Bullis v Potomac
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Anonymous
OP. I hope that's true. From what I've been hearing and seeing from other applicants over the past years, also from our current MS....not so sure it's a shoo-in. |
Anonymous
| I would choose SAES or Bullis over Potomac. We have kids in HS at SAES and choose it over both but also have friends who ended up at Bullis and love it. The kids who entered Potomac in 9th are not as happy in my daughters cohort and one is applying out already. |
Anonymous
It will be easier mathematically to get into Bullis than Potomac. But overall you should consider your commute. Your daughter will be much happier in a school that has closeby friends and a short commute. HS days are long and a 45 minute commute after sports or extra curriculuars gets old fast. Consider your location...Of note--you get a slight edge on Potomac if you are applying in from DC or MD. The AP issue is a real one to consider--and there are differnet camps on this. Personally, I think its a big negative for Potomac to have gotten rid of APs--they seem to be drinking their own coolaid (and that of other prestigious privates and boarding schools) around the efficacy of having 'advanced' classes that are not AP. In the real world of college applications and college credit, their rational doesn't stand up and makes it more burdensome come applicatoin time. Potomac students are still taking APs but now they have the burden to prepare and study on their own time and have to hope that admisions officers take the time to read the lengthy overview of academic offerings where it explains no AP. That's a miss. That said, in the other camp are those who say not teaching to the AP test creates better learning and clasroom instruction at Potomac since the curriculum is richer and more engaging and can go deeper vs. check the box prep for the test.... So pick your poison I suppose.... |
Anonymous
+1. Significantly |
Anonymous
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Not so sure...
https://www.bullis.org/academics/college-counseling/college-matriculation And from these lists, you can see where the non-athletes are going. Not so on the Potomac list. It's close enough to not make a difference for an individual student. Clearly both schools are getting kids into great schools. I'm not sure an argument about which is best is that useful. What is the best fit for your child? Two schools with increasingly similar profiles. K-12, Co-ed. College focused. Value academics and arts. Oh, and expensive! |
Anonymous
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I'd be careful about reading too much into athlete commitments. There are times when an athlete commits to a school that they might not have gotten into without the sport. But, there are equally those who in order to keep playing (or to play at a higher level) commit to a school that is well below their academic level absent the sport. And, the majority (including my kid, who attended neither of these) are committing to schools where they would be a match without the athletics.
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Anonymous
| Bullis is mostly boys, especially in the upper school. Tour the school. You’ll seeing classes with one girl. There are also behavior problems, lots of cheating, and bullying issues at Bullis. Admin does nothing about this. None of that happens or is tolerated at Potomac and it’s roughly half boys and half girls. |
Anonymous
This has not been our experience at all. Our daughter has lots of other girl friends at Bullis and has a good mix of boys and girls in her classes. She is very happy there. It's true that there are more boys than girls in the upper school, but we haven't found it to be an appreciable difference. At least, not one that has affected her education or overall experience. |
Anonymous
| Yes - tour Bullis! See for yourself. What you won't see is what the 07:24 troll described! What you will see are joyful kids, a thriving program and a beautiful campus. We are applying for the Lower School, so for sure our focus is different, but we want our two to go through the whole way so did tour all three divisions. We applied to Potomac and Bullis, plus St.Andrews as hopefully a backup. We would love to go to either school, but will likely pick Bullis if we get in. (One is applying to a grade where there are no spots other than if a kid leaves so that's worrying.) |
Anonymous
I did notice this on our tour of the Bullish middle school. There was a science class that was entirely boys. I asked the tour guide about it who couldn't give a good answer. |
Anonymous
Ugh. That's crazy. We are applying our rising sixth grade daughter and I feel like I need to know more now. I'm going to call the admissions office and see if I can get more info. I'll report back. |
Anonymous
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This is completely insane. Bullis is not mostly boys. We have a lower school student there and the grade level is 50-50 or very close.
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Anonymous
I have a current 5th grader at Bullis. It’s 50-50 or maybe 52-48. The grade level is not heavy boys nor is the school. The current 5th grade class is 48 kids |
Anonymous
| HS is different. Mostly boys. |
Anonymous
If that’s true, which I highly doubt that PP’s daughter won’t have an issue getting in. No girls would because they would try to balance the classes. |