Georgetown Prep vs. Sidwell

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's true, though. If you see a car driven by the Catholic Mafia, it's all about the Gonzaga or Prep bumper sticker. You never see a college bumper sticker.

Ridiculous, but it IS true that you are a bigot.

I'm not this poster, but I can't see how this observation is "bigoted" in any way.

The poster may be poking a little fun at these people, because he/she and their ilk think these people with these bumper stickers and their fierce allegiances to these high schools are ridiculous. He/she want these people to be aligned with their value system. He/she appears to think these people are silly and not necessarily bad people.

Of course, the Prep and GZA alums with the close life-long ties to these schools don't care at all about what this person thinks. They have their way, they believe in it, and its worked petty well for them for a very long time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's true, though. If you see a car driven by the Catholic Mafia, it's all about the Gonzaga or Prep bumper sticker. You never see a college bumper sticker.

Ridiculous, but it IS true that you are a bigot.

It's not ridiculous. Sorry you can't handle the truth.

Nice try, but I see probably 200+ Catholic school cars on my carpool rounds every day and MANY have college stickers, sometimes multiple colleges. Maybe you're the one too focused on HS to notice colleges

Almost all of those stickers are terrible colleges. Regardless, the previous point was correct: for whatever reason, the Catholics in this area care so much more about the HS destination than the college one.

OK, now you're just making yourself look silly with these generalizations, in addition to bigoted. I'm guessing you yourself are not the graduate of a particularly elite college, based on your posts.

[Anonymous]

prep=bad
sfs-good

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
These posts are misleading. I have a senior at Prep and kids at two other DC Catholic independents. Maybe this poster's circle of friends 30 years ago wherever he went cared more about HS but I can assure you that the accomplished parents and students at Prep now (and similar Catholic independents) have higher ambitions. Though the majority are Catholic, there is much more religious diversity (and other kids of diversity) than this poster implies and it's not just tolerated, it's welcomed. In every freshman class there are students coming from something like 65+ grammar/middle schools so it would be difficult if not impossible to maintain the sad insularity the PP wants to believe exists. As with many other area privates, there are some families with long-standing relationships and of course there is socializing around sports and kids' major activities. If you view any HS through as cynical and negative lense as the PP does, you could see cliques, politics, and social drama. But our experience in this community, even as a family "new to the scene" in HS, has been very positive. Our son has made an amazing group of friends -- smart, happy, impressive young men who are diverse in terms of faith, race, the sports they play, their academic interests, etc. Don't let the PP's constant drumbeat of cynicism on these boards scare you away.

Congratulations on having used these Catholic schools for your own purposes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's true, though. If you see a car driven by the Catholic Mafia, it's all about the Gonzaga or Prep bumper sticker. You never see a college bumper sticker.

Ridiculous, but it IS true that you are a bigot.

I'm not this poster, but I can't see how this observation is "bigoted" in any way.

The poster may be poking a little fun at these people, because he/she and their ilk think these people with these bumper stickers and their fierce allegiances to these high schools are ridiculous. He/she want these people to be aligned with their value system. He/she appears to think these people are silly and not necessarily bad people.

Of course, the Prep and GZA alums with the close life-long ties to these schools don't care at all about what this person thinks. They have their way, they believe in it, and its worked petty well for them for a very long time.

It's beyond poking fun -- this string of posts is mocking, prejudiced, and dismissive. It seeks to paint a large swath of Catholics with the same biased brush. You are similarly feeding into this all too prevalent bigotry, when you only mention Prep and Gonzaga and dismissively describe how "THEY" think . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's true, though. If you see a car driven by the Catholic Mafia, it's all about the Gonzaga or Prep bumper sticker. You never see a college bumper sticker.

Maybe that's because their oldest children are only in high school? Or because once their older children leave home and go to college the parents of those children don't feel the need to drive around with a car highlighting where their 18-22 year old children attend? Probably the point of the bumper stickers is to let others in the DC area know which DC area schools your family is affiliated with. It's an effort at building HS school spirit. It seems you're trying to make an assumption about how the 18-22 year old college student or recent graduate feels about their education based on what bumper sticker their parents have on their car. It's likely the parents feel more affinity for the HS their child attended, and keep those bumper stickers on their car, because the parents are more involved in the school their 14-18 year olds attends/attended.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
These posts are misleading. I have a senior at Prep and kids at two other DC Catholic independents. Maybe this poster's circle of friends 30 years ago wherever he went cared more about HS but I can assure you that the accomplished parents and students at Prep now (and similar Catholic independents) have higher ambitions. Though the majority are Catholic, there is much more religious diversity (and other kids of diversity) than this poster implies and it's not just tolerated, it's welcomed. In every freshman class there are students coming from something like 65+ grammar/middle schools so it would be difficult if not impossible to maintain the sad insularity the PP wants to believe exists. As with many other area privates, there are some families with long-standing relationships and of course there is socializing around sports and kids' major activities. If you view any HS through as cynical and negative lense as the PP does, you could see cliques, politics, and social drama. But our experience in this community, even as a family "new to the scene" in HS, has been very positive. Our son has made an amazing group of friends -- smart, happy, impressive young men who are diverse in terms of faith, race, the sports they play, their academic interests, etc. Don't let the PP's constant drumbeat of cynicism on these boards scare you away.

Congratulations on having used these Catholic schools for your own purposes.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean, but am guessing you think I'm not Catholic (I am, very) or don't pay full tuition (we do). As far as "my own purposes," they are closely aligned with the purposes of the Catholic church and Catholic schools -- to educate my children and to raise young people of faith, character, and integrity who will go out and make the world a better place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's true, though. If you see a car driven by the Catholic Mafia, it's all about the Gonzaga or Prep bumper sticker. You never see a college bumper sticker.

Ridiculous, but it IS true that you are a bigot.

I'm not this poster, but I can't see how this observation is "bigoted" in any way.

The poster may be poking a little fun at these people, because he/she and their ilk think these people with these bumper stickers and their fierce allegiances to these high schools are ridiculous. He/she want these people to be aligned with their value system. He/she appears to think these people are silly and not necessarily bad people.

Of course, the Prep and GZA alums with the close life-long ties to these schools don't care at all about what this person thinks. They have their way, they believe in it, and its worked petty well for them for a very long time.

It's beyond poking fun -- this string of posts is mocking, prejudiced, and dismissive. It seeks to paint a large swath of Catholics with the same biased brush. You are similarly feeding into this all too prevalent bigotry, when you only mention Prep and Gonzaga and dismissively describe how "THEY" think . . .

I am one of those DC Catholics. I'm a Gonzaga graduate.

I think the observation is pretty much correct.

I agree that very frequently we do consider our high school association a more important than our college one. My closest friends are the guys I went to Gonzaga with and a few Prep and St John's guys I have developed relationships with. I am not threatened or insulted by this in any way.

[Anonymous]

That's great that you have such strong bonds with your HS friends, I have no doubt that is true for many of these schools' alums. But it's one thing to say you are really connected with your HS friends, it's another to try and paint "you all" as some kind of loser with low aspirations who barely made it through college and only has a job thanks to dad, and a second-rate one at that, which is pretty much what these posters are saying . . . that doesn't bother you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's great that you have such strong bonds with your HS friends, I have no doubt that is true for many of these schools' alums. But it's one thing to say you are really connected with your HS friends, it's another to try and paint "you all" as some kind of loser with low aspirations who barely made it through college and only has a job thanks to dad, and a second-rate one at that, which is pretty much what these posters are saying . . . that doesn't bother you?

It doesn't bother the poster because the characterization is pretty much spot on and non-threatening to anyone with a grip on reality. Grow a thicker skin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's true, though. If you see a car driven by the Catholic Mafia, it's all about the Gonzaga or Prep bumper sticker. You never see a college bumper sticker.

Ridiculous, but it IS true that you are a bigot.

I'm not this poster, but I can't see how this observation is "bigoted" in any way.

The poster may be poking a little fun at these people, because he/she and their ilk think these people with these bumper stickers and their fierce allegiances to these high schools are ridiculous. He/she want these people to be aligned with their value system. He/she appears to think these people are silly and not necessarily bad people.

Of course, the Prep and GZA alums with the close life-long ties to these schools don't care at all about what this person thinks. They have their way, they believe in it, and its worked petty well for them for a very long time.

Different poster here, but did you even notice the reference to the Catholic "Mafia" or is that insult so much part of your normal speech that you don't find it offensive?

[Anonymous]

I am a parent of a current student at Gonzaga. I feel so blessed that my son will have a network of friends for life in this wonderful brotherhood. Gonzaga is not just a high school...it is a very special place that grooms men for others. I think the problem is that many do not understand the significance of the bonds this school creates. I only wish I could have had such an experience in high school.

As for the anti-Catholic poster (the one posing as a Catholic) who continuously comes on here to rile things up, he is completely off the mark. My son was schooled in public schools all his life, yet he has been very successful in making friends, and just loves going to school every day. I have also made friends with other parents and there is no feeling of exclusion.

All I can say is that I feel sorry for the poster who bashes these schools. He is a very sad soul who must have had a bad experience in the past. His posts have an eerie underlying sense of hatred...like someone who was slighted and has some sort of vendetta. He probably needs to be in some sort of therapy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's great that you have such strong bonds with your HS friends, I have no doubt that is true for many of these schools' alums. But it's one thing to say you are really connected with your HS friends, it's another to try and paint "you all" as some kind of loser with low aspirations who barely made it through college and only has a job thanks to dad, and a second-rate one at that, which is pretty much what these posters are saying . . . that doesn't bother you?

Of course not, because I know it isn't generally true. There may be a few examples of that syndrome. I can think of a few myself. But for every one of those I could show you five guys who are in medicine or law or business who are at the top of their fields.

[Anonymous]

Sidwell is 2.6 times better than Georgetown Prep. I have crunched the numbers. It is like comparing an E Class Mercedes to a Toyota Camry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's true, though. If you see a car driven by the Catholic Mafia, it's all about the Gonzaga or Prep bumper sticker. You never see a college bumper sticker.

Ridiculous, but it IS true that you are a bigot.

I'm not this poster, but I can't see how this observation is "bigoted" in any way.

The poster may be poking a little fun at these people, because he/she and their ilk think these people with these bumper stickers and their fierce allegiances to these high schools are ridiculous. He/she want these people to be aligned with their value system. He/she appears to think these people are silly and not necessarily bad people.

Of course, the Prep and GZA alums with the close life-long ties to these schools don't care at all about what this person thinks. They have their way, they believe in it, and its worked petty well for them for a very long time.

Different poster here, but did you even notice the reference to the Catholic "Mafia" or is that insult so much part of your normal speech that you don't find it offensive?

I can't get too excited about someone calling us the "Catholic Mafia". I get what they are trying to say. They are using it to describe all these Catholics that are linked to one another here in Washington. It's because they don't understand it or don't like it, for whatever reason.

"Mafia" has no particular sting. It's not like we are a bunch of Italian-Americans. Instead we are primarily of Irish extraction. And after all the jokes about and accusations about drunkeness and fighting and the like --- some of which we share with one another --- "Mafia" is pretty tame. Remember, God invented whiskey so the Irish wouldn't rule the world.