Senior parents at Sidwell/GDS/NCS/STA; are you happy with college results?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I have read on boards over the years and have observed as a parent at one of these schools.

StA/NCS seem to be the most granular and open about prior data and such.
Sidwell cco office seems to be unpopular but unclear how much of that is from parents expectations
GDS seems most opaque and hard to get scoir data and emphasizes student fit and feel. People complain about the limit on how many applications.

All and all, these are hard jobs esp in fluid era. From what it seems from instagram, students at places that post seem to have done quite well this years in that they are going to lots of wonderful schools.

Sidwell gives parents access to the 3 most recent years of SCOIR data, the summer after 10th grade.

My children don’t attend NCS/STA, but my understanding is that you can only access SCOIR data at those schools if you’re in person (at the CCO). If that’s true, that doesn’t seem very open. Correct me if I’m wrong.

the bolded is not true

Someone posted here that STA only allows you to access SCOIR data if you go into the office and sit at the CC’s desk. That doesn’t seem very open.

Another post says that NCS/STA don’t make the SCOIR data available until the second half of 11th grade.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/15/1163943.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Happy kid, happy parents.

Lessons learned:

1. Do not share where you are touring schools. There will always be a mom in your kid's class who will take it upon herself to decide whether your kid is qualified to be touring said school.

2. Advise your kid to hide his/her grades from nosey peers. These kids are often grilled by their parents to try to figure out if your kid might be competition for theirs.

3. Trust the college counselors as counselors. They can't get your kid in, they can only advise what may or may not be possible and direct your kid in ways to help him/her give each application its best shot.


My kid is very happy with results. I think his/her results surprised some, but only because he/she kept stats close to the vest -- wanted to stay off of other's radar.

Finally, my kid had decent rigor and grades, but so do a lot of kids. I think his/her standardized testing and faculty recommendations are what set them apart. There will always be exceptions, but we just recently learned that most of the kids in their class who got into the top schools did submit test scores.

Good luck!

Not all of the schools listed by OP have counselors that will advise......just sayin'. It's ridiculous, but true. Ours literally gave ZERO advice or feedback and clearly did not know the kids. Pure paper pushing and making sure each student has a true likely. (..which most of our DC's friends already had).

can you share which school so we can avoid?

Not the previous poster but Sidwell is notorious for having a totally dysfunctional college counseling office.

Did your kid go there?

I’m certain the answer is no. People love to talk sh!7 about Sidwell…based purely on rumor and speculation.

No, based on the pain of parents who have had to deal with the nothing burger CCO.

I have been through two cycles of CCO at Sidwell.

The parents expect way too much, and the CCO tells the parents what to expect early on, and the parents still expect way too much.

The CCO cannot chose your kids schools, they cannot "get a kid in" to a school. Their main function is to help make sure the admin side is handled in a timely and orderly manner. They are not going to tell you "hey, you have 12 classmates applying to school X ED, so you may want to think about a different one" and they are not going to tell you that big school Y is a better option than small school Z. The kid has to get a sense of belonging, which cannot be imposed by the CCO.

Just my two cents.

Other schools’ CCOs go beyond mere administration. Among the Big 3 STA and GDS have stronger CCOs. Sidwell kids do well despite them and because there’s a lot of legacy status.

As a Sidwell parent with friends going through admissions at the same time - the amount of CCO engagement at other schools was night and day.....it's not about expecting Sidwell to get a student into a certain school. It's about supporting them through the process and providing some value-added based on their "expertise" and some contextual information on how students from Sidwell fare in the admissions at schools if/when this info is available and appropriate. Sometimes they really just don't know and the landscape is always changing - that's ok - but to give zero input and zero context about ANYTHING other than a "likely school" is not.

What type of context are you looking, exactly?

[Anonymous]

^ What type of context are you looking for, exactly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Happy kid, happy parents.

Lessons learned:

1. Do not share where you are touring schools. There will always be a mom in your kid's class who will take it upon herself to decide whether your kid is qualified to be touring said school.

2. Advise your kid to hide his/her grades from nosey peers. These kids are often grilled by their parents to try to figure out if your kid might be competition for theirs.

3. Trust the college counselors as counselors. They can't get your kid in, they can only advise what may or may not be possible and direct your kid in ways to help him/her give each application its best shot.


My kid is very happy with results. I think his/her results surprised some, but only because he/she kept stats close to the vest -- wanted to stay off of other's radar.

Finally, my kid had decent rigor and grades, but so do a lot of kids. I think his/her standardized testing and faculty recommendations are what set them apart. There will always be exceptions, but we just recently learned that most of the kids in their class who got into the top schools did submit test scores.

Good luck!

Not all of the schools listed by OP have counselors that will advise......just sayin'. It's ridiculous, but true. Ours literally gave ZERO advice or feedback and clearly did not know the kids. Pure paper pushing and making sure each student has a true likely. (..which most of our DC's friends already had).

can you share which school so we can avoid?

Not the previous poster but Sidwell is notorious for having a totally dysfunctional college counseling office.

Did your kid go there?

I’m certain the answer is no. People love to talk sh!7 about Sidwell…based purely on rumor and speculation.

No, based on the pain of parents who have had to deal with the nothing burger CCO.

The real answer:
No, based on the fact that your children were rejected by Sidwell. Now you spend your free time posting lies on DCUM about the school, including the CCO, because you’re angry and bitter.

You have no idea what is happening at Sidwell. Focus on what’s happening at the school that actually chose your children.

Another head in the sand. PP - you DO realize that Sidwell parents have parent friends at other Big3 schools and that they talk to one another. This is how, for example, a Sidwell parent knows they are getting less from CCO than a STA parent. Likewise, the STA parent hears (and is shocked by) what the Sidwell parent is not getting. Both have a sense of the CCO at the other school (especially when it's not just one Sidwell parent and not just one STA parent....the stories align...it's not fiction...the STA parent never wanted to be at Sidwell and the Sidwell parent never wanted to be at STA. It's not a jealousy thing.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Happy kid, happy parents.

Lessons learned:

1. Do not share where you are touring schools. There will always be a mom in your kid's class who will take it upon herself to decide whether your kid is qualified to be touring said school.

2. Advise your kid to hide his/her grades from nosey peers. These kids are often grilled by their parents to try to figure out if your kid might be competition for theirs.

3. Trust the college counselors as counselors. They can't get your kid in, they can only advise what may or may not be possible and direct your kid in ways to help him/her give each application its best shot.


My kid is very happy with results. I think his/her results surprised some, but only because he/she kept stats close to the vest -- wanted to stay off of other's radar.

Finally, my kid had decent rigor and grades, but so do a lot of kids. I think his/her standardized testing and faculty recommendations are what set them apart. There will always be exceptions, but we just recently learned that most of the kids in their class who got into the top schools did submit test scores.

Good luck!

Not all of the schools listed by OP have counselors that will advise......just sayin'. It's ridiculous, but true. Ours literally gave ZERO advice or feedback and clearly did not know the kids. Pure paper pushing and making sure each student has a true likely. (..which most of our DC's friends already had).

can you share which school so we can avoid?

Not the previous poster but Sidwell is notorious for having a totally dysfunctional college counseling office.

Are you a Sidwell parent of a senior (or recent graduate)? If yes, why was Sidwell’s CCO “totally dysfunctional,” based on your personal experience?

Yes. Sidwell parent (but not the one you replied to). Are mere paper pushing, no strategy or advice (even though it was asked), and not knowing the kids you are writing recommendations for not dysfunctional enough? How about not knowing the process of admissions for some schools? There was also a case (thankfully not ours) where the important "paper pushing job" did not get done....college didn't receive what was required from Sidwell for the student's application. For people pointing fingers at Sidwell parents...it is not asking too much. And, this was not just our experience, but others' as well (all unhooked). After making sure a "likely" school was on the students' lists (or a few) - they had nothing of substance to say.

This doesn’t ring true. That doesn’t remotely resemble the experience we had (2x) with Sidwell’s CCO.

Congratulations - consider yourself lucky. It is the experience of every parent we knew well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Happy kid, happy parents.

Lessons learned:

1. Do not share where you are touring schools. There will always be a mom in your kid's class who will take it upon herself to decide whether your kid is qualified to be touring said school.

2. Advise your kid to hide his/her grades from nosey peers. These kids are often grilled by their parents to try to figure out if your kid might be competition for theirs.

3. Trust the college counselors as counselors. They can't get your kid in, they can only advise what may or may not be possible and direct your kid in ways to help him/her give each application its best shot.


My kid is very happy with results. I think his/her results surprised some, but only because he/she kept stats close to the vest -- wanted to stay off of other's radar.

Finally, my kid had decent rigor and grades, but so do a lot of kids. I think his/her standardized testing and faculty recommendations are what set them apart. There will always be exceptions, but we just recently learned that most of the kids in their class who got into the top schools did submit test scores.

Good luck!

Not all of the schools listed by OP have counselors that will advise......just sayin'. It's ridiculous, but true. Ours literally gave ZERO advice or feedback and clearly did not know the kids. Pure paper pushing and making sure each student has a true likely. (..which most of our DC's friends already had).

can you share which school so we can avoid?

Not the previous poster but Sidwell is notorious for having a totally dysfunctional college counseling office.

Did your kid go there?

I’m certain the answer is no. People love to talk sh!7 about Sidwell…based purely on rumor and speculation.

No, based on the pain of parents who have had to deal with the nothing burger CCO.

I have been through two cycles of CCO at Sidwell.

The parents expect way too much, and the CCO tells the parents what to expect early on, and the parents still expect way too much.

The CCO cannot chose your kids schools, they cannot "get a kid in" to a school. Their main function is to help make sure the admin side is handled in a timely and orderly manner. They are not going to tell you "hey, you have 12 classmates applying to school X ED, so you may want to think about a different one" and they are not going to tell you that big school Y is a better option than small school Z. The kid has to get a sense of belonging, which cannot be imposed by the CCO.

Just my two cents.

Other schools’ CCOs go beyond mere administration. Among the Big 3 STA and GDS have stronger CCOs. Sidwell kids do well despite them and because there’s a lot of legacy status.

As a Sidwell parent with friends going through admissions at the same time - the amount of CCO engagement at other schools was night and day.....it's not about expecting Sidwell to get a student into a certain school. It's about supporting them through the process and providing some value-added based on their "expertise" and some contextual information on how students from Sidwell fare in the admissions at schools if/when this info is available and appropriate. Sometimes they really just don't know and the landscape is always changing - that's ok - but to give zero input and zero context about ANYTHING other than a "likely school" is not.

What type of context are you looking, exactly?

Give it a shot - what sort of information do you think would be helpful for the private high school to give you when applying to college that you can't just get by reading a book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Happy kid, happy parents.

Lessons learned:

1. Do not share where you are touring schools. There will always be a mom in your kid's class who will take it upon herself to decide whether your kid is qualified to be touring said school.

2. Advise your kid to hide his/her grades from nosey peers. These kids are often grilled by their parents to try to figure out if your kid might be competition for theirs.

3. Trust the college counselors as counselors. They can't get your kid in, they can only advise what may or may not be possible and direct your kid in ways to help him/her give each application its best shot.


My kid is very happy with results. I think his/her results surprised some, but only because he/she kept stats close to the vest -- wanted to stay off of other's radar.

Finally, my kid had decent rigor and grades, but so do a lot of kids. I think his/her standardized testing and faculty recommendations are what set them apart. There will always be exceptions, but we just recently learned that most of the kids in their class who got into the top schools did submit test scores.

Good luck!

Not all of the schools listed by OP have counselors that will advise......just sayin'. It's ridiculous, but true. Ours literally gave ZERO advice or feedback and clearly did not know the kids. Pure paper pushing and making sure each student has a true likely. (..which most of our DC's friends already had).

can you share which school so we can avoid?

Not the previous poster but Sidwell is notorious for having a totally dysfunctional college counseling office.

Did your kid go there?

I’m certain the answer is no. People love to talk sh!7 about Sidwell…based purely on rumor and speculation.

No, based on the pain of parents who have had to deal with the nothing burger CCO.

The real answer:
No, based on the fact that your children were rejected by Sidwell. Now you spend your free time posting lies on DCUM about the school, including the CCO, because you’re angry and bitter.

You have no idea what is happening at Sidwell. Focus on what’s happening at the school that actually chose your children.

Another head in the sand. PP - you DO realize that Sidwell parents have parent friends at other Big3 schools and that they talk to one another. This is how, for example, a Sidwell parent knows they are getting less from CCO than a STA parent. Likewise, the STA parent hears (and is shocked by) what the Sidwell parent is not getting. Both have a sense of the CCO at the other school (especially when it's not just one Sidwell parent and not just one STA parent....the stories align...it's not fiction...the STA parent never wanted to be at Sidwell and the Sidwell parent never wanted to be at STA. It's not a jealousy thing.)

You don’t know me and you don’t know what my experiences have been with Sidwell’s CCO. I’ve been through the process, and it sounds like the Sidwell parents you know need/expect a lot more mollycoddling than I needed.

Based on my daughter’s stats, I knew which colleges were reaches, targets, and safeties.
The SCOIR data provided some surprises, but a lot was as expected. I don’t have a son, but I definitely would not have preferred STA’s requirement that I sit in the CCO to view SCOIR data, or that I wait until the second half of my junior’s year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Happy kid, happy parents.

Lessons learned:

1. Do not share where you are touring schools. There will always be a mom in your kid's class who will take it upon herself to decide whether your kid is qualified to be touring said school.

2. Advise your kid to hide his/her grades from nosey peers. These kids are often grilled by their parents to try to figure out if your kid might be competition for theirs.

3. Trust the college counselors as counselors. They can't get your kid in, they can only advise what may or may not be possible and direct your kid in ways to help him/her give each application its best shot.


My kid is very happy with results. I think his/her results surprised some, but only because he/she kept stats close to the vest -- wanted to stay off of other's radar.

Finally, my kid had decent rigor and grades, but so do a lot of kids. I think his/her standardized testing and faculty recommendations are what set them apart. There will always be exceptions, but we just recently learned that most of the kids in their class who got into the top schools did submit test scores.

Good luck!

Not all of the schools listed by OP have counselors that will advise......just sayin'. It's ridiculous, but true. Ours literally gave ZERO advice or feedback and clearly did not know the kids. Pure paper pushing and making sure each student has a true likely. (..which most of our DC's friends already had).

can you share which school so we can avoid?

Not the previous poster but Sidwell is notorious for having a totally dysfunctional college counseling office.

Are you a Sidwell parent of a senior (or recent graduate)? If yes, why was Sidwell’s CCO “totally dysfunctional,” based on your personal experience?

Yes. Sidwell parent (but not the one you replied to). Are mere paper pushing, no strategy or advice (even though it was asked), and not knowing the kids you are writing recommendations for not dysfunctional enough? How about not knowing the process of admissions for some schools? There was also a case (thankfully not ours) where the important "paper pushing job" did not get done....college didn't receive what was required from Sidwell for the student's application. For people pointing fingers at Sidwell parents...it is not asking too much. And, this was not just our experience, but others' as well (all unhooked). After making sure a "likely" school was on the students' lists (or a few) - they had nothing of substance to say.

This doesn’t ring true. That doesn’t remotely resemble the experience we had (2x) with Sidwell’s CCO.

Congratulations - consider yourself lucky. It is the experience of every parent we knew well.

So, the two parents you claim to know at Sidwell. Gotcha!

[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:Happy kid, happy parents.

Lessons learned:

1. Do not share where you are touring schools. There will always be a mom in your kid's class who will take it upon herself to decide whether your kid is qualified to be touring said school.

2. Advise your kid to hide his/her grades from nosey peers. These kids are often grilled by their parents to try to figure out if your kid might be competition for theirs.

3. Trust the college counselors as counselors. They can't get your kid in, they can only advise what may or may not be possible and direct your kid in ways to help him/her give each application its best shot.


My kid is very happy with results. I think his/her results surprised some, but only because he/she kept stats close to the vest -- wanted to stay off of other's radar.

Finally, my kid had decent rigor and grades, but so do a lot of kids. I think his/her standardized testing and faculty recommendations are what set them apart. There will always be exceptions, but we just recently learned that most of the kids in their class who got into the top schools did submit test scores.

Good luck!

Not all of the schools listed by OP have counselors that will advise......just sayin'. It's ridiculous, but true. Ours literally gave ZERO advice or feedback and clearly did not know the kids. Pure paper pushing and making sure each student has a true likely. (..which most of our DC's friends already had).

can you share which school so we can avoid?

Not the previous poster but Sidwell is notorious for having a totally dysfunctional college counseling office.

Did your kid go there?

I’m certain the answer is no. People love to talk sh!7 about Sidwell…based purely on rumor and speculation.

No, based on the pain of parents who have had to deal with the nothing burger CCO.

I have been through two cycles of CCO at Sidwell.

The parents expect way too much, and the CCO tells the parents what to expect early on, and the parents still expect way too much.

The CCO cannot chose your kids schools, they cannot "get a kid in" to a school. Their main function is to help make sure the admin side is handled in a timely and orderly manner. They are not going to tell you "hey, you have 12 classmates applying to school X ED, so you may want to think about a different one" and they are not going to tell you that big school Y is a better option than small school Z. The kid has to get a sense of belonging, which cannot be imposed by the CCO.

Just my two cents.

Other schools’ CCOs go beyond mere administration. Among the Big 3 STA and GDS have stronger CCOs. Sidwell kids do well despite them and because there’s a lot of legacy status.

As a Sidwell parent with friends going through admissions at the same time - the amount of CCO engagement at other schools was night and day.....it's not about expecting Sidwell to get a student into a certain school. It's about supporting them through the process and providing some value-added based on their "expertise" and some contextual information on how students from Sidwell fare in the admissions at schools if/when this info is available and appropriate. Sometimes they really just don't know and the landscape is always changing - that's ok - but to give zero input and zero context about ANYTHING other than a "likely school" is not.

What type of context are you looking, exactly?

Give it a shot - what sort of information do you think would be helpful for the private high school to give you when applying to college that you can't just get by reading a book.

Oh, I see—you don’t have an answer. As a non-Sidwell parent you posted to criticize Sidwell’s CCO. You must be bored on this lovely Tuesday afternoon. Go outside and stretch your legs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Happy kid, happy parents.

Lessons learned:

1. Do not share where you are touring schools. There will always be a mom in your kid's class who will take it upon herself to decide whether your kid is qualified to be touring said school.

2. Advise your kid to hide his/her grades from nosey peers. These kids are often grilled by their parents to try to figure out if your kid might be competition for theirs.

3. Trust the college counselors as counselors. They can't get your kid in, they can only advise what may or may not be possible and direct your kid in ways to help him/her give each application its best shot.


My kid is very happy with results. I think his/her results surprised some, but only because he/she kept stats close to the vest -- wanted to stay off of other's radar.

Finally, my kid had decent rigor and grades, but so do a lot of kids. I think his/her standardized testing and faculty recommendations are what set them apart. There will always be exceptions, but we just recently learned that most of the kids in their class who got into the top schools did submit test scores.

Good luck!

Not all of the schools listed by OP have counselors that will advise......just sayin'. It's ridiculous, but true. Ours literally gave ZERO advice or feedback and clearly did not know the kids. Pure paper pushing and making sure each student has a true likely. (..which most of our DC's friends already had).

can you share which school so we can avoid?

Not the previous poster but Sidwell is notorious for having a totally dysfunctional college counseling office.

Did your kid go there?

I’m certain the answer is no. People love to talk sh!7 about Sidwell…based purely on rumor and speculation.

No, based on the pain of parents who have had to deal with the nothing burger CCO.

The real answer:
No, based on the fact that your children were rejected by Sidwell. Now you spend your free time posting lies on DCUM about the school, including the CCO, because you’re angry and bitter.

You have no idea what is happening at Sidwell. Focus on what’s happening at the school that actually chose your children.

Another head in the sand. PP - you DO realize that Sidwell parents have parent friends at other Big3 schools and that they talk to one another. This is how, for example, a Sidwell parent knows they are getting less from CCO than a STA parent. Likewise, the STA parent hears (and is shocked by) what the Sidwell parent is not getting. Both have a sense of the CCO at the other school (especially when it's not just one Sidwell parent and not just one STA parent....the stories align...it's not fiction...the STA parent never wanted to be at Sidwell and the Sidwell parent never wanted to be at STA. It's not a jealousy thing.)

You don’t know me and you don’t know what my experiences have been with Sidwell’s CCO. I’ve been through the process, and it sounds like the Sidwell parents you know need/expect a lot more mollycoddling than I needed.

Based on my daughter’s stats, I knew which colleges were reaches, targets, and safeties.
The SCOIR data provided some surprises, but a lot was as expected. I don’t have a son, but I definitely would not have preferred STA’s requirement that I sit in the CCO to view SCOIR data, or that I wait until the second half of my junior’s year.

Likewise. Yet, you doubted others' experiences and sent out accusations putting them down. The same wasn't done to you. Perhaps you should be open to the idea that not everyone is in your shoes. It's great that you are happy - that doesn't mean others are and it doesn't mean that they are asking too much.

FYI - SCOIR tells you nothing if you don't know about hooked status or whether test scores were sent in (but I am not asking for these details...) . SCOIR was NOT predictive in our case for many top schools. But that isn't our complaint - as Sidwell cannot know how tides are changing or how one DC will fit into the applicant pool of a given year.

I'd much prefer to be required to speak with STA in the office about the SCOIR information if they are going to add in context as part of the conversation. I have never heard of STA not providing SCOIR when asked. And having a two way conversation and information flow is MUCH more useful than seeing your child has a dot in the 90% predicted box.

[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:Happy kid, happy parents.

Lessons learned:

1. Do not share where you are touring schools. There will always be a mom in your kid's class who will take it upon herself to decide whether your kid is qualified to be touring said school.

2. Advise your kid to hide his/her grades from nosey peers. These kids are often grilled by their parents to try to figure out if your kid might be competition for theirs.

3. Trust the college counselors as counselors. They can't get your kid in, they can only advise what may or may not be possible and direct your kid in ways to help him/her give each application its best shot.


My kid is very happy with results. I think his/her results surprised some, but only because he/she kept stats close to the vest -- wanted to stay off of other's radar.

Finally, my kid had decent rigor and grades, but so do a lot of kids. I think his/her standardized testing and faculty recommendations are what set them apart. There will always be exceptions, but we just recently learned that most of the kids in their class who got into the top schools did submit test scores.

Good luck!

Not all of the schools listed by OP have counselors that will advise......just sayin'. It's ridiculous, but true. Ours literally gave ZERO advice or feedback and clearly did not know the kids. Pure paper pushing and making sure each student has a true likely. (..which most of our DC's friends already had).

can you share which school so we can avoid?

Not the previous poster but Sidwell is notorious for having a totally dysfunctional college counseling office.

Did your kid go there?

I’m certain the answer is no. People love to talk sh!7 about Sidwell…based purely on rumor and speculation.

No, based on the pain of parents who have had to deal with the nothing burger CCO.

I have been through two cycles of CCO at Sidwell.

The parents expect way too much, and the CCO tells the parents what to expect early on, and the parents still expect way too much.

The CCO cannot chose your kids schools, they cannot "get a kid in" to a school. Their main function is to help make sure the admin side is handled in a timely and orderly manner. They are not going to tell you "hey, you have 12 classmates applying to school X ED, so you may want to think about a different one" and they are not going to tell you that big school Y is a better option than small school Z. The kid has to get a sense of belonging, which cannot be imposed by the CCO.

Just my two cents.

Other schools’ CCOs go beyond mere administration. Among the Big 3 STA and GDS have stronger CCOs. Sidwell kids do well despite them and because there’s a lot of legacy status.

As a Sidwell parent with friends going through admissions at the same time - the amount of CCO engagement at other schools was night and day.....it's not about expecting Sidwell to get a student into a certain school. It's about supporting them through the process and providing some value-added based on their "expertise" and some contextual information on how students from Sidwell fare in the admissions at schools if/when this info is available and appropriate. Sometimes they really just don't know and the landscape is always changing - that's ok - but to give zero input and zero context about ANYTHING other than a "likely school" is not.

What type of context are you looking, exactly?

Give it a shot - what sort of information do you think would be helpful for the private high school to give you when applying to college that you can't just get by reading a book.

Oh, I see—you don’t have an answer. As a non-Sidwell parent you posted to criticize Sidwell’s CCO. You must be bored on this lovely Tuesday afternoon. Go outside and stretch your legs.

I am a Sidwell parent. Stepping out of this hateful exchange.

[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:Happy kid, happy parents.

Lessons learned:

1. Do not share where you are touring schools. There will always be a mom in your kid's class who will take it upon herself to decide whether your kid is qualified to be touring said school.

2. Advise your kid to hide his/her grades from nosey peers. These kids are often grilled by their parents to try to figure out if your kid might be competition for theirs.

3. Trust the college counselors as counselors. They can't get your kid in, they can only advise what may or may not be possible and direct your kid in ways to help him/her give each application its best shot.


My kid is very happy with results. I think his/her results surprised some, but only because he/she kept stats close to the vest -- wanted to stay off of other's radar.

Finally, my kid had decent rigor and grades, but so do a lot of kids. I think his/her standardized testing and faculty recommendations are what set them apart. There will always be exceptions, but we just recently learned that most of the kids in their class who got into the top schools did submit test scores.

Good luck!

Not all of the schools listed by OP have counselors that will advise......just sayin'. It's ridiculous, but true. Ours literally gave ZERO advice or feedback and clearly did not know the kids. Pure paper pushing and making sure each student has a true likely. (..which most of our DC's friends already had).

can you share which school so we can avoid?

Not the previous poster but Sidwell is notorious for having a totally dysfunctional college counseling office.

Did your kid go there?

I’m certain the answer is no. People love to talk sh!7 about Sidwell…based purely on rumor and speculation.

No, based on the pain of parents who have had to deal with the nothing burger CCO.

I have been through two cycles of CCO at Sidwell.

The parents expect way too much, and the CCO tells the parents what to expect early on, and the parents still expect way too much.

The CCO cannot chose your kids schools, they cannot "get a kid in" to a school. Their main function is to help make sure the admin side is handled in a timely and orderly manner. They are not going to tell you "hey, you have 12 classmates applying to school X ED, so you may want to think about a different one" and they are not going to tell you that big school Y is a better option than small school Z. The kid has to get a sense of belonging, which cannot be imposed by the CCO.

Just my two cents.

Other schools’ CCOs go beyond mere administration. Among the Big 3 STA and GDS have stronger CCOs. Sidwell kids do well despite them and because there’s a lot of legacy status.

As a Sidwell parent with friends going through admissions at the same time - the amount of CCO engagement at other schools was night and day.....it's not about expecting Sidwell to get a student into a certain school. It's about supporting them through the process and providing some value-added based on their "expertise" and some contextual information on how students from Sidwell fare in the admissions at schools if/when this info is available and appropriate. Sometimes they really just don't know and the landscape is always changing - that's ok - but to give zero input and zero context about ANYTHING other than a "likely school" is not.

What type of context are you looking, exactly?

Give it a shot - what sort of information do you think would be helpful for the private high school to give you when applying to college that you can't just get by reading a book.

Oh, I see—you don’t have an answer. As a non-Sidwell parent you posted to criticize Sidwell’s CCO. You must be bored on this lovely Tuesday afternoon. Go outside and stretch your legs.

I am a Sidwell parent. Stepping out of this hateful exchange.

Bye! 👋

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Happy kid, happy parents.

Lessons learned:

1. Do not share where you are touring schools. There will always be a mom in your kid's class who will take it upon herself to decide whether your kid is qualified to be touring said school.

2. Advise your kid to hide his/her grades from nosey peers. These kids are often grilled by their parents to try to figure out if your kid might be competition for theirs.

3. Trust the college counselors as counselors. They can't get your kid in, they can only advise what may or may not be possible and direct your kid in ways to help him/her give each application its best shot.


My kid is very happy with results. I think his/her results surprised some, but only because he/she kept stats close to the vest -- wanted to stay off of other's radar.

Finally, my kid had decent rigor and grades, but so do a lot of kids. I think his/her standardized testing and faculty recommendations are what set them apart. There will always be exceptions, but we just recently learned that most of the kids in their class who got into the top schools did submit test scores.

Good luck!

Not all of the schools listed by OP have counselors that will advise......just sayin'. It's ridiculous, but true. Ours literally gave ZERO advice or feedback and clearly did not know the kids. Pure paper pushing and making sure each student has a true likely. (..which most of our DC's friends already had).

can you share which school so we can avoid?

Not the previous poster but Sidwell is notorious for having a totally dysfunctional college counseling office.

Did your kid go there?

I’m certain the answer is no. People love to talk sh!7 about Sidwell…based purely on rumor and speculation.

No, based on the pain of parents who have had to deal with the nothing burger CCO.

The real answer:
No, based on the fact that your children were rejected by Sidwell. Now you spend your free time posting lies on DCUM about the school, including the CCO, because you’re angry and bitter.

You have no idea what is happening at Sidwell. Focus on what’s happening at the school that actually chose your children.

Another head in the sand. PP - you DO realize that Sidwell parents have parent friends at other Big3 schools and that they talk to one another. This is how, for example, a Sidwell parent knows they are getting less from CCO than a STA parent. Likewise, the STA parent hears (and is shocked by) what the Sidwell parent is not getting. Both have a sense of the CCO at the other school (especially when it's not just one Sidwell parent and not just one STA parent....the stories align...it's not fiction...the STA parent never wanted to be at Sidwell and the Sidwell parent never wanted to be at STA. It's not a jealousy thing.)

You don’t know me and you don’t know what my experiences have been with Sidwell’s CCO. I’ve been through the process, and it sounds like the Sidwell parents you know need/expect a lot more mollycoddling than I needed.

Based on my daughter’s stats, I knew which colleges were reaches, targets, and safeties.
The SCOIR data provided some surprises, but a lot was as expected. I don’t have a son, but I definitely would not have preferred STA’s requirement that I sit in the CCO to view SCOIR data, or that I wait until the second half of my junior’s year.

Likewise. Yet, you doubted others' experiences and sent out accusations putting them down. The same wasn't done to you. Perhaps you should be open to the idea that not everyone is in your shoes. It's great that you are happy - that doesn't mean others are and it doesn't mean that they are asking too much.

FYI - SCOIR tells you nothing if you don't know about hooked status or whether test scores were sent in (but I am not asking for these details...) . SCOIR was NOT predictive in our case for many top schools. But that isn't our complaint - as Sidwell cannot know how tides are changing or how one DC will fit into the applicant pool of a given year.

I'd much prefer to be required to speak with STA in the office about the SCOIR information if they are going to add in context as part of the conversation. I have never heard of STA not providing SCOIR when asked. And having a two way conversation and information flow is MUCH more useful than seeing your child has a dot in the 90% predicted box.

That’s where we differ. I’m not a child and I don’t need the STA nanny to monitor or control my access to SCOIR. And I certainly don’t want to drive to STA’s campus every time I need to look something up. I can’t imagine that nonsense! When I had questions about Sidwell’s SCOIR data, or the college application process, I simply emailed the CC. I’m an adult, so I neither need nor want the infantilizing treatment STA and GDS provides.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I have read on boards over the years and have observed as a parent at one of these schools.

StA/NCS seem to be the most granular and open about prior data and such.
Sidwell cco office seems to be unpopular but unclear how much of that is from parents expectations
GDS seems most opaque and hard to get scoir data and emphasizes student fit and feel. People complain about the limit on how many applications.

All and all, these are hard jobs esp in fluid era. From what it seems from instagram, students at places that post seem to have done quite well this years in that they are going to lots of wonderful schools.

Sidwell gives parents access to the 3 most recent years of SCOIR data, the summer after 10th grade.

My children don’t attend NCS/STA, but my understanding is that you can only access SCOIR data at those schools if you’re in person (at the CCO). If that’s true, that doesn’t seem very open. Correct me if I’m wrong.

the bolded is not true

Someone posted here that STA only allows you to access SCOIR data if you go into the office and sit at the CC’s desk. That doesn’t seem very open.

Another post says that NCS/STA don’t make the SCOIR data available until the second half of 11th grade.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/15/1163943.page

Class of 23 STA parent here and that is true (but the system is naviance). But I didn’t find it to be a problem and actually appreciated that my kid couldn’t obsess over the numbers all night at home, which kids with home access do. The data is useful to know if your kid is in range but that is about it.

Maybe what the PP means about being open and granular is STA provides lists of where graduates with similar GPAs got in, which we found helpful bc you see beyond where kids matriculate. The CC also was candid and correct about my kid’s match list.

STA may not care that outsiders know data but we felt supported as a family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I have read on boards over the years and have observed as a parent at one of these schools.

StA/NCS seem to be the most granular and open about prior data and such.
Sidwell cco office seems to be unpopular but unclear how much of that is from parents expectations
GDS seems most opaque and hard to get scoir data and emphasizes student fit and feel. People complain about the limit on how many applications.

All and all, these are hard jobs esp in fluid era. From what it seems from instagram, students at places that post seem to have done quite well this years in that they are going to lots of wonderful schools.

Sidwell gives parents access to the 3 most recent years of SCOIR data, the summer after 10th grade.

My children don’t attend NCS/STA, but my understanding is that you can only access SCOIR data at those schools if you’re in person (at the CCO). If that’s true, that doesn’t seem very open. Correct me if I’m wrong.

the bolded is not true

Someone posted here that STA only allows you to access SCOIR data if you go into the office and sit at the CC’s desk. That doesn’t seem very open.

Another post says that NCS/STA don’t make the SCOIR data available until the second half of 11th grade.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/15/1163943.page

Class of 23 STA parent here and that is true (but the system is naviance). But I didn’t find it to be a problem and actually appreciated that my kid couldn’t obsess over the numbers all night at home, which kids with home access do. The data is useful to know if your kid is in range but that is about it.

Maybe what the PP means about being open and granular is STA provides lists of where graduates with similar GPAs got in, which we found helpful bc you see beyond where kids matriculate. The CC also was candid and correct about my kid’s match list.

STA may not care that outsiders know data but we felt supported as a family.

It’s good that STA’s policies worked for you and your child. It wouldn’t work for my family. It’s great that DC families have a range of options when it comes to selecting high schools.