Maret/GDS US - pressure cooker or more laid back but still academically rigorous?

[Anonymous]

If you're looking for some type of "Encounter Experience" stick with publics. So many of these kids would do just as well at publics. Private schools are great but make sure you're aware of what you're signing on for. Don't like the Annual Fund? Don't want to be involved with the school?
Stay in public.

Also, offer to pay "full-freight." If you're looking for cash stay on the sidelines.

[Anonymous]

i asked this question during a tour. To use the AP designation, there are clearn guidelines on curricular and resource requirements. Specific Audit forms and the course syllabus must be submitted to College Board. Many of the schools want the flexibility in their curriculum and the resources used in the classroom. Many times, students are prepared and sit for AP exams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many privates chools don't even have AP classes any more. I'm surprised GDS still teaches to a standardized test.

That's like saying many good colleges don't require the SATs. All of the good schools that emphasize academics like the Big 3 here, Exeter, Andover, TJ, etc offer APs bc there is a demand for them. You can save a lot of tuition if the college will give credit and it's a way to show that the kid is a more than capable student.

Not true. Sidwell does not offer AP classes. Kids are encouraged to take the tests if they are interested,but the school does not teach to these tests.

Sidwell has led the way in using their own curriculum instead of the AP curriculum. But, they still have a couple AP classes (studio art, statistics) and call their calculus courses Calculus BC and Calculus AB, which really have no meaning outside of the AP context.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many privates chools don't even have AP classes any more. I'm surprised GDS still teaches to a standardized test.

That's like saying many good colleges don't require the SATs. All of the good schools that emphasize academics like the Big 3 here, Exeter, Andover, TJ, etc offer APs bc there is a demand for them. You can save a lot of tuition if the college will give credit and it's a way to show that the kid is a more than capable student.

Not true. Sidwell does not offer AP classes. Kids are encouraged to take the tests if they are interested,but the school does not teach to these tests.

Most highly selective colleges and universities don't give much in the way of credit for AP courses, though they are sometimes used to satisfy distribution or to determine placement levels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many privates chools don't even have AP classes any more. I'm surprised GDS still teaches to a standardized test.

That's like saying many good colleges don't require the SATs. All of the good schools that emphasize academics like the Big 3 here, Exeter, Andover, TJ, etc offer APs bc there is a demand for them. You can save a lot of tuition if the college will give credit and it's a way to show that the kid is a more than capable student.

Exeter doesn't have APs and I don't think Andover does either. Colleges are increasingly not giving credit. Saying schools like Exeter have classes similar to APs is not the same thing. Schools are preferring to design their own curricula for advanced classes. There is definitely a movement away from APs.

Most colleges still do give credit, including Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford. Don't know about Yale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know any GDS kids who are really suffering under the pressure. The kids who take the rigorous schedule are the ones who love that sort of thing.

Wow, then we either know different GDS kids or have a different definition of "suffering." The rigorous schedule kids I know have been really stressed out junior year. Some of this is self-inflicted (course selection), but there are also structural and/or cultural issues. AP US History, for example, shouldn't be taught on a 3 day a week schedule. There are other U.S. History options, but the kids all seem to believe (and tell each other that) they would be taking themselves out of competition for top tier colleges if they passed on APUSH. So I don't really see the rigorous course schedules as coming out of love so much as out of fear, ego, competitiveness, etc.

That's because the college reps who visit the schools are telling them this. I actually heard a rep from Amherst say that it was "nice" that a woman's son chose to take regular US History over AP but that it basically put him out of the running to be considered for acceptance. You must take the most rigorous courseload offered at a school AND get better grades each consecutive year of HS AND start a club.

I am calling bs. Never happened. Nobody gives a crap if you take APUSH. There are many ways to have a rigorous schedule. This must be promoted by the history teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know any GDS kids who are really suffering under the pressure. The kids who take the rigorous schedule are the ones who love that sort of thing.

Wow, then we either know different GDS kids or have a different definition of "suffering." The rigorous schedule kids I know have been really stressed out junior year. Some of this is self-inflicted (course selection), but there are also structural and/or cultural issues. AP US History, for example, shouldn't be taught on a 3 day a week schedule. There are other U.S. History options, but the kids all seem to believe (and tell each other that) they would be taking themselves out of competition for top tier colleges if they passed on APUSH. So I don't really see the rigorous course schedules as coming out of love so much as out of fear, ego, competitiveness, etc.

That's because the college reps who visit the schools are telling them this. I actually heard a rep from Amherst say that it was "nice" that a woman's son chose to take regular US History over AP but that it basically put him out of the running to be considered for acceptance. You must take the most rigorous courseload offered at a school AND get better grades each consecutive year of HS AND start a club.

I am calling bs. Never happened. Nobody gives a crap if you take APUSH. There are many ways to have a rigorous schedule. This must be promoted by the history teacher.

It happened! why would I lie?

[Anonymous]

Because you like to sound like a know it all? Just a guess. Many ways to get into a great school.

[Anonymous]

Actually without the most rigorous academic course load a kid can handle that just isn't true these days. Unless you are a recruited athlete.

[Anonymous]

Many students like my DC love Sidwell Upper School. She transferred in 9th grade and it has been wonderful. It is a pressure cooker, but the kids really support one another, so their isn't the feeling of cut throat competition. And the friendships are really solid and reach across racial and economic lines. The teachers are very giving. And the scheduling permits participation in lots of extra-curricular activities. My DC has really benefitted from all the travel.These aren't just site-seeing trips, but intense overseas academic experiences that compliment class room activity. It would be almost impossible to recreate this on your own, even if you had lots of money, which we do not. So there are pressure cookers that just focus on grades, and harm a child's sense of well being. But Sidwell turns out confident, engaged learners. My DC believes all the long hours studying are worth it, and she will do great in college wherever she goes.

[Anonymous]

Bump. Looking for feedback on Maret in particular in terms of pressure and homework load (MS and US).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our DD is entering 8th grade and we are in MoCo, zoning eventually to BCC. She told us last night that she is interested in looking at private schools as well as BCC. We, and she, are hoping for a high school experience where she is pushed to excel but without 4 hours of homework on top of extracurriculars.

GDS is not that school -- unless DD will deliberately structure her schedule to leave herself time for other things and won't write herself off academically if she's not always taking the hardest courses and getting the best grades. The workload actually gets heavier -- not lighter -- for the (somewhat self-identified) very bright kids.

A substantial part of the GDS class is aiming for Harvard and Yale, not a cruise through high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I'd say they send, on average, about 2 kids out of 90 per year. Are there really any schools in the DC area that send 20% + of their graduating class to HYPS year after year?

Yes. St. Albans, NCS, and Sidwell routinely send 20% of their graduates to HYPs year after year.

But, you're right that there is a tradeoff between the high-pressure cooker environment and a more relaxed, humane one. I also think the HYPs are not right for everyone.

That said, kids at these schools also find ways to pursue their passions and interests, so your rather smug post about how your lovely schools is so much better than those competitive DC schools is informed by great ignorance of those schools. It's also true that some kids thrive when they are surrounded by other bright kids. They find it stimulating and challenging. DS really enjoyed meeting other kids who were intellectual peers and doesn't find the pressure at all off-putting, in part because academics comes relatively easily to him. He has plenty of time to pursue other passions.

It should go without saying that the same is true of GDS, maybe more so.

[Anonymous]

^BS re the 20%. Might be true if the claim were Ivies plus Stanford, MIT, Chicago. But not HYPS. Some H and Y, fewer S, P is rare. Probably more Columbia and Penn than Harvard and Yale.

A GDS parent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^BS re the 20%. Might be true if the claim were Ivies plus Stanford, MIT, Chicago. But not HYPS. Some H and Y, fewer S, P is rare. Probably more Columbia and Penn than Harvard and Yale.

A GDS parent

+1 Another GDS parent