GDS admissions

[Anonymous]

This thread is damning. If this proportion of ripple come away with a negative view of the admissions staff, something is clearly wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is damning. If this proportion of ripple come away with a negative view of the admissions staff, something is clearly wrong.

* people, not ripple

[Anonymous]

The admissions staff was better the time our kid was WLed than the year eventually admitted, but our experience was always positive. Everyone we encountered was super-friendly and professional.

[Anonymous]

We have two high schoolers—one at GDS and one at another rigorous HS. GDS is definitely more inclusive, has way more community building activities (not all sports related) and is less competitive than the other school so in our mind it’s not too competitive among the students. GDS also has a pretty good variety of courses/electives/clubs so students can really pursue their interests (not everyone is trying for the same activities).

With that said, many GDS students are vocal and passionate. It’s a school where kids like to debate and discuss a lot which might make it feel competitive to a student who is less comfortable being in this environment. To be clear, not everyone is super outgoing—shy is fine there—just depends on the kids’ comfort in that type of learning environment.

And yes admissions is not overly personalized there—we found if you ask open ended questions and share personal stories with them they open up and make a nice connection. It is a shame they don’t have shadow days during the admissions process, but for our child, it was ultimately more meaningful to visit after acceptance as there is no longer any pressure to perform at that point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have two high schoolers—one at GDS and one at another rigorous HS. GDS is definitely more inclusive, has way more community building activities (not all sports related) and is less competitive than the other school so in our mind it’s not too competitive among the students. GDS also has a pretty good variety of courses/electives/clubs so students can really pursue their interests (not everyone is trying for the same activities).

With that said, many GDS students are vocal and passionate. It’s a school where kids like to debate and discuss a lot which might make it feel competitive to a student who is less comfortable being in this environment. To be clear, not everyone is super outgoing—shy is fine there—just depends on the kids’ comfort in that type of learning environment.

And yes admissions is not overly personalized there—we found if you ask open ended questions and share personal stories with them they open up and make a nice connection. It is a shame they don’t have shadow days during the admissions process, but for our child, it was ultimately more meaningful to visit after acceptance as there is no longer any pressure to perform at that point.

I know a few US kids they do not match your description. Some are shy or introverts. My kid interviews very well but came away from the interview turned off and quickly took the school off her list. The US interviewers give the impression that they just do not really care. It seems they are actively discouraging kids from applying. Maybe that is the school’s strategy? They gets plenty of applications and interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have two high schoolers—one at GDS and one at another rigorous HS. GDS is definitely more inclusive, has way more community building activities (not all sports related) and is less competitive than the other school so in our mind it’s not too competitive among the students. GDS also has a pretty good variety of courses/electives/clubs so students can really pursue their interests (not everyone is trying for the same activities).

With that said, many GDS students are vocal and passionate. It’s a school where kids like to debate and discuss a lot which might make it feel competitive to a student who is less comfortable being in this environment. To be clear, not everyone is super outgoing—shy is fine there—just depends on the kids’ comfort in that type of learning environment.

And yes admissions is not overly personalized there—we found if you ask open ended questions and share personal stories with them they open up and make a nice connection. It is a shame they don’t have shadow days during the admissions process, but for our child, it was ultimately more meaningful to visit after acceptance as there is no longer any pressure to perform at that point.

I know a few US kids they do not match your description. Some are shy or introverts. My kid interviews very well but came away from the interview turned off and quickly took the school off her list. The US interviewers give the impression that they just do not really care. It seems they are actively discouraging kids from applying. Maybe that is the school’s strategy? They gets plenty of applications and interest.

Yes—there are definitely some shy/introverted kids at GDS that fit in great, but the teaching style encourages tons of discussion/debate so if kids aren’t comfortable with some heavy discussion going on around them (not that they are necessarily participating in), it might feel competitive.

I’m not sure what the admissions strategy is. I do think they want people who want to be there and like many schools in the area somewhat count on plenty of people wanting to be there with or without their encouragement.

I would suggest for those interested in GDS to go to the open house and a sporting event to get to know the school prior to the tour/interview.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is damning. If this proportion of ripple come away with a negative view of the admissions staff, something is clearly wrong.

I would not put too much stock on anonymous opinions in a forum where one person with a grudge could post ten times.

We are a GDS family (applied for 9th in 2020), and while I don’t doubt that some have had bad experiences, our experience was just fine and perfectly consistent with our experiences with other schools. Among those we talk to, I haven’t heard any horror stories.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have two high schoolers—one at GDS and one at another rigorous HS. GDS is definitely more inclusive, has way more community building activities (not all sports related) and is less competitive than the other school so in our mind it’s not too competitive among the students. GDS also has a pretty good variety of courses/electives/clubs so students can really pursue their interests (not everyone is trying for the same activities).

With that said, many GDS students are vocal and passionate. It’s a school where kids like to debate and discuss a lot which might make it feel competitive to a student who is less comfortable being in this environment. To be clear, not everyone is super outgoing—shy is fine there—just depends on the kids’ comfort in that type of learning environment.

And yes admissions is not overly personalized there—we found if you ask open ended questions and share personal stories with them they open up and make a nice connection. It is a shame they don’t have shadow days during the admissions process, but for our child, it was ultimately more meaningful to visit after acceptance as there is no longer any pressure to perform at that point.

I know a few US kids they do not match your description. Some are shy or introverts. My kid interviews very well but came away from the interview turned off and quickly took the school off her list. The US interviewers give the impression that they just do not really care. It seems they are actively discouraging kids from applying. Maybe that is the school’s strategy? They gets plenty of applications and interest.

Yes—there are definitely some shy/introverted kids at GDS that fit in great, but the teaching style encourages tons of discussion/debate so if kids aren’t comfortable with some heavy discussion going on around them (not that they are necessarily participating in), it might feel competitive.

I’m not sure what the admissions strategy is. I do think they want people who want to be there and like many schools in the area somewhat count on plenty of people wanting to be there with or without their encouragement.

I would suggest for those interested in GDS to go to the open house and a sporting event to get to know the school prior to the tour/interview.

Wouldn’t your grades suffer if you’re not speaking up much in classes like lit, history, math, science, for language?

[Anonymous]

We are going through the process and so far our experience has been great. Open house was virtual so not a lot of in person interaction but small group tour and interview was just lovely. I wasn’t quite sure when I started this but now we really want to join the school. Still confused about mixed review about the school and admission team but we will worry about it later as we don’t even know we can get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You do realize that they read the entire applications after your visit/interview. Their job is not to convince you to come to the school. It is to determine if you are the right fit. It is clear to me that this thread is full of people who didn’t get in.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tell me about your experience with the US admissions team. My experience when my DS applied for 9th grade was not good and the person conducted the virtual interview was clearly not interested and not able to establish a rapport. But perhaps that was an exception.

We had the same experience with the US admission team. Granted, it was a virtual interview, but she clearly knew nothing about my kid and hadn't read his file.

I know you asked about US but this feels exactly like our LS interview. She was really impersonal and acted like we were wasting her time, hadn’t even looked at the initial application etc. it really changed my mind in terms of how we see GDS. we’ll finish the application process but on the whole, GDS seems to be riding high on the number of apps they get and that’s coming across in these interviews.

Dame. LS admissions person had zero knowledge of our child and asked what grade are you applying for?

Of course they read the full application after the interview. Not everyone here didn’t get in, in fact some of us are still in the process. But there is a preliminary application that you must fill out to get to the interview stage and other schools such as SFS and Maret took the time to review that prior to the interview. GDS couldn’t be bothered to read it, at least for several of the posters. And yes, the interviewer should at least know what grade the child is applying for. It’s their job.

Our interview for LS didn't go well when DH started referencing our application and mentioned a few times that we had written this information in the application. She looked annoyed but the questions she was asking were on the application. You would think they would really want to get to know the applicant.

LOL. All the other admissions people from other schools had bothered to read the application. GDS was an outlier. Nice try GDS admissions person. Try reading the applications or skimming before the interview

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have two high schoolers—one at GDS and one at another rigorous HS. GDS is definitely more inclusive, has way more community building activities (not all sports related) and is less competitive than the other school so in our mind it’s not too competitive among the students. GDS also has a pretty good variety of courses/electives/clubs so students can really pursue their interests (not everyone is trying for the same activities).

With that said, many GDS students are vocal and passionate. It’s a school where kids like to debate and discuss a lot which might make it feel competitive to a student who is less comfortable being in this environment. To be clear, not everyone is super outgoing—shy is fine there—just depends on the kids’ comfort in that type of learning environment.

And yes admissions is not overly personalized there—we found if you ask open ended questions and share personal stories with them they open up and make a nice connection. It is a shame they don’t have shadow days during the admissions process, but for our child, it was ultimately more meaningful to visit after acceptance as there is no longer any pressure to perform at that point.

I know a few US kids they do not match your description. Some are shy or introverts. My kid interviews very well but came away from the interview turned off and quickly took the school off her list. The US interviewers give the impression that they just do not really care. It seems they are actively discouraging kids from applying. Maybe that is the school’s strategy? They gets plenty of applications and interest.

Yes—there are definitely some shy/introverted kids at GDS that fit in great, but the teaching style encourages tons of discussion/debate so if kids aren’t comfortable with some heavy discussion going on around them (not that they are necessarily participating in), it might feel competitive.

I’m not sure what the admissions strategy is. I do think they want people who want to be there and like many schools in the area somewhat count on plenty of people wanting to be there with or without their encouragement.

I would suggest for those interested in GDS to go to the open house and a sporting event to get to know the school prior to the tour/interview.

The teaching style encourages discussion and debate but ultimately the school promotes conformity. If you bring up a controversial viewpoint, you will be ostracized. Intellectual depth is pretty shallow unfortunately. Many kids including mine are scared of saying the wrong thing

[Anonymous]

Does where an applicant live matter at all for GDS admissions wise? I ask bc we are in PG County, where fewer students are from.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did the MS admissions process this cycle. I liked the interviewer; she was very personable and demonstrated familiarity with my applicant, having read the submitted info. However, we will not proceed with application completion - not due to the interview, but rather the increased understanding we have since gained about the highly stressful and competitive atmosphere that worsens to an unacceptable level in US. That is not a place for our family, but the interviewer was lovely.

Np. Can you say more about your thoughts on GDS and the stress & competition? We’re applying for MS and didn’t get that, so I’m curious what you learned. HS maybe?

Current MS parent and that’s not our experience in MS. Not highly stressful or competitive. Very supportive teachers and administrators.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did the MS admissions process this cycle. I liked the interviewer; she was very personable and demonstrated familiarity with my applicant, having read the submitted info. However, we will not proceed with application completion - not due to the interview, but rather the increased understanding we have since gained about the highly stressful and competitive atmosphere that worsens to an unacceptable level in US. That is not a place for our family, but the interviewer was lovely.

Np. Can you say more about your thoughts on GDS and the stress & competition? We’re applying for MS and didn’t get that, so I’m curious what you learned. HS maybe?

Current MS parent and that’s not our experience in MS. Not highly stressful or competitive. Very supportive teachers and administrators.

No stress or pushing for Pk-8 by the teachers or school. It’s the perfect school for kids who need to move around all the time and have fun.

Upper school sounds different, but lots to choose from once finished with the required classes.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I think GDS is the perfect school for families that have the ability to supplement as needed. It is exceedingly lovely while also expecting the kids,/parents to do more whenever an issue arises.