Wall 2022--63% admission rate for 9th

[Anonymous]

In the open house yesterday the school leaders had no good response to questions about how fair (or not) the interview process has been in recent years. Their first response was to blame students with poor tech or parents who arrived late and lost interview time because of that. Felt super defensive. They said they expect a lot of issues to be resolved by going back to in person but I didn’t like their overall response

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am confused by this post. The percent of admits after the interview process has always been very high at Walls. Pre-pandemic they would interview 250 students for 150 spots. It has always been this way. Some years they’ve gone through almost the entire post interview waitlist.

Right but post pandemic (the "no test" era) they started interviewing more kids and leaving more on the waitlist.

2021: about 150 interviewed kids were left on the waitlist (I don't know the exact number)
2022: 142 interviewed kids were left on the waitlist

Yikes! So the parents of those 142 had to tell their kids they didn’t get in because they blew the interview…? Joking - but wondering how to finesse my 4.0 (well rounded, athlete, fabulous artist , blah blah) daughter if she doesn’t get in ….

The way you finesse it with your kid is to tell her that once she clears the bar to be in the interview pool, everything else is basically random. There is no way to “excel” through the interview and guarantee admission because the interview process is too subjective and variable. So you tell your kid that it’s basically a lottery after the gpa cutoff - you encourage her to do her best in the interview but to know that the outcome is not a reflection of her. (Whether she gets in or not!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In the open house yesterday the school leaders had no good response to questions about how fair (or not) the interview process has been in recent years. Their first response was to blame students with poor tech or parents who arrived late and lost interview time because of that. Felt super defensive. They said they expect a lot of issues to be resolved by going back to in person but I didn’t like their overall response

This, The lack of a clear explanation and the kid-blaming don't really inspire confidence.

[Anonymous]

On the broader subject of Walls admission, and agreeing it essentially feels lottery-esqe after the interview process - does anyone have any sense of impact if applying from a private school rather than DCPS? We moved our middle schooler as needed a smaller environment due to covid but never had planned to go private and hoping to get in as a smaller choice for HS and return to public.

interested in any experiences to that end...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a freshman at Walls who is very happy there, but I'm the first to admit the admission process feels random and nontransparent. If they care about more than grades, they should ask for teacher recommendations or essays from the applicants, or reinstate the test. The 2-minute interview IS a joke.

I have a middle schooler and plan to apply to Banneker as well to hedge against the randomness.

Also, have a freshman at Walls. The same kid was admitted to privates but couldn't even get an interview at Banneker. So good luck with hedging the bet with Banneker. If you read their process, it's more random than Walls. Maybe you need recommendations, maybe you don't, 2.5 GPA-maybe, etc. who knows what they do. It seems like they literally cherry pick to fit their agenda. I know no one here cares because of all the black/brown kids enrolled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a freshman at Walls who is very happy there, but I'm the first to admit the admission process feels random and nontransparent. If they care about more than grades, they should ask for teacher recommendations or essays from the applicants, or reinstate the test. The 2-minute interview IS a joke.

I have a middle schooler and plan to apply to Banneker as well to hedge against the randomness.

Also, have a freshman at Walls. The same kid was admitted to privates but couldn't even get an interview at Banneker. So good luck with hedging the bet with Banneker. If you read their process, it's more random than Walls. Maybe you need recommendations, maybe you don't, 2.5 GPA-maybe, etc. who knows what they do. It seems like they literally cherry pick to fit their agenda. I know no one here cares because of all the black/brown kids enrolled.

Well, obvioulsy the PP cares, as she is the one who asked about it. You definitely have a chip on your shoulder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am confused by this post. The percent of admits after the interview process has always been very high at Walls. Pre-pandemic they would interview 250 students for 150 spots. It has always been this way. Some years they’ve gone through almost the entire post interview waitlist.

Right but post pandemic (the "no test" era) they started interviewing more kids and leaving more on the waitlist.

2021: about 150 interviewed kids were left on the waitlist (I don't know the exact number)
2022: 142 interviewed kids were left on the waitlist

Yikes! So the parents of those 142 had to tell their kids they didn’t get in because they blew the interview…? Joking - but wondering how to finesse my 4.0 (well rounded, athlete, fabulous artist , blah blah) daughter if she doesn’t get in ….

I had a 4.0, top travel athlete, algebra 2 in 8th grade, national level debater, etc kid who did not get in. was accepted to Sidwell, Potomac, GDS, STA, and Teg scholars's program at SJC but not Walls. 🤣🤪

Your kid is white? Asian? I dearly wish that a dozen parents like you would band together to sue DCPS. Maybe a group will after the SC ruling challenging affirmative action admissions in 2023. The Wall's admissions system is a travesty screaming for transparency and change.

He had one of those 2 minute interviews in 2021. The privates interviewed him for between 30 and 90 minutes and then all admitted him.

DCPS just bleeds the top students in the name of equity to the private’s advantage.

This is what race to the bottom looks folks and academics follow of course.

You sound like a professional victim. If the gpa cutoff for the Walls interview last year was a 3.73, how in the world are you insinuating that Walls is bleeding “top students in the name of equity”?!?

Perhaps your 4.0 student has zero charm and charisma (but a lot of entitlement, like you). It sounds as if Walls is looking for top students who ALSO have some people skills.

Enjoy paying private school tuition. If your child does well, he’ll end up at the same college as top Walls graduates.

I'm the poster with the private school kid and I did not write the post (about bleeding top students) that you're responding to. That was someone else entirely.
That said, you sound angry.
Two years ago (2021), many of the top 4.0 Deal kids in the top math class were not admitted. My kid had several friends--literally taking math 4 grades levels down---with Bs-- who were admitted.
And yes, certainly no-one "deserves" an admission at Walls outright but the process made no sense at all. They interviewed kids for TWO minutes. On several interviews, the interview was only done by high schoolers. The faculty member was MIA. My kid had a friend who was called the wrong name throughout
the two minutes. Another was identified by the wrong gender (and no, this kid had not changed genders).
It was a hot mess. If this two minute charade was DCPS' secret way of identifying candidates with "charm and charisma" then maybe private schools and employers should start this. Instead of the 90 minutes that GDS spends per candidate, they could spend the DCPS 120 seconds! Instead of multiple hour-long panel interviews, perhaps Google could start
utilizing the DCPS "120 seconds" process!! I'm sure all involved would be happy to save all those manpower hours.

We were part of this interview cohort and DD was fortunate to get a full interview with both students and a teacher. But I remember several people had a similar experience to PP’s kid and the acceptances seemed quite random. DD received an offer but ended up declining.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am confused by this post. The percent of admits after the interview process has always been very high at Walls. Pre-pandemic they would interview 250 students for 150 spots. It has always been this way. Some years they’ve gone through almost the entire post interview waitlist.

Right but post pandemic (the "no test" era) they started interviewing more kids and leaving more on the waitlist.

2021: about 150 interviewed kids were left on the waitlist (I don't know the exact number)
2022: 142 interviewed kids were left on the waitlist

Yikes! So the parents of those 142 had to tell their kids they didn’t get in because they blew the interview…? Joking - but wondering how to finesse my 4.0 (well rounded, athlete, fabulous artist , blah blah) daughter if she doesn’t get in ….

I had a 4.0, top travel athlete, algebra 2 in 8th grade, national level debater, etc kid who did not get in. was accepted to Sidwell, Potomac, GDS, STA, and Teg scholars's program at SJC but not Walls. 🤣🤪

Your kid is white? Asian? I dearly wish that a dozen parents like you would band together to sue DCPS. Maybe a group will after the SC ruling challenging affirmative action admissions in 2023. The Wall's admissions system is a travesty screaming for transparency and change.

He had one of those 2 minute interviews in 2021. The privates interviewed him for between 30 and 90 minutes and then all admitted him.

DCPS just bleeds the top students in the name of equity to the private’s advantage.

This is what race to the bottom looks folks and academics follow of course.

You sound like a professional victim. If the gpa cutoff for the Walls interview last year was a 3.73, how in the world are you insinuating that Walls is bleeding “top students in the name of equity”?!?

Perhaps your 4.0 student has zero charm and charisma (but a lot of entitlement, like you). It sounds as if Walls is looking for top students who ALSO have some people skills.

Enjoy paying private school tuition. If your child does well, he’ll end up at the same college as top Walls graduates.

I'm the poster with the private school kid and I did not write the post (about bleeding top students) that you're responding to. That was someone else entirely.
That said, you sound angry.
Two years ago (2021), many of the top 4.0 Deal kids in the top math class were not admitted. My kid had several friends--literally taking math 4 grades levels down---with Bs-- who were admitted.
And yes, certainly no-one "deserves" an admission at Walls outright but the process made no sense at all. They interviewed kids for TWO minutes. On several interviews, the interview was only done by high schoolers. The faculty member was MIA. My kid had a friend who was called the wrong name throughout
the two minutes. Another was identified by the wrong gender (and no, this kid had not changed genders).
It was a hot mess. If this two minute charade was DCPS' secret way of identifying candidates with "charm and charisma" then maybe private schools and employers should start this. Instead of the 90 minutes that GDS spends per candidate, they could spend the DCPS 120 seconds! Instead of multiple hour-long panel interviews, perhaps Google could start
utilizing the DCPS "120 seconds" process!! I'm sure all involved would be happy to save all those manpower hours.

We were part of this interview cohort and DD was fortunate to get a full interview with both students and a teacher. But I remember several people had a similar experience to PP’s kid and the acceptances seemed quite random. DD received an offer but ended up declining.

Where is DD now?

[Anonymous]

Rejection is part of life. It’s an opportunity for kids to learn how to handle it. But I think parents on DCUM struggle with it more than their kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rejection is part of life. It’s an opportunity for kids to learn how to handle it. But I think parents on DCUM struggle with it more than their kids.

Rejection is one thing. Being stuck in an admissions process that lacks transparency and consistency is another

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rejection is part of life. It’s an opportunity for kids to learn how to handle it. But I think parents on DCUM struggle with it more than their kids.

NP. I don't read any of the above observations about the process as entitled parents who think their kid could or should not feel rejection. The point they are making is that the interview process isn't an interview; 2 minutes with only students who clearly have no rubric or standards is not an appropriate interview. They are alleging the admissions process is now randomized, and not merit based or based on a defied set of criteria.

[Anonymous]

Is there any one place we can get info about the actual admission standards of the high schools?

[Anonymous]

https://www.myschooldc.org/how-apply/applying-high-school

Scroll all the way down to the "requirements for selective high schools", which is also linked directly here: https://www.myschooldc.org/sites/default/files/u421/20220912_2023_Selective_High_School_Requirements.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejection is part of life. It’s an opportunity for kids to learn how to handle it. But I think parents on DCUM struggle with it more than their kids.

Rejection is one thing. Being stuck in an admissions process that lacks transparency and consistency is another

Seems like a good teaching moment. Do you think college is any more transparent or consistent? Grad school probably is a little bit more consistent, but applying for jobs is even less transparent and consistent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejection is part of life. It’s an opportunity for kids to learn how to handle it. But I think parents on DCUM struggle with it more than their kids.

Rejection is one thing. Being stuck in an admissions process that lacks transparency and consistency is another

Seems like a good teaching moment. Do you think college is any more transparent or consistent? Grad school probably is a little bit more consistent, but applying for jobs is even less transparent and consistent.

we obviously see differently on this and likely won't persuade each other. with application high schools in the city you have far fewer options from which to choose than for college and grad school, and can't really "shop around" for a process that you prefer or believe in more. we also pay taxes for these high schools -- while access is of course not guaranteed, the wildly varied experiences in the application process indicate significant problems in my opinion.