What exactly is Potomac looking for for 9th grade admissions?

[Anonymous]

Not at the expense of academics, but Potomac gets a lot of good applicants. Most won’t get in. If the applicant is a good athlete, that could give them points with admissions.

Your average top student with no connections just doesn’t get in at Potomac.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Each of my kids started at Potomac in 9th grade. None were competitive athletes. We are from NOVA. Each kid had unique interests and backgrounds not cookie cutter. I think they are just really looking for interesting kids with intellectual curiosity who show promise in making an impact on their community. We didn’t know anyone at the school before applying and attending. We are full pay but I don’t think that had anything to do with admission as I know a lot of full pay applicants now who didn’t get in, including siblings of current students. So I really think they take a holistic approach. There are a very small number of slots. I think it was around 20 each year and an equal number of girls and boys. My kids didn’t know anyone going there but it is such a fantastic community and they were warmly embraced. I can’t say enough about how much the teachers and faculty support the students. I say all of this to encourage anyone looking to apply to take their shot. I truly don’t believe there is a formula, much like the college admissions process these days. It’s been a wonderful experience for our family.

Well, two kids means siblings so you got in one time with one kid and you haven’t said what their unique interest was—other than not athletics. Let us know what it is and we’ll all be the judge of how they are really just looking for “interesting kids”. Yeah right.

You’re very judgemental and unpleasant, that’s why your family was rejected from Potomac. That community dodged a bullet.

[Anonymous]

Potomac is absolutely the equal of the top DC privates, anyone with kids at both knows this.

Nah... unless I was really into sports, would take GDS over Potomac. And Sidwell over Potomac is a no-brainer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Potomac is absolutely the equal of the top DC privates, anyone with kids at both knows this.

Nah... unless I was really into sports, would take GDS over Potomac. And Sidwell over Potomac is a no-brainer.

Really depends on where you live. I would put Potomac over Sidwell if in NOVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Potomac is absolutely the equal of the top DC privates, anyone with kids at both knows this.

Nah... unless I was really into sports, would take GDS over Potomac. And Sidwell over Potomac is a no-brainer.

Really depends on where you live. I would put Potomac over Sidwell if in NOVA.

Our oldest got into both and we picked Potomac for the 90 acre campus, bus system and what seemed to be better music and arts programs in high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Potomac is absolutely the equal of the top DC privates, anyone with kids at both knows this.

Nah... unless I was really into sports, would take GDS over Potomac. And Sidwell over Potomac is a no-brainer.

DP. Sometimes mileage will vary. For us logistics is the first filter in school choice. I would not apply to a school on the other side of the river from where we live - and that is equally true for us on either side of the river.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Potomac is absolutely the equal of the top DC privates, anyone with kids at both knows this.

Nah... unless I was really into sports, would take GDS over Potomac. And Sidwell over Potomac is a no-brainer.

We picked Potomac over both of these schools. I don’t think choosing any single school from this group is a no brainer. All three are great.

[Anonymous]

Based on DCUM it seems like they are looking for kids with obnoxious parents?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Potomac is absolutely the equal of the top DC privates, anyone with kids at both knows this.

Nah... unless I was really into sports, would take GDS over Potomac. And Sidwell over Potomac is a no-brainer.

We picked Potomac over both of these schools. I don’t think choosing any single school from this group is a no brainer. All three are great.

Doubt it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Based on DCUM it seems like they are looking for kids with obnoxious parents?

This isn’t exactly true but it kinda is. Potomac admissions are a total mystery. Kids get in who most think don’t have the same credentials or better than kids who dont get it. But start with the proposition that in most instances, everyone who applies is qualified based on prior admissions at Potomac. Potomac doesn’t always take the best grades. It doesn’t always take the athlete. It doesn’t always take the class president. But then sometimes it does. This leaves everyone who gets in feeling like they really deserved it and everyone who gets rejected feeling like they got screwed. I noted above some parents in my NoVa private school social circle will not even have their kids apply there (or didn’t). And that is because it can be a sad and cruel process for no really good reason. The kids are mystified, the parents are mystified, and it does nothing to help Potomac’s reputation because for every A plus stellar athlete that gets in, there is a totally average kid who also got in and 5 amazing top notch kids who didn’t. So then people look to money or connections or sibling or whatever. It feels rigged. But for the parents whose kids got in, they want to believe (and probably should) that their kid got in because he or she was just a tiny bit better. And the smugness cannot be hidden. What they don’t know is how many people know the reality and how the bloom is way off the rose and has been for a while. But no one will say this the parent of a Potomac kid. It has a great campus and good location for already wealthy people or people going to DC. And that is kind of the sum total of why it became desirable. But its reputation in NoVA is about equal now. People who want it and people who would never. For what it’s worth.