How selective is SJC?

[Anonymous]

Talk about bizarre conspiracy theories.

"Funny how this all comes up right at the SJC vs GZ game is this weekend! "

Suffice it to say that anyone who comes to this forum looking for an honest, unbiased assessment of a particular school just isn't going to get it.

It's a fools errand.

Those who are connected to a school are going to defend it using whatever they can come up with. Those who have opinions that are not consistent with those of the supporters are going to be pilloried. Although, it is true that many of these opinions can be dated and biased.

The best barometer of the relative strength of these schools may be in where their alumni send their DCs. At SJCs low ebb in the 1990s' and 2000's the Gonzaga and Prep parent groups contained very large numbers of fathers who had graduated from SJC in the 1960's and 1970's including families that had been associated with SJC for decades. These alumni might still attend SJC football games and stroke the school checks, but their children were not going there.

If that is no longer the case, than SJC is indeed all the way back to where it was 30 or 40 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Talk about bizarre conspiracy theories.

"Funny how this all comes up right at the SJC vs GZ game is this weekend! "

Suffice it to say that anyone who comes to this forum looking for an honest, unbiased assessment of a particular school just isn't going to get it.

It's a fools errand.

Those who are connected to a school are going to defend it using whatever they can come up with. Those who have opinions that are not consistent with those of the supporters are going to be pilloried. Although, it is true that many of these opinions can be dated and biased.

The best barometer of the relative strength of these schools may be in where their alumni send their DCs. At SJCs low ebb in the 1990s' and 2000's the Gonzaga and Prep parent groups contained very large numbers of fathers who had graduated from SJC in the 1960's and 1970's including families that had been associated with SJC for decades. These alumni might still attend SJC football games and stroke the school checks, but their children were not going there.

If that is no longer the case, than SJC is indeed all the way back to where it was 30 or 40 years ago.

The majority of the alumni from Gonzaga and Prep are not sending their kids to those schools. So again, your small view of the world has clouded your reasoning and has lead you to believe your anecdotes are facts.

[Anonymous]

<

SJC is a down to earth private school with a very accepting atmosphere. That is why it is very popular among a certain cohort of people. They have a high success rate at educating kids at the highest level as well as accepting kids with learning differences. They are not getting rid of the program that helps struggling kids because that is part of their core values. They don't need to only accept "high-achieving" applicant... since their most successful alum... were not high achieving students.

Why do "some people have a negative view"... They have this "view" because they only see a few kids that seriously struggle with school going to SJC and they make assumption the rest of the kids are similar.

I worked at a parochial school for 10 years and the smartest kids did not always get into Gonzaga and Prep. It's true, they would be blocked by legacy kids. So there is also a feeling that it is "hard to get in" to Gonzaga and Prep, but it's not because smart kids get in.>>

First informative post I've seen on this thread. Thank you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:<<In response to OP's original question, STJ is not considerd very competitive at all. STJ, like Bullis, is regarded as the safety school or back up school for kids who cannot get in to any other private or Catholic school because of less than stellar grades and/or test scores.>>

I guess what I'm wondering is -- why is this the view? Why is it considered this way?

Also to the PPs who mention the academic diversity aspect, and purposely keeping it mixed....surely if there was an abundance of high-achieving applicants, it would not remain this way, no?

Becasue all the kids we know who go there had no other choice but... public school.

[Anonymous]

<<Becasue all the kids we know who go there had no other choice but... public school.>>.

Was that because it was the only place they got in, or the only place they applied?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:<<Becasue all the kids we know who go there had no other choice but... public school.>>.

Was that because it was the only place they got in, or the only place they applied?

Really? Come on, clearly because they didnt get in to any of the other schools they applied to.

[Anonymous]

<<Really? Come on, clearly because they didnt get in to any of the other schools they applied to.>>

This is not a Really? I know of quite a few kids who only applied to St. John's

[Anonymous]

My daughter applied to and was accepted at SJC, Stone Ridge and Holy Child. She only wanted to go to St. John's but we applied to the others just in case she did not get into SJC and my daughter is a good student and athlete. But, SJC gets a ton of applications for a class of 250. It was her first choice and if she had a choice, she would have only applied to SJC.

[Anonymous]

<<My daughter applied to and was accepted at SJC, Stone Ridge and Holy Child. She only wanted to go to St. John's but we applied to the others just in case she did not get into SJC and my daughter is a good student and athlete. But, SJC gets a ton of applications for a class of 250. It was her first choice and if she had a choice, she would have only applied to SJC.>>>

+1

[Anonymous]

Is SJC one of those schools that end up wait listing those not admitted? Does anyone with knowledge know if they outright reject? What about the other Catholic HS's (not the overly competitive ones like Gonzaga, Prep, Vist, SR)? Do they accept everyone. Another question, do all Catholic school kids end up getting in atleast one of their three choices? I think they get to choose their top three. How many get in their first choice? My DS is applying from DCPS. Sorry for so many questions. I'm new to this and very anxious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is SJC one of those schools that end up wait listing those not admitted? Does anyone with knowledge know if they outright reject? What about the other Catholic HS's (not the overly competitive ones like Gonzaga, Prep, Vist, SR)? Do they accept everyone. Another question, do all Catholic school kids end up getting in atleast one of their three choices? I think they get to choose their top three. How many get in their first choice? My DS is applying from DCPS. Sorry for so many questions. I'm new to this and very anxious.

Kids do get rejected at all these schools, but I they also do have waiting lists. Because you can select up to 3 choices on the HSPT (which was a change last year from 2 choices), there is definitely movement on the waiting lists for the HSPT schools. In general, kids get into at least one of their 3 choices - the Catholic elementary schools should be guiding their 8th graders to make sure they pick realistic choices. Talk with the admissions directors about your DC and how their scores and grades line up with their accepted student pool.

[Anonymous]

In terms of a bigger coed Catholic HS, SJC is an excellent choice. They also offer some pretty serious scholarships. You could do a lot worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is SJC one of those schools that end up wait listing those not admitted? Does anyone with knowledge know if they outright reject? What about the other Catholic HS's (not the overly competitive ones like Gonzaga, Prep, Vist, SR)? Do they accept everyone. Another question, do all Catholic school kids end up getting in atleast one of their three choices? I think they get to choose their top three. How many get in their first choice? My DS is applying from DCPS. Sorry for so many questions. I'm new to this and very anxious.

Kids do get rejected at all these schools, but I they also do have waiting lists. Because you can select up to 3 choices on the HSPT (which was a change last year from 2 choices), there is definitely movement on the waiting lists for the HSPT schools. In general, kids get into at least one of their 3 choices - the Catholic elementary schools should be guiding their 8th graders to make sure they pick realistic choices. Talk with the admissions directors about your DC and how their scores and grades line up with their accepted student pool.

Thank you! My son is in DCPS currently. I assume the Catholic school kids get first dibs. I am curious if they will tell me the cut-off for HSPT score. He takes it in early December.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is SJC one of those schools that end up wait listing those not admitted? Does anyone with knowledge know if they outright reject? What about the other Catholic HS's (not the overly competitive ones like Gonzaga, Prep, Vist, SR)? Do they accept everyone. Another question, do all Catholic school kids end up getting in atleast one of their three choices? I think they get to choose their top three. How many get in their first choice? My DS is applying from DCPS. Sorry for so many questions. I'm new to this and very anxious.

Kids do get rejected at all these schools, but I they also do have waiting lists. Because you can select up to 3 choices on the HSPT (which was a change last year from 2 choices), there is definitely movement on the waiting lists for the HSPT schools. In general, kids get into at least one of their 3 choices - the Catholic elementary schools should be guiding their 8th graders to make sure they pick realistic choices. Talk with the admissions directors about your DC and how their scores and grades line up with their accepted student pool.

Thank you! My son is in DCPS currently. I assume the Catholic school kids get first dibs. I am curious if they will tell me the cut-off for HSPT score. He takes it in early December.

I don't know if there is a HSPT cut off for SJC. They want well rounded students and not just students with high HSPT scores. There was a thread a few years ago about a mother who was upset her son was not accepted when a child, she said, had a lower HSPT score got in. Well, he may have had other qualities that appealed to admissions and was seen to be more well rounded. I know they take the essays very seriously and was told the president reads those.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is SJC one of those schools that end up wait listing those not admitted? Does anyone with knowledge know if they outright reject? What about the other Catholic HS's (not the overly competitive ones like Gonzaga, Prep, Vist, SR)? Do they accept everyone. Another question, do all Catholic school kids end up getting in atleast one of their three choices? I think they get to choose their top three. How many get in their first choice? My DS is applying from DCPS. Sorry for so many questions. I'm new to this and very anxious.

Kids do get rejected at all these schools, but I they also do have waiting lists. Because you can select up to 3 choices on the HSPT (which was a change last year from 2 choices), there is definitely movement on the waiting lists for the HSPT schools. In general, kids get into at least one of their 3 choices - the Catholic elementary schools should be guiding their 8th graders to make sure they pick realistic choices. Talk with the admissions directors about your DC and how their scores and grades line up with their accepted student pool.

Thank you! My son is in DCPS currently. I assume the Catholic school kids get first dibs. I am curious if they will tell me the cut-off for HSPT score. He takes it in early December.

I don't know if there is a HSPT cut off for SJC. They want well rounded students and not just students with high HSPT scores. There was a thread a few years ago about a mother who was upset her son was not accepted when a child, she said, had a lower HSPT score got in. Well, he may have had other qualities that appealed to admissions and was seen to be more well rounded. I know they take the essays very seriously and was told the president reads those.

Thank you! I also heard that the essays are very important. Wish I could help him but I'm a terrible writer. He should get good recommendations and we did speak to a few of the coaches on Sunday (not that he is some standout--but willing to play different sports). We are both anxious for the HSPT. He started last week with a prep course.