Selective HS not that difficult to get into

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is "oxymoronic"? ALex.

This. If they aren't hard to get into, what is the point?

DCUM will never be satisfied.

If the application schools are hard to get into, it’s a crisis because “what if my kid doesn’t get into one?”

If the application schools are not so hard to get into, it’s “what’s the point?”

The fact is that Banneker, McKinley, and Duke are considerably more successful than most neighborhood high schools in DC. That’s the point.

It’s hard to define success for Duke…it’s not particularly successful from traditional academic metrics…and the arts are a tough business.

So, if it produces Dave Chappell or other famous artists at all…I guess that’s success…but it’s still less than 1% of their grads (which is still much higher than the 0% of famous artists from 98% of all high schools).

By conventional academic metrics, Duke is “considerably more successful than most neighborhood high schools in DC.” That’s what I said and it’s objectively true. For example, Duke has the fifth highest average SAT score in DCPS, after Walls, Banneker, J-R, and McKinley Tech.

It’s like some of you want a trophy for living in the town with the most selective academic high school. Sorry, but as a parent I don’t care about that. I want decent schools that my kid can get into.

OP here. Agree with this post and is making the point I was trying to. I was not trying to comment on how great the application HS are. Not looking for TJ-like experience for my child. I recognize many want this. Our family is not one of them.

But for those who are zoned for schools that are really nonstarters, many on this forum make out like the only option is to move to MoCo. We ended up applying to so many schools fretting for months about our chances of getting into one of them. I wish I had known that it isn’t that difficult. I could have spared myself the stress.

+1. It's harder to find an acceptable MS spot in DC than it is to find a HS spot.

[Anonymous]

Based on nothing but this board, it seems like this may have been a relatively easy application year. Not a lot of angsty posts. But there were tons last year.

[Anonymous]

No, same as past years, just less venting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From everything I read on this forum, I thought the chances of DS getting into his top school was slim. He got in and virtually everyone in his 8th grade class got into one of the application HS. Maybe not everyone got into their first choice but they got into one of their top 3. Stop stressing people out by making it sound like it’s impossible to get into these schools.

For some, it was impossible and a lot of of kids did get shut out.

Gloat elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From everything I read on this forum, I thought the chances of DS getting into his top school was slim. He got in and virtually everyone in his 8th grade class got into one of the application HS. Maybe not everyone got into their first choice but they got into one of their top 3. Stop stressing people out by making it sound like it’s impossible to get into these schools.

For some, it was impossible and a lot of of kids did get shut out.

Gloat elsewhere.

So you know kids that applied to Banneker, Walls, and McKinley and didn't get in anywhere? I won't include Duke b/c it's a specialty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From everything I read on this forum, I thought the chances of DS getting into his top school was slim. He got in and virtually everyone in his 8th grade class got into one of the application HS. Maybe not everyone got into their first choice but they got into one of their top 3. Stop stressing people out by making it sound like it’s impossible to get into these schools.

For some, it was impossible and a lot of of kids did get shut out.

Gloat elsewhere.

So you know kids that applied to Banneker, Walls, and McKinley and didn't get in anywhere? I won't include Duke b/c it's a specialty.

I do. Of course, you never know what was in the essay, interviews, and recs. But I know two kids who were shut out for no reason I can discern. Its not that it's really hard to get into these schools, it's that it's pretty arbitrary and hard to predict. Honestly if it were a straight up GPA-qualified lottery, that would at least be easy to understand and way less work for everyone.

Of course, McKinley is not for everyone either. Without a sincere enthusiasm for math and science, a kid is unlikely to be happy there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From everything I read on this forum, I thought the chances of DS getting into his top school was slim. He got in and virtually everyone in his 8th grade class got into one of the application HS. Maybe not everyone got into their first choice but they got into one of their top 3. Stop stressing people out by making it sound like it’s impossible to get into these schools.

For some, it was impossible and a lot of of kids did get shut out.

Gloat elsewhere.

So you know kids that applied to Banneker, Walls, and McKinley and didn't get in anywhere? I won't include Duke b/c it's a specialty.

I do. Of course, you never know what was in the essay, interviews, and recs. But I know two kids who were shut out for no reason I can discern. Its not that it's really hard to get into these schools, it's that it's pretty arbitrary and hard to predict. Honestly if it were a straight up GPA-qualified lottery, that would at least be easy to understand and way less work for everyone.

Of course, McKinley is not for everyone either. Without a sincere enthusiasm for math and science, a kid is unlikely to be happy there.

So did these kids apply to McKinley or not? There were several kids from my child’s middle school who had decent but not exceptional grades and got in (mostly Bs). I find it hard to believe that they couldn’t get into McKinley. And if they only applied to Walls and Banneker, then yes it will be difficult to get a spot. If they applied to McKinley (and/or Duke) and didn’t get a spot, they were unlikely to be shut out for no apparent reason because the bar is not so high that it’s unachievable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From everything I read on this forum, I thought the chances of DS getting into his top school was slim. He got in and virtually everyone in his 8th grade class got into one of the application HS. Maybe not everyone got into their first choice but they got into one of their top 3. Stop stressing people out by making it sound like it’s impossible to get into these schools.

For some, it was impossible and a lot of of kids did get shut out.

Gloat elsewhere.

So you know kids that applied to Banneker, Walls, and McKinley and didn't get in anywhere? I won't include Duke b/c it's a specialty.

I do. Of course, you never know what was in the essay, interviews, and recs. But I know two kids who were shut out for no reason I can discern. Its not that it's really hard to get into these schools, it's that it's pretty arbitrary and hard to predict. Honestly if it were a straight up GPA-qualified lottery, that would at least be easy to understand and way less work for everyone.

Of course, McKinley is not for everyone either. Without a sincere enthusiasm for math and science, a kid is unlikely to be happy there.

So did these kids apply to McKinley or not? There were several kids from my child’s middle school who had decent but not exceptional grades and got in (mostly Bs). I find it hard to believe that they couldn’t get into McKinley. And if they only applied to Walls and Banneker, then yes it will be difficult to get a spot. If they applied to McKinley (and/or Duke) and didn’t get a spot, they were unlikely to be shut out for no apparent reason because the bar is not so high that it’s unachievable.

They did, and didn't get in.

Another problem with the process is there's really no way to confirm that the schools have all your materials. I've seen kids get rejected for incomplete applications who had no idea that anything was missing.

[Anonymous]

McKinley probably looks for some expressed interest in science/technology and the tracks that they offer which is not going to fit all students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From everything I read on this forum, I thought the chances of DS getting into his top school was slim. He got in and virtually everyone in his 8th grade class got into one of the application HS. Maybe not everyone got into their first choice but they got into one of their top 3. Stop stressing people out by making it sound like it’s impossible to get into these schools.

For some, it was impossible and a lot of of kids did get shut out.

Gloat elsewhere.

So you know kids that applied to Banneker, Walls, and McKinley and didn't get in anywhere? I won't include Duke b/c it's a specialty.

I do. Of course, you never know what was in the essay, interviews, and recs. But I know two kids who were shut out for no reason I can discern. Its not that it's really hard to get into these schools, it's that it's pretty arbitrary and hard to predict. Honestly if it were a straight up GPA-qualified lottery, that would at least be easy to understand and way less work for everyone.

Of course, McKinley is not for everyone either. Without a sincere enthusiasm for math and science, a kid is unlikely to be happy there.

So did these kids apply to McKinley or not? There were several kids from my child’s middle school who had decent but not exceptional grades and got in (mostly Bs). I find it hard to believe that they couldn’t get into McKinley. And if they only applied to Walls and Banneker, then yes it will be difficult to get a spot. If they applied to McKinley (and/or Duke) and didn’t get a spot, they were unlikely to be shut out for no apparent reason because the bar is not so high that it’s unachievable.

They did, and didn't get in.

Another problem with the process is there's really no way to confirm that the schools have all your materials. I've seen kids get rejected for incomplete applications who had no idea that anything was missing.

This is disheartening. This means that the teachers and counselors at the middle school did not do their jobs and sabotaged the students! This really needs to be investigated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From everything I read on this forum, I thought the chances of DS getting into his top school was slim. He got in and virtually everyone in his 8th grade class got into one of the application HS. Maybe not everyone got into their first choice but they got into one of their top 3. Stop stressing people out by making it sound like it’s impossible to get into these schools.

For some, it was impossible and a lot of of kids did get shut out.

Gloat elsewhere.

So you know kids that applied to Banneker, Walls, and McKinley and didn't get in anywhere? I won't include Duke b/c it's a specialty.

I do. Of course, you never know what was in the essay, interviews, and recs. But I know two kids who were shut out for no reason I can discern. Its not that it's really hard to get into these schools, it's that it's pretty arbitrary and hard to predict. Honestly if it were a straight up GPA-qualified lottery, that would at least be easy to understand and way less work for everyone.

Of course, McKinley is not for everyone either. Without a sincere enthusiasm for math and science, a kid is unlikely to be happy there.

So did these kids apply to McKinley or not? There were several kids from my child’s middle school who had decent but not exceptional grades and got in (mostly Bs). I find it hard to believe that they couldn’t get into McKinley. And if they only applied to Walls and Banneker, then yes it will be difficult to get a spot. If they applied to McKinley (and/or Duke) and didn’t get a spot, they were unlikely to be shut out for no apparent reason because the bar is not so high that it’s unachievable.

They did, and didn't get in.

Another problem with the process is there's really no way to confirm that the schools have all your materials. I've seen kids get rejected for incomplete applications who had no idea that anything was missing.

This is disheartening. This means that the teachers and counselors at the middle school did not do their jobs and sabotaged the students! This really needs to be investigated.

No, it could also have been missed or misplaced somehow by the high school admissions people. There's really no way to know, and no way to appeal or anything.

[Anonymous]

When the teachers and the counselor submit their letters, the student gets a confirmation that x teacher submitted their recommendation letter. The students can track who submitted the letters!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When the teachers and the counselor submit their letters, the student gets a confirmation that x teacher submitted their recommendation letter. The students can track who submitted the letters!

Right. But if a letter or any other element somehow got lost after that point, there's no way to know, until the lottery results come out and the kid is marked incomplete. And more broadly, there's no way to try to correct any of these problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Walls, for best or worse, is the school of rich and middle class legacy kids. The kids succeed because of their family structure.

Rich?


No

+1. This is laughable. The rich families never even had their kids in DCPS or got out after elementary.

Depends on your lens.
Sorry pumpkin but if your HHI is 250k+ and you have 600k in equity on your home that your parents helped with the down-payment for, you are rich by all my factors.

Am I still rich if we saved for the whole down payment ourselves?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Walls, for best or worse, is the school of rich and middle class legacy kids. The kids succeed because of their family structure.

Rich?


No

+1. This is laughable. The rich families never even had their kids in DCPS or got out after elementary.

Depends on your lens.
Sorry pumpkin but if your HHI is 250k+ and you have 600k in equity on your home that your parents helped with the down-payment for, you are rich by all my factors.

Am I still rich if we saved for the whole down payment ourselves?

NP. Compared to the general public (including me): Yes, you are. You are in a bubble if you think that you aren't.