Bottom Half at Sidwell - How is college placement?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I can see the reason for the confusion R/T my post. DS does not go to Sidwell, but another NW DC Independant school, where I said the average kid is an "A" student. There is no grade inflation at my DS's school. What I am saying is that, if you took 70% of the kids at DS's school and put them at any other school they would be in the top 10% of the class in terms of academic achievement. As an adult who went to public school where there was a broad range, its kind of obvious that DS's class is not an "average" group of kids. All you have to do is host a play date, its obvious . In short, its a fast crowd. Its like if you took the top kids from every local school around and sent them all to one school, then re-adjusted the curriculum so that you teach to that top 10% because that is the new "middle". Everyone is an A student. Its like giving the teachers all honors kids to work with and nothing else.

There are also kids there who are above average, but maybe not the CTY type. I imagine an average or just above average kid would have to work their ass off just to keep up ( this is based on my perpective as an adult who is asked to sign graded tests, essays, and , field "mom did you learn this in school " type questions. The answer is, no, not in 4th grade.

Maybe the "bottom half" of class still get s an A or two, but they work their ass off to get. Think Med school, think law school kind of working ass off, only they are 10, 11 years old. My point is, kids who get B's in such an environment are not unmotivated or as PP said, they are just in with a fast crowd and working as had as they can, and probably getting B's , once and a while an A, and the occasional C.
After a decade of that kind of applied study, any university would be lucky to have them.

But the point is, Sidwell and your own school are NOT the only schools where the kids work their asses off. You say your school is not Sidwell, but the kids are still working their asses off. In most of the top independent schools in the DMV area, it's fair to say that most kids are working their asses off. Public magnet and IB kids are working their asses off. Public school kids with long slates of APs are working their asses off.

Having just gone through the college admissions process, it seems pretty clear that working your ass off, for good grades and SATs, is just the *threshold* for admission to the most selective colleges. Harvard gets 33,000 applications from kids, most of whom have great grades and SATs and took the most challenging courses at their mostly competitive public and private schools. Colleges are looking for something even more - lopsided passions, national-level achievement, starting a business, sending thousands of dollars to a volunteer group. DC, who got into a top ivy, not only worked working her ass off, she had one of these additional accomplishments. Or there are hooks, like legacy or athletic.

So colleges are not going to give Sidwell, or any of the area independents for that matter, extra points for harder-than-usual work. If there's something going on, it would have to be because of the Sidwell name. That, I have no data on, except for the list above which I sort of wonder about, given what I've heard about recent Sidwell results and ED results from December. I wish Sidwell actually posted exmissions, like all the other independent schools in the area.

PP, could you use the word " ass" a little more often ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I wish Sidwell actually posted exmissions, like all the other independent schools in the area.

Sidwell's definitely not alone.

STA: Posts just a small portion of results from topc colleges.
NCS: Used to post, but seemingly now has decided to follow Sidwell's lead of silence.
Holton: Posts just a list of college names with no numbers for each.
Maret: No list that I can find.
GDS: No list that I can find.

Not accurate as to STA. The STA website posts an aggregate five-year list that includes all the colleges to which their have been STA matriculations, not just selected schools. The list does not identify how many students have attended a given college during that time, though:

http://www.stalbansschool.org/page.aspx?pid=722

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I wish Sidwell actually posted exmissions, like all the other independent schools in the area.

Sidwell's definitely not alone.

STA: Posts just a small portion of results from topc colleges.
NCS: Used to post, but seemingly now has decided to follow Sidwell's lead of silence.
Holton: Posts just a list of college names with no numbers for each.
Maret: No list that I can find.
GDS: No list that I can find.

Not accurate as to STA. The STA website posts an aggregate five-year list that includes all the colleges to which their have been STA matriculations, not just selected schools. The list does not identify how many students have attended a given college during that time, though:

http://www.stalbansschool.org/page.aspx?pid=722

Very few of the local schools post a "straight up" exmissions list, one year at a time, with how many students are at each school. The only one I recall doing that is Landon, maybe? Somebody has posted a St. Albans matriculation list the past few years but it appears to be someone working off of the list that the student newspaper compiles and publishes at graduation each year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I can see the reason for the confusion R/T my post. DS does not go to Sidwell, but another NW DC Independant school, where I said the average kid is an "A" student. There is no grade inflation at my DS's school. What I am saying is that, if you took 70% of the kids at DS's school and put them at any other school they would be in the top 10% of the class in terms of academic achievement. As an adult who went to public school where there was a broad range, its kind of obvious that DS's class is not an "average" group of kids. All you have to do is host a play date, its obvious . In short, its a fast crowd. Its like if you took the top kids from every local school around and sent them all to one school, then re-adjusted the curriculum so that you teach to that top 10% because that is the new "middle". Everyone is an A student. Its like giving the teachers all honors kids to work with and nothing else.

There are also kids there who are above average, but maybe not the CTY type. I imagine an average or just above average kid would have to work their ass off just to keep up ( this is based on my perpective as an adult who is asked to sign graded tests, essays, and , field "mom did you learn this in school " type questions. The answer is, no, not in 4th grade.

Maybe the "bottom half" of class still get s an A or two, but they work their ass off to get. Think Med school, think law school kind of working ass off, only they are 10, 11 years old. My point is, kids who get B's in such an environment are not unmotivated or as PP said, they are just in with a fast crowd and working as had as they can, and probably getting B's , once and a while an A, and the occasional C.
After a decade of that kind of applied study, any university would be lucky to have them.

But the point is, Sidwell and your own school are NOT the only schools where the kids work their asses off. You say your school is not Sidwell, but the kids are still working their asses off. In most of the top independent schools in the DMV area, it's fair to say that most kids are working their asses off. Public magnet and IB kids are working their asses off. Public school kids with long slates of APs are working their asses off.

Having just gone through the college admissions process, it seems pretty clear that working your ass off, for good grades and SATs, is just the *threshold* for admission to the most selective colleges. Harvard gets 33,000 applications from kids, most of whom have great grades and SATs and took the most challenging courses at their mostly competitive public and private schools. Colleges are looking for something even more - lopsided passions, national-level achievement, starting a business, sending thousands of dollars to a volunteer group. DC, who got into a top ivy, not only worked working her ass off, she had one of these additional accomplishments. Or there are hooks, like legacy or athletic.

So colleges are not going to give Sidwell, or any of the area independents for that matter, extra points for harder-than-usual work. If there's something going on, it would have to be because of the Sidwell name. That, I have no data on, except for the list above which I sort of wonder about, given what I've heard about recent Sidwell results and ED results from December. I wish Sidwell actually posted exmissions, like all the other independent schools in the area.

PP, could you use the word " ass" a little more often ?

Sorry. It was a rhetorical strategy, because the 1st PP mentioned it several times. Maybe I overdid it a bit....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I can see the reason for the confusion R/T my post. DS does not go to Sidwell, but another NW DC Independant school, where I said the average kid is an "A" student. There is no grade inflation at my DS's school. What I am saying is that, if you took 70% of the kids at DS's school and put them at any other school they would be in the top 10% of the class in terms of academic achievement. As an adult who went to public school where there was a broad range, its kind of obvious that DS's class is not an "average" group of kids. All you have to do is host a play date, its obvious . In short, its a fast crowd. Its like if you took the top kids from every local school around and sent them all to one school, then re-adjusted the curriculum so that you teach to that top 10% because that is the new "middle". Everyone is an A student. Its like giving the teachers all honors kids to work with and nothing else.

There are also kids there who are above average, but maybe not the CTY type. I imagine an average or just above average kid would have to work their ass off just to keep up ( this is based on my perpective as an adult who is asked to sign graded tests, essays, and , field "mom did you learn this in school " type questions. The answer is, no, not in 4th grade.

Maybe the "bottom half" of class still get s an A or two, but they work their ass off to get. Think Med school, think law school kind of working ass off, only they are 10, 11 years old. My point is, kids who get B's in such an environment are not unmotivated or as PP said, they are just in with a fast crowd and working as had as they can, and probably getting B's , once and a while an A, and the occasional C.
After a decade of that kind of applied study, any university would be lucky to have them.

But the point is, Sidwell and your own school are NOT the only schools where the kids work their asses off. You say your school is not Sidwell, but the kids are still working their asses off. In most of the top independent schools in the DMV area, it's fair to say that most kids are working their asses off. Public magnet and IB kids are working their asses off. Public school kids with long slates of APs are working their asses off.

Having just gone through the college admissions process, it seems pretty clear that working your ass off, for good grades and SATs, is just the *threshold* for admission to the most selective colleges. Harvard gets 33,000 applications from kids, most of whom have great grades and SATs and took the most challenging courses at their mostly competitive public and private schools. Colleges are looking for something even more - lopsided passions, national-level achievement, starting a business, sending thousands of dollars to a volunteer group. DC, who got into a top ivy, not only worked working her ass off, she had one of these additional accomplishments. Or there are hooks, like legacy or athletic.

So colleges are not going to give Sidwell, or any of the area independents for that matter, extra points for harder-than-usual work. If there's something going on, it would have to be because of the Sidwell name. That, I have no data on, except for the list above which I sort of wonder about, given what I've heard about recent Sidwell results and ED results from December. I wish Sidwell actually posted exmissions, like all the other independent schools in the area.

PP, could you use the word " ass" a little more often ?

Sorry. It was a rhetorical strategy, because the 1st PP mentioned it several times. Maybe I overdid it a bit....

[Anonymous]

When we did a tour at GDS, they gave us a sheet listing the matriculation stats. I don't know if I can find it...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I wish Sidwell actually posted exmissions, like all the other independent schools in the area.

Sidwell's definitely not alone.

STA: Posts just a small portion of results from topc colleges.
NCS: Used to post, but seemingly now has decided to follow Sidwell's lead of silence.
Holton: Posts just a list of college names with no numbers for each.
Maret: No list that I can find.
GDS: No list that I can find.

Not accurate as to STA. The STA website posts an aggregate five-year list that includes all the colleges to which their have been STA matriculations, not just selected schools. The list does not identify how many students have attended a given college during that time, though:

http://www.stalbansschool.org/page.aspx?pid=722

Very few of the local schools post a "straight up" exmissions list, one year at a time, with how many students are at each school. The only one I recall doing that is Landon, maybe? Somebody has posted a St. Albans matriculation list the past few years but it appears to be someone working off of the list that the student newspaper compiles and publishes at graduation each year.

Somebody publishes the percent from each school that goes to the ivies/top 10 SLACs/some other measure, or categories like this. The list includes major NYC and DC schools, as well as boarding schools and other top schools nationwide. I wish I could remember the name, because Dr. Google isn't turning it up. Possibly someone else remembers this or has the time to go through Google results.

[Anonymous]

Found the GDS list. This is from last year, I think, and gives the combined data for 2009, 2010 and 2011. There are about 120 graduates per year.

Yale - 10
Harvard - 8
Princeton - 2
Cornell - 8
NYU - 8
U Penn - 10
Brown - 11
Dartmouth - 3

[Anonymous]

22:02, look in the FAQs for "applying to an independent schools." I think somebody called "matriculationstats" did something for NY and DC and that it's in the links in the FAQ in the context of getting more info on the schools. It was a pretty impressive body of work, although a couple of years old now, I think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:22:02, look in the FAQs for "applying to an independent schools." I think somebody called "matriculationstats" did something for NY and DC and that it's in the links in the FAQ in the context of getting more info on the schools. It was a pretty impressive body of work, although a couple of years old now, I think.

Ah, Google. You are something. http://matriculationstats.org/day-schools-outside-of-nyc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Found the GDS list. This is from last year, I think, and gives the combined data for 2009, 2010 and 2011. There are about 120 graduates per year.

Yale - 10
Harvard - 8
Princeton - 2
Cornell - 8
NYU - 8
U Penn - 10
Brown - 11
Dartmouth - 3

Hmm...one of these things is not like the others. Or is NYU the newest member of the Ivy League?

[Anonymous]

I would be impressed to see a Service Academy appointment or two.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Found the GDS list. This is from last year, I think, and gives the combined data for 2009, 2010 and 2011. There are about 120 graduates per year.

Yale - 10
Harvard - 8
Princeton - 2
Cornell - 8
NYU - 8
U Penn - 10
Brown - 11
Dartmouth - 3

You mean Columbia?

If you did, then Wow. 50% of the 120 graduates went to Ivies? This sounds like a better record than STA or Sidwell. It is actually very comparable (in percentages) to TJ

[Anonymous]

1. That's a multi-year tally, so if NYU is Columbia and if the numbers are accurate, than that's about 16-17% Ivy.

2. TJ's Ivy percentage is about 15%.

[Anonymous]

College placement (Ivies) is so overrated. DC's pediatrician went to UVA's school of medicine. I would have no other taking care of DC. Respectfully, what is this fixation with 5 or 6 schools other than bragging rights?