Admissions advice?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I sounds as if PP was asking, which schools children that score less than 90% get in to. The poster replied to the question by stating Beauvoir.

Is that mplying something about Beauvoir?

No, I don't think that anything should be inferred (negatively or positively) regarding someone with a WPPSI score in the 80's getting admitted to Beauvoir. Some children in the 90's get rejected or waitlisted and some children in the 80's get accepted at all of these schools (Beauvoir, GDS, Maret, Sidwell, St. Patrick's, etc.) It doesn't speak to the quality or selectivity of the institution (if that's what you mean).

[Anonymous]

Good lord people, the WPPSI is only one tiny little part of the application. Its really not as important to be in the 90 percentiles as people think. Also, only 10% of people NATIONWIDE can be in the 90th%s. Think about it. Our DS scored in the low 80%s and is in a top independent Washington school and is thriving and regarded as one of the best & brightest in his class by his teacher. He is a super hard worker and an amazing kid and the schools all saw that. His 80%s on the WPPSI were just not a big deal.

Some people are not great test-takers but go to Harvard/Yale/Princeton/Stanford/Duke/Oxford (you name it) because they are hard workers, impress teachers, love learning, and do brilliantly in school. Other people (like me) routinely score above 95% on every test in life (IQ, SAT, LSAT, etc...) and are complete under-achievers. Its not all about the standardized tests and I speak from experience!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's a really good idea to visit as many schools as possible and talk to teachers or parents of children who are there - or even older children themselves who are at the school. I wouldn't just go on reputation alone. Beauvoir, Sidwell, Maret, and GDS are all great schools, but they're also all different. For example, let's say you send your kid to Beauvoir with the idea that they'll go to NCS or STA. Your child's 4th grade experience is going to be dramatically, dramatically different there than it would be at Maret. It's important to consider the long-term ramifications of your decision. St. Patrick's, Burgundy, Potomac, Green Acres, Lowell, NPS,

I've also in the past found it helpful to work with an educational consultant. Ethna Hopper (of The School Counseling Group) is good, and Georgia Irvin is great. The only drawback is that they'll run you something like $3,000 to $4,000 for an entire admissions cycle. There are cheaper alternatives, though, that are about just as good. For example, I used a guy named Eric Toth (my friend's son's third grade teacher at Beauvoir) who's great, and he only cost about $1,500 for a lot of work. There are probably other people around as well.

Just curious what this poster now think of her advice (re Toth)?

[Anonymous]

My guess is that this was Eric Toth touting himself. It's laughable that a 26 year old third grade teacher would hold himself out as an admissions consultant, but I'm sure he got calls.

[Anonymous]

OMG, I remember reading that post the first time but now it has such a different undertone. I've noticed a lot of "just curious" posts here lately and other questions that seem to be set-ups by either admissions offices or parents with an agenda. There are some nuggets of real information on this board but have to weed through with all the trash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My guess is that this was Eric Toth touting himself. It's laughable that a 26 year old third grade teacher would hold himself out as an admissions consultant, but I'm sure he got calls.

I'm concerned that not everyone on this thread now knows the backstory to this name -- see http://www.dcexaminer.com/local/31074464.html for a story about Eric Toth, who is wanted on suspicion of possession of child pornography ....

I don't want to rehash the incident, but parents looking at the admissions process should not tumble across this name on this thread and think that he is a good recommendation.

[Anonymous]

You guys are pathetic.
Your kids are 4 and you are taking this as seriously as college applications.

[Anonymous]

I respectfully disagree with PP. Private education for elementary and secondary school is much more expensive than college, and more importantly, will serve as the foundation of your child's educational experience and views about learning for the rest of his/her life. So carefully considering the options, to include the excellent public schools in our area, is not "pathetic" at all.

[Anonymous]

Read the post about fitting in financially.
Then you will get the whole picture about the views your child will have for the rest of his/her life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP: Do you have contact info for Eric Toth?

http://www.amw.com/fugitives/brief.cfm?id=58823

[Anonymous]

Um . . . I don't think any parent trying to contact Toth would have much luck. So we really, really, don't need to rehash this thing under the guise of protecting anyone.

[Anonymous]

Eric Toth is a pedophile

[Anonymous]

The need for a $4,ooo consultant for a 4-year-old application to pre-K speaks volumes about the abject inadequacy of the parents...even if they are millionaires!

[Anonymous]

We got into every school we applied to for K, and we did our HW, were excited but not overly eager in the interview, asked good questions about how the school would be with our DC, asked about the community at large, and were generally down to earth and honest.

We DID NOT work to impress anyone. Pulled no strings, dropped no names (even though we could) and frankly, acted a little aloof without being rude. We knew these admissions people had so many couples up their asses, we just laid low. We told all of them "wherever our DC goes will be the right fit"

[Anonymous]

Watch Nursery University ... a docudrama available from Netflix or Amazon.com. Seriously. You will get great inside info on how the process works, how NOT to behave when interacting with school personnel, and the DVD extra includes a panel discussion with good advice from experts on the admissions process. It is set in NYC but there are many parallels to the DC area private application process.