Sidwell vs GDS -- specific examples of what differentiates the two

[Anonymous]

The limit at Sidwell has always been 12. Why would you need/want to apply to more than that?? Crazy hill to die on. Sidwell rooted in Quakerism as someone said so lots of service which is great and also weekly meeting for worship which your child won’t hate by the time they get to upper school. However so not get it twisted - the Quaker ideals do not mean that the teacher or administration or parents or students believe that there is that if God in everyone - they don’t and they act accordingly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The limit at Sidwell has always been 12. Why would you need/want to apply to more than that?? Crazy hill to die on. Sidwell rooted in Quakerism as someone said so lots of service which is great and also weekly meeting for worship which your child won’t hate by the time they get to upper school. However so not get it twisted - the Quaker ideals do not mean that the teacher or administration or parents or students believe that there is that if God in everyone - they don’t and they act accordingly.

Sidwell students are not restricted to applying to 12 colleges. However, GDS students are limited to that number.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Totally different parent vibe, too. Both "progressive" of course, but the GDS vibe is "we really are a public school family but [insert random excuse why they are now paying $55k a year for private school]" whereas Sidwell families don't even pretend.

Hard disagree. There are many private school lifers at GDS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t need Big Brother GDS dictating the number of schools my kid applies to. Especially not for $50k+.

At what tuition level would it be acceptable for a school to "dictat[e] the number of schools" where your kid can apply?

No more than $25k/year. Max!
And that school would need to be at least at Maret or Holton’s level.

I wouldn’t accept such an edict from Burke, even at $25k.

It's clear that you judge schools entirely based on gossip from here. You are going to hate the college admission process.

[Anonymous]

We were lucky to have the choice btw the two as well, as did a family we met at the school we chose later. We compared notes on key differences. Here are the top 10 that I recall:

1. GDS felt like it had a stronger community (school supporting the kids/events/parents volunteering).
2. Sidwell had a larger MS/HS campus for the kids to spread out.
3. GDS had a modern, new building for LS/MS (deceptively big).
4. HS at GDS had an open campus so kids come and go whenever they want. Not sure the rules at Sidwell.
5. Academics at both seemed really good. Teachers we met at both seemed really good.
6. Big focus at GDS on social justice, so it's integrated into the curriculum and assemblies. Very liberal.
7. Sidwell is a Quaker school, so they talked about God and have times of worship where they sit in silence so God can give them insights (this is how it was described to us, apologies if I'm misrepresenting).
8. Both schools courses of study seemed interesting and challenging. Parents at Sidwell shared there was pressure/expectation to do well and competition amongst peers, but that drove the kids. I was impressed by the kids they set-up for us to meet. Parents at GDS said it's challenging and kids study really hard to get a B.
9. GDS seemed more fun/joyful. Kids seemed more at ease.
10. Sidwell athletics seemed better.

We chose GDS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t need Big Brother GDS dictating the number of schools my kid applies to. Especially not for $50k+.

At what tuition level would it be acceptable for a school to "dictat[e] the number of schools" where your kid can apply?

No more than $25k/year. Max!
And that school would need to be at least at Maret or Holton’s level.

I wouldn’t accept such an edict from Burke, even at $25k.

It's clear that you judge schools entirely based on gossip from here. You are going to hate the college admission process.

DP. This isn’t gossip or rumor. GDS absolutely limits the number of college applications to 12 per student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t need Big Brother GDS dictating the number of schools my kid applies to. Especially not for $50k+.

At what tuition level would it be acceptable for a school to "dictat[e] the number of schools" where your kid can apply?

No more than $25k/year. Max!
And that school would need to be at least at Maret or Holton’s level.

I wouldn’t accept such an edict from Burke, even at $25k.

It's clear that you judge schools entirely based on gossip from here. You are going to hate the college admission process.

DP. This isn’t gossip or rumor. GDS absolutely limits the number of college applications to 12 per student.

Limiting isn't always bad, guys. It also limits the athletic-academic superstars from over-applying and getting accepted to EVERY school, potentially reducing the chances of others getting in. I know that it isn't this simplistic and that kids shouldn't see their school peers as competition. But still. If the top 1-5% stellar kids from each class are applying to every darn top school and getting in, there's a chance that your kid, while strong, might have a harder time competing.

[Anonymous]

Sidwell is a big 3 GDS is not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Totally different parent vibe, too. Both "progressive" of course, but the GDS vibe is "we really are a public school family but [insert random excuse why they are now paying $55k a year for private school]" whereas Sidwell families don't even pretend.

Hard disagree. There are many private school lifers at GDS.

That's not what OP of that comment is saying. They are saying that the Sidwell people completely lean into the fact that they go to private and that GDS parents often have some lame excuse as to why their kids can't go to public school...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The limit at Sidwell has always been 12. Why would you need/want to apply to more than that?? Crazy hill to die on. Sidwell rooted in Quakerism as someone said so lots of service which is great and also weekly meeting for worship which your child won’t hate by the time they get to upper school. However so not get it twisted - the Quaker ideals do not mean that the teacher or administration or parents or students believe that there is that if God in everyone - they don’t and they act accordingly.

Sidwell does not have a limit but there is a strong recommendation that going above 12 can start to have diminishing returns.

Our DC applied to 14 but it was 12 applications since UCs were a bundle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At both schools - and all other "top" privates (and W public HSs or VA equivalent top public HSs) in metro DC, the "top" college acceptances are driven mostly by hooks (legacy donor, VIP, special art/music talent, fake non-profit run by student, college recruit for Lacrosse, etc.) not by the academics.

Unhooked students with higher GPAs often are still at a disadvantage to a legacy child of a wealthy donor to the top college.

This is true - but PP left out that URMs with very solid grades/test scores will leapfrog the unhooked students who have higher grades and more rigor. Colleges know these kids have gotten a great HS education and have succeeded in a highly competitive environment - they trust that these kids will do great at their colleges and also provide the diverse voices they are looking in their community. And they do. (this is not a complaint...but it's a fact...a high profile brand name private HS helps the colleges to feel ok dipping deeper into the student pool to grab unhooked students with the profiles they are looking for - whether that be legacy, sports, talent, urm, first gen)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sidwell is a big 3 GDS is not.

lol rejected gds applicant is back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The limit at Sidwell has always been 12. Why would you need/want to apply to more than that?? Crazy hill to die on. Sidwell rooted in Quakerism as someone said so lots of service which is great and also weekly meeting for worship which your child won’t hate by the time they get to upper school. However so not get it twisted - the Quaker ideals do not mean that the teacher or administration or parents or students believe that there is that if God in everyone - they don’t and they act accordingly.

Sidwell students are not restricted to applying to 12 colleges. However, GDS students are limited to that number.

I had heard GDS was restricted to 10? Is that not the case?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were lucky to have the choice btw the two as well, as did a family we met at the school we chose later. We compared notes on key differences. Here are the top 10 that I recall:

1. GDS felt like it had a stronger community (school supporting the kids/events/parents volunteering).
2. Sidwell had a larger MS/HS campus for the kids to spread out.
3. GDS had a modern, new building for LS/MS (deceptively big).
4. HS at GDS had an open campus so kids come and go whenever they want. Not sure the rules at Sidwell.
5. Academics at both seemed really good. Teachers we met at both seemed really good.
6. Big focus at GDS on social justice, so it's integrated into the curriculum and assemblies. Very liberal.
7. Sidwell is a Quaker school, so they talked about God and have times of worship where they sit in silence so God can give them insights (this is how it was described to us, apologies if I'm misrepresenting).
8. Both schools courses of study seemed interesting and challenging. Parents at Sidwell shared there was pressure/expectation to do well and competition amongst peers, but that drove the kids. I was impressed by the kids they set-up for us to meet. Parents at GDS said it's challenging and kids study really hard to get a B.
9. GDS seemed more fun/joyful. Kids seemed more at ease.
10. Sidwell athletics seemed better.

We chose GDS.

GDS seems happier overall but the open campus open lunch off campus I think does not promote community. I think lunch time can be a time to know your community and sit at tables and get to know one another.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were lucky to have the choice btw the two as well, as did a family we met at the school we chose later. We compared notes on key differences. Here are the top 10 that I recall:

1. GDS felt like it had a stronger community (school supporting the kids/events/parents volunteering).
2. Sidwell had a larger MS/HS campus for the kids to spread out.
3. GDS had a modern, new building for LS/MS (deceptively big).
4. HS at GDS had an open campus so kids come and go whenever they want. Not sure the rules at Sidwell.
5. Academics at both seemed really good. Teachers we met at both seemed really good.
6. Big focus at GDS on social justice, so it's integrated into the curriculum and assemblies. Very liberal.
7. Sidwell is a Quaker school, so they talked about God and have times of worship where they sit in silence so God can give them insights (this is how it was described to us, apologies if I'm misrepresenting).
8. Both schools courses of study seemed interesting and challenging. Parents at Sidwell shared there was pressure/expectation to do well and competition amongst peers, but that drove the kids. I was impressed by the kids they set-up for us to meet. Parents at GDS said it's challenging and kids study really hard to get a B.
9. GDS seemed more fun/joyful. Kids seemed more at ease.
10. Sidwell athletics seemed better.

We chose GDS.

GDS seems happier overall but the open campus open lunch off campus I think does not promote community. I think lunch time can be a time to know your community and sit at tables and get to know one another.

I have a kid in HS at GDS and have mixed feelings about the lack of a cafeteria. But anyone who thinks that even a significant minority of kids go off campus for lunch all the time is wrong. Even if they do, all the kids hang out in the forum and surrounding area (cafe) all the time, including during lunch.

Certainly some kids do, and the fact that some also order Door Dash frequently to me is hard to believe. And if you need a HS with a cafeteria, then GDS certainly is not it.