St. John’s Open House On Sunday

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is ING?

Pretty sure the poster meant IMG. IMG Academy is basically a co-ed boarding school athlete factory in Florida. Technically it is a high school but my understanding is that nobody goes there unless they are a very, very serious athlete. They doubtless recruit all across the country and probably in other countries. PP was saying that St. John's is moving more towards that model.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMG_Academy

I have no way of knowing how accurate that claim is but there is no question that several sports there; girls/boys basketball, football and baseball are being played at a very high level and their goal is to be among the best in the nation year in and year out. This all ties back to the OP asking about the girl's basketball program there.

While St John's is not a exclusively a sports school there is no question that only elite athletes are playing certain sports and it likely is trending even more towards high end athletics across the board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is ING?

Typo IMG. IMG school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD and I went to SJC’s Open House yesterday. For the most part I was impressed. A bit overwhelming due to the amount of people attending and the rain, Neverless we walked away with a good sense of the school. One thing that I took note of was when we went to the athletic building. Each sport had its own table with the coaching staff. I saw majority of the coaches were engaged with the exception of basketball. It seemed every prospect went to the table but, the coaches had a look like,”Write your name and keep moving.” Another parent mentioned the basketball coaches recruit and being at the Open House is just a formality. How true is this?

You need to be realistic about just how good your kid is if he hopes to play basketball at St. John's (or GZ, GC DM and several other WCAC schools). They are all recruiting across the region.

Just take a look at last season's roster. According to Maxpreps.com there was only 1 kid under 6' (5'11") and plenty of 6'5 + kids there. They were ranked 137 nationally and that was a relative down year for them.

Football is even more competitive. They play a national schedule plus GZ, GC and DM and those 3 teams are also nationally ranked powerhouses. The days of the 5'10" suburban white kid playing on those teams are long gone unless he is an exceptionally gifted athlete. Sports there are backed by big donors such as the founder of Under Armour.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/under-armour-founder-gives-16-million-to-st-johns-college-high/2015/11/06/7adc7724-84bf-11e5-9afb-0c971f713d0c_story.html

Other sports may be less competitive there but your kid will still need to be a solid-strong athlete to play on most of the teams that have cuts.

+1000. These schools are moving towards an IMG model. I am not saying they will be exactly like IMG but, the pressure is on to win. They are no longer looking for novice players. If your child is not already playing on a AAU, travel or highly competitive league chances are they won’t be a fit.

It's unfortunate because that's not what the great majority of families are looking for in a high school.

I think you might be looking at this a bit myopically. SJC also has the Scholars program, which is targeted at kids in the 99% of HSPT. And they have invest heavily in arts. So the recruiting is across the board - they want to raise the level in every area. Sports recruiting is maybe a bit more visible.

They have about 250 - 275 kids per call. Let's say 20 Scholars and 100 recruited athletes across all sports. That's half the admits gone before the first kid looking to avoid Wilson applies.

The scholars program is really just a specifically designed schedule consisting of all honors and AP courses. Anyone who goes to SJC can sign up for these courses and essentially get the same education as those in the scholars program. I think they go on a couple of trips and get a dedicated college counselor. Beyond that the only other perk is a small scholarship. We turned it down.

Completely untrue description.

It was made very clear to us when my son was offered the program that the courses he would take in the scholars program would not be exclusive to those in the scholars program, i.e. students from the non scholars program would also be in the classes. It would be very expensive for SJC to design a program for only 20 students to have exclusive access to the honors and AP classes.

Therefore, any kid who gains admission to SJC in the non scholars program can design a similar curriculum minus the field trips and the college counselor.

Prove it otherwise if you see this as untrue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD and I went to SJC’s Open House yesterday. For the most part I was impressed. A bit overwhelming due to the amount of people attending and the rain, Neverless we walked away with a good sense of the school. One thing that I took note of was when we went to the athletic building. Each sport had its own table with the coaching staff. I saw majority of the coaches were engaged with the exception of basketball. It seemed every prospect went to the table but, the coaches had a look like,”Write your name and keep moving.” Another parent mentioned the basketball coaches recruit and being at the Open House is just a formality. How true is this?

You need to be realistic about just how good your kid is if he hopes to play basketball at St. John's (or GZ, GC DM and several other WCAC schools). They are all recruiting across the region.

Just take a look at last season's roster. According to Maxpreps.com there was only 1 kid under 6' (5'11") and plenty of 6'5 + kids there. They were ranked 137 nationally and that was a relative down year for them.

Football is even more competitive. They play a national schedule plus GZ, GC and DM and those 3 teams are also nationally ranked powerhouses. The days of the 5'10" suburban white kid playing on those teams are long gone unless he is an exceptionally gifted athlete. Sports there are backed by big donors such as the founder of Under Armour.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/under-armour-founder-gives-16-million-to-st-johns-college-high/2015/11/06/7adc7724-84bf-11e5-9afb-0c971f713d0c_story.html

Other sports may be less competitive there but your kid will still need to be a solid-strong athlete to play on most of the teams that have cuts.

+1000. These schools are moving towards an IMG model. I am not saying they will be exactly like IMG but, the pressure is on to win. They are no longer looking for novice players. If your child is not already playing on a AAU, travel or highly competitive league chances are they won’t be a fit.

It's unfortunate because that's not what the great majority of families are looking for in a high school.

I think you might be looking at this a bit myopically. SJC also has the Scholars program, which is targeted at kids in the 99% of HSPT. And they have invest heavily in arts. So the recruiting is across the board - they want to raise the level in every area. Sports recruiting is maybe a bit more visible.

They have about 250 - 275 kids per call. Let's say 20 Scholars and 100 recruited athletes across all sports. That's half the admits gone before the first kid looking to avoid Wilson applies.

The scholars program is really just a specifically designed schedule consisting of all honors and AP courses. Anyone who goes to SJC can sign up for these courses and essentially get the same education as those in the scholars program. I think they go on a couple of trips and get a dedicated college counselor. Beyond that the only other perk is a small scholarship. We turned it down.

What did you do instead?

He went to a top private in the DC area and ended up in a top 15 university. That's the thing, we don't think he would have had the same outcome at SJC. The university admissions information is so clouded because they don't specify a period of time nor do they indicate how many students gain admission to each college. It is basically useless data.

[Anonymous]

I have 2 at SJC right now and 1 who graduated recently. 2 played varsity basketball and 1 plays soccer. The majority of kids playing these two sports are not “elite”athletes.

[Anonymous]

SJCHS is an inclusive school for students with a variety of interests and academic abilities who are all college bound. My kids have loved it. Most families don’t seem worried about Ivy League college placement. Go to a Big 3 if you are concerned about that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SJCHS is an inclusive school for students with a variety of interests and academic abilities who are all college bound. My kids have loved it. Most families don’t seem worried about Ivy League college placement. Go to a Big 3 if you are concerned about that.

LOL, we were not interested in ivy league...just maybe a top 20 or even 30. How does SJC do in top 20 college placement? I guess we will never know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SJCHS is an inclusive school for students with a variety of interests and academic abilities who are all college bound. My kids have loved it. Most families don’t seem worried about Ivy League college placement. Go to a Big 3 if you are concerned about that.

LOL, we were not interested in ivy league...just maybe a top 20 or even 30. How does SJC do in top 20 college placement? I guess we will never know.

If your child does well in school, what does it matter? It only matters what schools your child gets in. If LaLa got into Yale, does that mean your child will be admitted? The whole line of questioning is stupid and I don’t have a child at SJC-

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SJCHS is an inclusive school for students with a variety of interests and academic abilities who are all college bound. My kids have loved it. Most families don’t seem worried about Ivy League college placement. Go to a Big 3 if you are concerned about that.

LOL, we were not interested in ivy league...just maybe a top 20 or even 30. How does SJC do in top 20 college placement? I guess we will never know.

You clearly would not be happy at St.John’s. You do not embody their mission and vision. It’s good you went elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SJCHS is an inclusive school for students with a variety of interests and academic abilities who are all college bound. My kids have loved it. Most families don’t seem worried about Ivy League college placement. Go to a Big 3 if you are concerned about that.

LOL, we were not interested in ivy league...just maybe a top 20 or even 30. How does SJC do in top 20 college placement? I guess we will never know.

So you would have considered your child a failure if he did not go to a top 30 school. That makes me sad for your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SJCHS is an inclusive school for students with a variety of interests and academic abilities who are all college bound. My kids have loved it. Most families don’t seem worried about Ivy League college placement. Go to a Big 3 if you are concerned about that.

LOL, we were not interested in ivy league...just maybe a top 20 or even 30. How does SJC do in top 20 college placement? I guess we will never know.

You clearly would not be happy at St.John’s. You do not embody their mission and vision. It’s good you went elsewhere.

What IS the mission and vision? If it is about service to the community as they say, then DS ended up in a place very well known for that and did quite well. Difference is he also had better opportunities beyond high school because of the excellent academic reputation of the school. I don't think SJC is quite there yet. Or at least, they haven't been able to communicate that to prospective students. I am genuinely interested...I have another child (a girl) approaching high school age. I want to know if she even would have a chance of getting into her dream college (not an ivy) if she attends SJC. How many kids ended up at this college in the past year, 3 years. It is such a mystery!

[Anonymous]

How do kids come up with dream colleges before high school? Siblings attend?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SJCHS is an inclusive school for students with a variety of interests and academic abilities who are all college bound. My kids have loved it. Most families don’t seem worried about Ivy League college placement. Go to a Big 3 if you are concerned about that.

LOL, we were not interested in ivy league...just maybe a top 20 or even 30. How does SJC do in top 20 college placement? I guess we will never know.

Did you not see the list of acceptances? That is how you know. I don’t understand this obsession with the matriculation of last year’s class. What is your agenda?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SJCHS is an inclusive school for students with a variety of interests and academic abilities who are all college bound. My kids have loved it. Most families don’t seem worried about Ivy League college placement. Go to a Big 3 if you are concerned about that.

LOL, we were not interested in ivy league...just maybe a top 20 or even 30. How does SJC do in top 20 college placement? I guess we will never know.

You clearly would not be happy at St.John’s. You do not embody their mission and vision. It’s good you went elsewhere.

What IS the mission and vision? If it is about service to the community as they say, then DS ended up in a place very well known for that and did quite well. Difference is he also had better opportunities beyond high school because of the excellent academic reputation of the school. I don't think SJC is quite there yet. Or at least, they haven't been able to communicate that to prospective students. I am genuinely interested...I have another child (a girl) approaching high school age. I want to know if she even would have a chance of getting into her dream college (not an ivy) if she attends SJC. How many kids ended up at this college in the past year, 3 years. It is such a mystery!

Oh so you don’t even know the mission and vision of St John’s. I mean you said you seriously considered it for your son but obviously you didn’t because you don’t even know the mission and vision of the school. I’m not sure why you just came on here to bash St johns you have some crazy agenda and it’s sad. I’ll pray for you.

God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SJCHS is an inclusive school for students with a variety of interests and academic abilities who are all college bound. My kids have loved it. Most families don’t seem worried about Ivy League college placement. Go to a Big 3 if you are concerned about that.

LOL, we were not interested in ivy league...just maybe a top 20 or even 30. How does SJC do in top 20 college placement? I guess we will never know.

You clearly would not be happy at St.John’s. You do not embody their mission and vision. It’s good you went elsewhere.

What IS the mission and vision? If it is about service to the community as they say, then DS ended up in a place very well known for that and did quite well. Difference is he also had better opportunities beyond high school because of the excellent academic reputation of the school. I don't think SJC is quite there yet. Or at least, they haven't been able to communicate that to prospective students. I am genuinely interested...I have another child (a girl) approaching high school age. I want to know if she even would have a chance of getting into her dream college (not an ivy) if she attends SJC. How many kids ended up at this college in the past year, 3 years. It is such a mystery!

Oh so you don’t even know the mission and vision of St John’s. I mean you said you seriously considered it for your son but obviously you didn’t because you don’t even know the mission and vision of the school. I’m not sure why you just came on here to bash St johns you have some crazy agenda and it’s sad. I’ll pray for you.

God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

I know what I read online and what we were told at the scholars brunch. But just hoping to get clarification from sjc parents on this forum. Also where are those graduating students going? Would love to solve the mystery.