BASIS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand BASIS parents wishing things were better and I don't want to say you shouldn't. But my kid is on the waitlist, we're hoping desperately they'll get in, and this just seems....like, have you seen our other options?

This kind of attitude allows dumb decisions to go unchecked.

So, if a parent lotteries into BASIS DC because they don't want their kid to go to Eastern, they just have a bad "attitude allow[ing] dumb decisions to go unchecked"?

I don't think that you understand much about DC public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Too many questionable practices go unchecked at BASIS. For example, it's not uncommon for kids who leave on good form academically at whatever stage to be forced to retake math at other schools. This happens after they couldn't pass placement tests testing math they supposedly learned at BASIS. We had a couple middle school teachers who cried in front of classes they couldn't handle multiple times. The more desperate you are for a decent school, the more BS you put up with.

I was under the impression that the way the Algebra l/ll/Geometry classes are split/credits divided doesn't align with what DCPS does and therefore they can't (or just won't) accept them, and there's basically no way around it. I've never heard anything about failing placement tests before. Can you talk about that a little more?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I wonder about at BASIS is why they insist on cramming four years of high school academics into three. Seems like the kids would have a better shot at all these schools if they weren't under suchj pressure to crank out AP results by the end of junior year.

Your premise is wrong and so is your conclusion.

I work in admissions at an elite college in this city that you've, um, heard of. No, PP isn't wrong, explaining why private schools and top suburban magnets in the DMV never cram four years of high school academics into several. My impression is that the BASIS senior project, which isn't required, isn't serious. It's clear that few franchise resources go into supporting it. The students would clearly be better off continuing to take AP classes senior year, leaving them with more time for ECs lower down the chain. At some privates and suburban magnets, seniors take one or two Cambridge International subject exams in November, enabling them to enter application season with more standardized test scores they they'd have simply by sticking with AP exams. Unfortunately, BASIS doesn't plan or innovate like that.

You think that all kids finish BASIS after junior year and leave? BASIS seniors are required to take 4 capstones classes in humanities, math, science, and language as well as college admissions. This includes classes such as multivariable calculus (for those who have taken Cal BC and want to go further). Plus they can take additional electives and a senior project, if they want (those are not required). They are free to take multiple AP class electives senior year if they want and take Cambridge exams or whatever else they want. Some kids do both.

It seems strange that you are comparing BASIS to private schools in the area, which generally don't even offer AP classes, and suggesting that BASIS should be requiring more AP courses senior year. It also odd that you are bringing up Cambridge exams since no school in the area requires them (except outliers like the British School) and anyone, including students at BASIS, can take them if they wish.

Plus, I doubt that kids anywhere who have already committed to a college early in senior year are killing themselves to take a rigorous senior-year courseload that won't count for college admissions.

Finally, it is also weird to compare BASIS, a free public 100% lottery school, to private schools costing $50,000+ a year and magnets--both of whom handpick their student bodies.

The above sounds great on paper to the uninitiated, with a kid heading into 5th, but it's inaccurate. Senior year at BASIS really is mostly a waste of time from day one. Seniors goof off with abandon. The mandatory college admissions class is overkill, another example of the franchise's commitment to paternalism. Sure, BASIS gets superior college admissions results overall to other DC public high schools, which doesn't that doesn't mean that there isn't room for improvement.

No, it's not weird to compare the BASIS students with a good chance of cracking highly selective colleges to those at top privates or DMV test-in magnets. The strongest DC students would make the grade for those programs in different circumstances.

Not true that BASIS DC students are taking Cambridge Exams in fall of senior year. Families and admins lack familiarity with the exams, and interest in them. A CE language exam was suggested to us by private school friends, who planned to have the kid take a Nov. exam after a summer of immersion abroad. We copied them with success.

I see BASIS DC as coming under increasing pressure to move with the times in college admissions, mainly by giving kids more breathing room to focus on HS ECs and targeted enrichment.

You are just creating strawpeople and knocking them down:

• No one is saying that there isn’t room for improvement for BASIS. In contrast, you asserting that senior year at BASIS is “mostly a waste of time” is just your unsupported subjective opinion. It hardly contradicts the specific points PP makes about the curriculum. Plus, you offer no evidence for your conclusion.

• No one is saying that a BASIS senior wouldn’t do just as well at a top private or magnet. The point PP was making is that claiming that BASIS doesn’t measure up to a top DMV private or magnet ignores the significant differences between types of school, admissions practices, costs, and locations.

• You said that it is “Not true that BASIS DC students are taking Cambridge Exams in fall of senior year.” And then you admitted that your BASIS kid took Cambridge Exams at BASIS after a summer of immersion abroad, which any BASIS kid is free to do. That doesn’t contradict what PP said either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Much better list than last year at any rate. Yale, Harvard, U Penn, Johns Hopkins, the rest meh, considering that these kids all had to take algebra no later than 7th grade. No MIT or Caltech.

Just because you take algebra in 7th grade you have to go to MIT or Caltech. What?

Do you realize that DC only sends a handful of students to MIT each year, and Caltech even fewer?

For what it worth, a BASIS DC grad from last year is at Caltech and one from BASIS McLean (which has the same curriculum) is going to MIT.

If you want to go to MIT or Caltech, your best bet is to move to Fairfax County and go to TJ.

I do wonder about the BASIS model as preparation for a place like MIT... my husband is an alum and they don't accept any AP credits (which BASIS seems to make a big deal out of tauting.) We are sending our son there next year but I am definitely curious about how well they are prepping kids for serious math and science careers. No clue if our kids want to follow in their Dad's footsteps. No legacy at MIT either so they will need to get in on their own merits.

None of the top ranked schools I got into accepted AP credit for anything other than placement (e.g., AP BC calc put you in a higher track than AB) or at some schools a good AP language score could get you out of a language requirement. I was so bummed that my AP tests in physics, biology, and chemistry might have helped me get into the schools, but they didn't give me course credit or let me skip those classes. That was a good thing because the AP class was so much weaker than the real college level class.

Obviously this is dated info, but my friend who has college aged kids said they found the same thing in the last few year. One of her kids who excelled on a ton of APs was choosing between starting with sophomore status at a state school or attending their dream HYPS where the APs didn't really give them any credits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Too many questionable practices go unchecked at BASIS. For example, it's not uncommon for kids who leave on good form academically at whatever stage to be forced to retake math at other schools. This happens after they couldn't pass placement tests testing math they supposedly learned at BASIS. We had a couple middle school teachers who cried in front of classes they couldn't handle multiple times. The more desperate you are for a decent school, the more BS you put up with.

Sounds like your kid couldn't handle the curriculum and washed out, and you are just bitter.

Hope that they are happy with wherever they ended up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Much better list than last year at any rate. Yale, Harvard, U Penn, Johns Hopkins, the rest meh, considering that these kids all had to take algebra no later than 7th grade. No MIT or Caltech.

Just because you take algebra in 7th grade you have to go to MIT or Caltech. What?

Do you realize that DC only sends a handful of students to MIT each year, and Caltech even fewer?

For what it worth, a BASIS DC grad from last year is at Caltech and one from BASIS McLean (which has the same curriculum) is going to MIT.

If you want to go to MIT or Caltech, your best bet is to move to Fairfax County and go to TJ.

I do wonder about the BASIS model as preparation for a place like MIT... my husband is an alum and they don't accept any AP credits (which BASIS seems to make a big deal out of tauting.) We are sending our son there next year but I am definitely curious about how well they are prepping kids for serious math and science careers. No clue if our kids want to follow in their Dad's footsteps. No legacy at MIT either so they will need to get in on their own merits.

Why not have your husband talk to the BASIS admins and teachers and find out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Much better list than last year at any rate. Yale, Harvard, U Penn, Johns Hopkins, the rest meh, considering that these kids all had to take algebra no later than 7th grade. No MIT or Caltech.

Just because you take algebra in 7th grade you have to go to MIT or Caltech. What?

Do you realize that DC only sends a handful of students to MIT each year, and Caltech even fewer?

For what it worth, a BASIS DC grad from last year is at Caltech and one from BASIS McLean (which has the same curriculum) is going to MIT.

If you want to go to MIT or Caltech, your best bet is to move to Fairfax County and go to TJ.

I do wonder about the BASIS model as preparation for a place like MIT... my husband is an alum and they don't accept any AP credits (which BASIS seems to make a big deal out of tauting.) We are sending our son there next year but I am definitely curious about how well they are prepping kids for serious math and science careers. No clue if our kids want to follow in their Dad's footsteps. No legacy at MIT either so they will need to get in on their own merits.

None of the top ranked schools I got into accepted AP credit for anything other than placement (e.g., AP BC calc put you in a higher track than AB) or at some schools a good AP language score could get you out of a language requirement. I was so bummed that my AP tests in physics, biology, and chemistry might have helped me get into the schools, but they didn't give me course credit or let me skip those classes. That was a good thing because the AP class was so much weaker than the real college level class.

Obviously this is dated info, but my friend who has college aged kids said they found the same thing in the last few year. One of her kids who excelled on a ton of APs was choosing between starting with sophomore status at a state school or attending their dream HYPS where the APs didn't really give them any credits.

I didn’t get any credits either, but that was never the reason I took APs in the first place? APs helped me to be able incredibly efficient in studying, and gave me the background I needed to hit the ground running in my HYPS. Everyone I knew in freshman calc for example had taken Calc BC and received a 5, so to come into that class with no AP experience would have been awful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Much better list than last year at any rate. Yale, Harvard, U Penn, Johns Hopkins, the rest meh, considering that these kids all had to take algebra no later than 7th grade. No MIT or Caltech.

Just because you take algebra in 7th grade you have to go to MIT or Caltech. What?

Do you realize that DC only sends a handful of students to MIT each year, and Caltech even fewer?

For what it worth, a BASIS DC grad from last year is at Caltech and one from BASIS McLean (which has the same curriculum) is going to MIT.

If you want to go to MIT or Caltech, your best bet is to move to Fairfax County and go to TJ.

I do wonder about the BASIS model as preparation for a place like MIT... my husband is an alum and they don't accept any AP credits (which BASIS seems to make a big deal out of tauting.) We are sending our son there next year but I am definitely curious about how well they are prepping kids for serious math and science careers. No clue if our kids want to follow in their Dad's footsteps. No legacy at MIT either so they will need to get in on their own merits.

None of the top ranked schools I got into accepted AP credit for anything other than placement (e.g., AP BC calc put you in a higher track than AB) or at some schools a good AP language score could get you out of a language requirement. I was so bummed that my AP tests in physics, biology, and chemistry might have helped me get into the schools, but they didn't give me course credit or let me skip those classes. That was a good thing because the AP class was so much weaker than the real college level class.

Obviously this is dated info, but my friend who has college aged kids said they found the same thing in the last few year. One of her kids who excelled on a ton of APs was choosing between starting with sophomore status at a state school or attending their dream HYPS where the APs didn't really give them any credits.

Ya, I believe that (that the best schools don't offer credit). I myself went to a state school (one of the good ones!) and came in with 24 credits and it was a huge help (was able to double major pretty easily in 4 years). My husband went to a top 5 school, no credit. It just seems like all the BASIS teachers and admin I've talked to seem to talk up the "college credit" thing, and I hope this means they are still aiming high for the students in regards to college applications while managing expectations.


Also I hear all the critiques. Do we understand the things that BASIS is doing poorly? Yes. This forum has been very helpful in that regard. Is it better than our IB option, Cardozo? Oh my god.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand BASIS parents wishing things were better and I don't want to say you shouldn't. But my kid is on the waitlist, we're hoping desperately they'll get in, and this just seems....like, have you seen our other options?

This kind of attitude allows dumb decisions to go unchecked.

So, if a parent lotteries into BASIS DC because they don't want their kid to go to Eastern, they just have a bad "attitude allow[ing] dumb decisions to go unchecked"?

I don't think that you understand much about DC public schools.

I have a kid at BASIS and I’m IB for eastern so …. yeah. But that doesn’t mean that BASIS’s dumb choices shouldn’t be questioned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Too many questionable practices go unchecked at BASIS. For example, it's not uncommon for kids who leave on good form academically at whatever stage to be forced to retake math at other schools. This happens after they couldn't pass placement tests testing math they supposedly learned at BASIS. We had a couple middle school teachers who cried in front of classes they couldn't handle multiple times. The more desperate you are for a decent school, the more BS you put up with.

Sounds like your kid couldn't handle the curriculum and washed out, and you are just bitter.

Hope that they are happy with wherever they ended up.

I have found that the people least happy with BASIS are the people with the highest flying kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Too many questionable practices go unchecked at BASIS. For example, it's not uncommon for kids who leave on good form academically at whatever stage to be forced to retake math at other schools. This happens after they couldn't pass placement tests testing math they supposedly learned at BASIS. We had a couple middle school teachers who cried in front of classes they couldn't handle multiple times. The more desperate you are for a decent school, the more BS you put up with.

That's every school system. DC, for instance, requires Algebra II for graduation. Less than 10% of the kids who take the algebra PARCC in high school score proficient, but they're all getting passed through. And the broader phenomenon of title inflation in math classes and kids requiring remediation in college for math classes they took in high school is nationwide. It's not good. It would be great if BASIS were the only public school in DC not doing this. But also, your objection is not with BASIS specifically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Too many questionable practices go unchecked at BASIS. For example, it's not uncommon for kids who leave on good form academically at whatever stage to be forced to retake math at other schools. This happens after they couldn't pass placement tests testing math they supposedly learned at BASIS. We had a couple middle school teachers who cried in front of classes they couldn't handle multiple times. The more desperate you are for a decent school, the more BS you put up with.

Sounds like your kid couldn't handle the curriculum and washed out, and you are just bitter.

Hope that they are happy with wherever they ended up.

Keep on recycling your tired "they washed-out" conspiracy theory if it makes you happy.

No, my kid is headed to a top 10 SLAC in the fall. Sounds like you're the parent of a 5th grader.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Too many questionable practices go unchecked at BASIS. For example, it's not uncommon for kids who leave on good form academically at whatever stage to be forced to retake math at other schools. This happens after they couldn't pass placement tests testing math they supposedly learned at BASIS. We had a couple middle school teachers who cried in front of classes they couldn't handle multiple times. The more desperate you are for a decent school, the more BS you put up with.

Sounds like your kid couldn't handle the curriculum and washed out, and you are just bitter.

Hope that they are happy with wherever they ended up.

I have found that the people least happy with BASIS are the people with the highest flying kids.

This, ten times over. Particularly creative kids who excel at humanities and languages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Too many questionable practices go unchecked at BASIS. For example, it's not uncommon for kids who leave on good form academically at whatever stage to be forced to retake math at other schools. This happens after they couldn't pass placement tests testing math they supposedly learned at BASIS. We had a couple middle school teachers who cried in front of classes they couldn't handle multiple times. The more desperate you are for a decent school, the more BS you put up with.

That's every school system. DC, for instance, requires Algebra II for graduation. Less than 10% of the kids who take the algebra PARCC in high school score proficient, but they're all getting passed through. And the broader phenomenon of title inflation in math classes and kids requiring remediation in college for math classes they took in high school is nationwide. It's not good. It would be great if BASIS were the only public school in DC not doing this. But also, your objection is not with BASIS specifically.

Yes, my objection is with BASIS specifically for requiring 7th grade algebra when at least half the kids aren't ready for it. These kids would probably be fine if they took 8th grade algebra.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I wonder about at BASIS is why they insist on cramming four years of high school academics into three. Seems like the kids would have a better shot at all these schools if they weren't under suchj pressure to crank out AP results by the end of junior year.

Your premise is wrong and so is your conclusion.

I work in admissions at an elite college in this city that you've, um, heard of. No, PP isn't wrong, explaining why private schools and top suburban magnets in the DMV never cram four years of high school academics into several. My impression is that the BASIS senior project, which isn't required, isn't serious. It's clear that few franchise resources go into supporting it. The students would clearly be better off continuing to take AP classes senior year, leaving them with more time for ECs lower down the chain. At some privates and suburban magnets, seniors take one or two Cambridge International subject exams in November, enabling them to enter application season with more standardized test scores they they'd have simply by sticking with AP exams. Unfortunately, BASIS doesn't plan or innovate like that.

You think that all kids finish BASIS after junior year and leave? BASIS seniors are required to take 4 capstones classes in humanities, math, science, and language as well as college admissions. This includes classes such as multivariable calculus (for those who have taken Cal BC and want to go further). Plus they can take additional electives and a senior project, if they want (those are not required). They are free to take multiple AP class electives senior year if they want and take Cambridge exams or whatever else they want. Some kids do both.

It seems strange that you are comparing BASIS to private schools in the area, which generally don't even offer AP classes, and suggesting that BASIS should be requiring more AP courses senior year. It also odd that you are bringing up Cambridge exams since no school in the area requires them (except outliers like the British School) and anyone, including students at BASIS, can take them if they wish.

Plus, I doubt that kids anywhere who have already committed to a college early in senior year are killing themselves to take a rigorous senior-year courseload that won't count for college admissions.

Finally, it is also weird to compare BASIS, a free public 100% lottery school, to private schools costing $50,000+ a year and magnets--both of whom handpick their student bodies.

The above sounds great on paper to the uninitiated, with a kid heading into 5th, but it's inaccurate. Senior year at BASIS really is mostly a waste of time from day one. Seniors goof off with abandon. The mandatory college admissions class is overkill, another example of the franchise's commitment to paternalism. Sure, BASIS gets superior college admissions results overall to other DC public high schools, which doesn't that doesn't mean that there isn't room for improvement.

No, it's not weird to compare the BASIS students with a good chance of cracking highly selective colleges to those at top privates or DMV test-in magnets. The strongest DC students would make the grade for those programs in different circumstances.

Not true that BASIS DC students are taking Cambridge Exams in fall of senior year. Families and admins lack familiarity with the exams, and interest in them. A CE language exam was suggested to us by private school friends, who planned to have the kid take a Nov. exam after a summer of immersion abroad. We copied them with success.

I see BASIS DC as coming under increasing pressure to move with the times in college admissions, mainly by giving kids more breathing room to focus on HS ECs and targeted enrichment.

You are just creating strawpeople and knocking them down:

• No one is saying that there isn’t room for improvement for BASIS. In contrast, you asserting that senior year at BASIS is “mostly a waste of time” is just your unsupported subjective opinion. It hardly contradicts the specific points PP makes about the curriculum. Plus, you offer no evidence for your conclusion.

• No one is saying that a BASIS senior wouldn’t do just as well at a top private or magnet. The point PP was making is that claiming that BASIS doesn’t measure up to a top DMV private or magnet ignores the significant differences between types of school, admissions practices, costs, and locations.

• You said that it is “Not true that BASIS DC students are taking Cambridge Exams in fall of senior year.” And then you admitted that your BASIS kid took Cambridge Exams at BASIS after a summer of immersion abroad, which any BASIS kid is free to do. That doesn’t contradict what PP said either.

NP. Give us a break. You're nitpicking, splitting hairs. Anybody who's had a kid do senior year at BASIS knows just how poorly the DIY year is used. If you need the experience to gather your own evidence, go for it. I've never heard anybody at BASIS mention Cambridge Exams either.