure they’ll get into without a decent SAT score.

The fact is that some of the most well-rounded kids I know got in to Walls — and some of the most well-rounded kids I know were rejected. The admissions process at Walls is a jury-rigged, fly-by-night operation compared to admissions at an elite college. That inevitably introduces a lot of randomness into the process.

This, kids with EC and top grades did not get in. There is no transparency and rhyme or reason. It’s totally random and luck.
You have no control over it, no matter now great an applicant your kid is.

Don’t rely on it and make sure you have other options or even better, of better options, move on.

For Walls, ECs don't matter at all for admissions, per Walls staff during the school open house.

Agree and grades are only 10% and they don’t look at what courses you took at all.

My god so recommendations and interview account for 90% of admissions??

That is crazy and so subjective.

Well no. There is a GPA cutoff first. So those things, as well as the essay, account for most of it *after* the GPA cutoff is applied.

There is so much grade inflation in DCPS that grades are just not enough. You need to be looking at courses and have some type of standardized objective testing.

I also bet the interview weighs a ton more in the 60% then the required “essay”

How can you call Walls a selective school when the admissions criteria is not objective at all. Let’s call it the whim of the admissions committee to be more accurate.

I do find it maddeningly subjective and squishy. But it's just not correct to say grades don't matter. And at my kid's school, there absolutely are parents sweating the 3.5 GPA cutoff.

The grades are so school dependent too. Lots of the charters talked about on here don’t grade inflate.

Best shot at getting the highest grade is going to DCPS middle school and taking the easiest courses. Done and easy. This helps no one because it is easy to game the system, and why you see the academic cohort getting weaker at Walls along with such subjective admissions criteria.

Take the easiest courses? Except for math and language choice, all kids at Deal take the same classes. Where are these MSs where kids can "game the system" like this?

Also, I doubt that parents are doing this. Walls isn't a guarantee, so there's an incentive for bright kids to take classes at the appropriate level if they want to apply to private, or take APs in HS, and I can't see parents who care about their kids' education letting them do this.

I personally know many kids at my children’s dcps middle who purposely took the easiest courses to get good grades. No “honors” anything. I’m angry that I pushed my kid to take the hardest classes that did result in a few Bs, but I also don’t think my kid is missing out on much. I’d rather have a prepared kid for college.

The big news in this comment is that there is now a DCPS middle school that has honors classes. Pray tell, which one?

Right? What school is this?

There are dcps middles with honors, but they’re “honors” classes at best.

Wait, I thought the Honors classes were much harder and so it's not fair that they aren't taken into account? If they aren't real Honors, then why be angry?

The key point here is that they don’t exist at all. No DCPS middle school has classes labeled “honors.” This person is just making things up to pretend to be mad about, because on the internet nobody knows you’re a dog.

Definitely not what I was told.

Told by who? The person who insists that her kid's chances at Walls were tanked because she made him take all the honors classes and all the other parents *made* their kids take the easiest classes didn't identify the school.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1318160.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For Walls, you really, really need to understand that there is a massive amount of luck involved, even if your kid wildly exceeds the baseline stuff.

That is what parents say with no accountability. My child is not even in Walls and I am fairly confident they are in the running because they have a massive extracurricular load in addition to the standard 4.0. This discussion is the same for college admissions. It is kind of interesting that the answers to the test are available but people don't want to see it. Develop well rounded humans and the process will recognize them. Focus on metrics and validation of their mental superiority and the process will not.

Ugh, I hope for their sake that your kid gets into Walls, and then into whatever elite college you’re so sure they’ll get into without a decent SAT score.

The fact is that some of the most well-rounded kids I know got in to Walls — and some of the most well-rounded kids I know were rejected. The admissions process at Walls is a jury-rigged, fly-by-night operation compared to admissions at an elite college. That inevitably introduces a lot of randomness into the process.

This, kids with EC and top grades did not get in. There is no transparency and rhyme or reason. It’s totally random and luck.
You have no control over it, no matter now great an applicant your kid is.

Don’t rely on it and make sure you have other options or even better, of better options, move on.

For Walls, ECs don't matter at all for admissions, per Walls staff during the school open house.

Agree and grades are only 10% and they don’t look at what courses you took at all.

My god so recommendations and interview account for 90% of admissions??

That is crazy and so subjective.

Well no. There is a GPA cutoff first. So those things, as well as the essay, account for most of it *after* the GPA cutoff is applied.

There is so much grade inflation in DCPS that grades are just not enough. You need to be looking at courses and have some type of standardized objective testing.

I also bet the interview weighs a ton more in the 60% then the required “essay”

How can you call Walls a selective school when the admissions criteria is not objective at all. Let’s call it the whim of the admissions committee to be more accurate.

I do find it maddeningly subjective and squishy. But it's just not correct to say grades don't matter. And at my kid's school, there absolutely are parents sweating the 3.5 GPA cutoff.

The grades are so school dependent too. Lots of the charters talked about on here don’t grade inflate.

Best shot at getting the highest grade is going to DCPS middle school and taking the easiest courses. Done and easy. This helps no one because it is easy to game the system, and why you see the academic cohort getting weaker at Walls along with such subjective admissions criteria.

Take the easiest courses? Except for math and language choice, all kids at Deal take the same classes. Where are these MSs where kids can "game the system" like this?

Also, I doubt that parents are doing this. Walls isn't a guarantee, so there's an incentive for bright kids to take classes at the appropriate level if they want to apply to private, or take APs in HS, and I can't see parents who care about their kids' education letting them do this.

I personally know many kids at my children’s dcps middle who purposely took the easiest courses to get good grades. No “honors” anything. I’m angry that I pushed my kid to take the hardest classes that did result in a few Bs, but I also don’t think my kid is missing out on much. I’d rather have a prepared kid for college.

The big news in this comment is that there is now a DCPS middle school that has honors classes. Pray tell, which one?

Right? What school is this?

There are dcps middles with honors, but they’re “honors” classes at best.

Wait, I thought the Honors classes were much harder and so it's not fair that they aren't taken into account? If they aren't real Honors, then why be angry?

The key point here is that they don’t exist at all. No DCPS middle school has classes labeled “honors.” This person is just making things up to pretend to be mad about, because on the internet nobody knows you’re a dog.

Definitely not what I was told.

Told by who? The person who insists that her kid's chances at Walls were tanked because she made him take all the honors classes and all the other parents *made* their kids take the easiest classes didn't identify the school.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1318160.page

So is the answer Eliot-Hines? I didnt see any mention of honors on the first page, just math placement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For Walls, you really, really need to understand that there is a massive amount of luck involved, even if your kid wildly exceeds the baseline stuff.

That is what parents say with no accountability. My child is not even in Walls and I am fairly confident they are in the running because they have a massive extracurricular load in addition to the standard 4.0. This discussion is the same for college admissions. It is kind of interesting that the answers to the test are available but people don't want to see it. Develop well rounded humans and the process will recognize them. Focus on metrics and validation of their mental superiority and the process will not.

Ugh, I hope for their sake that your kid gets into Walls, and then into whatever elite college you’re so sure they’ll get into without a decent SAT score.

The fact is that some of the most well-rounded kids I know got in to Walls — and some of the most well-rounded kids I know were rejected. The admissions process at Walls is a jury-rigged, fly-by-night operation compared to admissions at an elite college. That inevitably introduces a lot of randomness into the process.

This, kids with EC and top grades did not get in. There is no transparency and rhyme or reason. It’s totally random and luck.
You have no control over it, no matter now great an applicant your kid is.

Don’t rely on it and make sure you have other options or even better, of better options, move on.

For Walls, ECs don't matter at all for admissions, per Walls staff during the school open house.

Agree and grades are only 10% and they don’t look at what courses you took at all.

My god so recommendations and interview account for 90% of admissions??

That is crazy and so subjective.

Well no. There is a GPA cutoff first. So those things, as well as the essay, account for most of it *after* the GPA cutoff is applied.

There is so much grade inflation in DCPS that grades are just not enough. You need to be looking at courses and have some type of standardized objective testing.

I also bet the interview weighs a ton more in the 60% then the required “essay”

How can you call Walls a selective school when the admissions criteria is not objective at all. Let’s call it the whim of the admissions committee to be more accurate.

I do find it maddeningly subjective and squishy. But it's just not correct to say grades don't matter. And at my kid's school, there absolutely are parents sweating the 3.5 GPA cutoff.

The grades are so school dependent too. Lots of the charters talked about on here don’t grade inflate.

Best shot at getting the highest grade is going to DCPS middle school and taking the easiest courses. Done and easy. This helps no one because it is easy to game the system, and why you see the academic cohort getting weaker at Walls along with such subjective admissions criteria.

Take the easiest courses? Except for math and language choice, all kids at Deal take the same classes. Where are these MSs where kids can "game the system" like this?

Also, I doubt that parents are doing this. Walls isn't a guarantee, so there's an incentive for bright kids to take classes at the appropriate level if they want to apply to private, or take APs in HS, and I can't see parents who care about their kids' education letting them do this.

I personally know many kids at my children’s dcps middle who purposely took the easiest courses to get good grades. No “honors” anything. I’m angry that I pushed my kid to take the hardest classes that did result in a few Bs, but I also don’t think my kid is missing out on much. I’d rather have a prepared kid for college.

I don't know why you're angry (or how you know this about "many" kids).

I do know it. It was a hot topic in my parents group chat. I can’t believe the parents who told their kids to take the easiest classes (who am I kidding the kids were super happy about this) were right. So here’s your advice- take the easiest classes at your dcps and get As. Trust me you’ll get an A for attendance anyway. You’re a sure fire admit at walls!

Except that you're NOT a surefire admit for Walls. I know straight-A students who didn’t get in. So that's dumb advice.

As noted above- grades are a paltry 10%. That’s why it’s a “selective” school

Jeez you're obtuse.

Once students are above a cutoff of ~3.8 and in the process, the GPA is worth 10% in the rest of the process. You get 10/10 for a 4, 9/10 for 3.9, 8/10 for 3.8 etc. Now it's all about the interview which in my experience wants to see if you can advocate for yourself and are confident and the essay which sees if you can write a short essay on an abstract-ish topic. There is no math test, which creates some dispersion in math capabilities but is somewhat mitigated by the GPA cutoff.