Hoping for Maret

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maret does not try to be Sidwell at all. In any case, who wants to be like Sidwell these days?

Maret has lot of affluence but it is not in your face, and the school community is friendly, academics very solid, and the kids highly supportive of each other.

And college counseling is great.

But placement is underwhelming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
sweet but mistaken emphasis on sibling preference. In a community as small as Maret, accepting siblings as aggressively as they do builds loyalty but harms rigor and profile. ..

As a maret parent, i think this is a very accurate statement minus the “mistaken” part. I think the sibling preference is important to the community and i agree that it affects rigor. It works for our family and I think that for people looking for a school that only takes The Best, this isn’t it. I’d rather not be at a school where one kid could be rejected for not being amazing enough. I’m happy that both my kids can be in the same place and be happy. If they both turn out to be amazingly gifted, there will be a track at Maret for them and if one or both ends up to be below average at Maret, they will still be fine there. They’ll be happy, they won’t feel pressured to excel or feel worthless if they don’t and they’ll find a place where they fit it.

[Anonymous]

Disagree strongly about Maret placement. Director of college counseling is first-rate. Any school would be lucky to have him.

[Anonymous]

PP assumes a good director is to blame for average placement. That was not the point.

[Anonymous]

Maybe there should be a separate thread to discuss the role of the College Guidance team at any school, but I think it is true, a schools college guidance team does not 'get a kid into" a college.

The provide guidance based on record and Naviance type precedent; they make sure all of the boxes are checked and everything is on schedule, and they often provide the school's official profile for the institution and student.

They don't call schools and lobby on behalf of an applicant and there is no pixie dust to get a kid into an "lite" college that these people have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe there should be a separate thread to discuss the role of the College Guidance team at any school, but I think it is true, a schools college guidance team does not 'get a kid into" a college.

The provide guidance based on record and Naviance type precedent; they make sure all of the boxes are checked and everything is on schedule, and they often provide the school's official profile for the institution and student.

They don't call schools and lobby on behalf of an applicant and there is no pixie dust to get a kid into an "lite" college that these people have.

Um, I can assure you that many college counselors have relationships with college admissions people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I freely admit that this is February, waiting for decisions craziness, but I am waking up from feeling stressed for my DD about getting into Maret for 7th. She is a strong student, great scores, good kid, yada yada. We have a good public school fall back being in MoCo. But she and we were so taken with the community that the school seems to be (academics too but that seemed good at most places we looked at).

No one else in our friend circle is applying for private, so I feel a little alone in my angst about this. Anyone else feeling a spot of this compulsive stress too?

I know, three more weeks. Can't wait.

OP - look in the mirror. If you are experiencing this much angst that you need to crowd source is on DCUM for 7TH GRADE, you seriously need professional help. I'm sure this stress is effecting DD as well, and is not going to be helpful when you are applying to college, which takes this all to another level. Sure, I'm guessing that Maret's beautiful grounds and mission statement are compelling for you and are likely feeding whatever inferiority complex you have, but just stop. I'm sure your "friend circle" has just about had it with you as well and think you are insane. I sure do!

[Anonymous]

Pp sounds a little nuts herself. I thought lower school admissions were much more stressful than the college process for my kids. College was far more merit driven; younger kids have far less responsibility yet face the same sort of disappointment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I freely admit that this is February, waiting for decisions craziness, but I am waking up from feeling stressed for my DD about getting into Maret for 7th. She is a strong student, great scores, good kid, yada yada. We have a good public school fall back being in MoCo. But she and we were so taken with the community that the school seems to be (academics too but that seemed good at most places we looked at).

No one else in our friend circle is applying for private, so I feel a little alone in my angst about this. Anyone else feeling a spot of this compulsive stress too?

I know, three more weeks. Can't wait.

OP - look in the mirror. If you are experiencing this much angst that you need to crowd source is on DCUM for 7TH GRADE, you seriously need professional help. I'm sure this stress is effecting DD as well, and is not going to be helpful when you are applying to college, which takes this all to another level. Sure, I'm guessing that Maret's beautiful grounds and mission statement are compelling for you and are likely feeding whatever inferiority complex you have, but just stop. I'm sure your "friend circle" has just about had it with you as well and think you are insane. I sure do!

You are kind of mean. What's with this toxic post?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I freely admit that this is February, waiting for decisions craziness, but I am waking up from feeling stressed for my DD about getting into Maret for 7th. She is a strong student, great scores, good kid, yada yada. We have a good public school fall back being in MoCo. But she and we were so taken with the community that the school seems to be (academics too but that seemed good at most places we looked at).

No one else in our friend circle is applying for private, so I feel a little alone in my angst about this. Anyone else feeling a spot of this compulsive stress too?

I know, three more weeks. Can't wait.

I wouldn’t get too obsessed—Maret is no more unique than other places in the end. Your daughter will be fine there or elsewhere.

That is not accurate. Maret is a much more homogenous community than any of the other competitive elites. It is a conscientious choice of the school administration as it reflects the families that have traditionally supported the school. There are elites based on excellence and elites based on demand. At Maret, it is all about demand.

I have never thought much about Maret nor considered it for my kids but this post just made me throw up in my mouth. I'm so glad my kids are at another school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maret does not try to be Sidwell at all. In any case, who wants to be like Sidwell these days?

Maret has lot of affluence but it is not in your face, and the school community is friendly, academics very solid, and the kids highly supportive of each other.

And college counseling is great.

But placement is underwhelming.

This year's college placement so far is pretty good -- Princeton, Dartmouth, Penn, Northwestern, Chicago, Williams, Yale, etc Many kids accepted at top 20 liberal arts and National Universities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have applied to schools from out of state in anticipation of a late summer move. We really like Maret for DC. I’m not sure that I care about elitism, but to be sure, do you mean that the students are generally thought to be just average? Is the school wanting for academic rigor?

It used to be a school for average kids, and then it got popular, and I don't know what it is now.

agree!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Disagree strongly about Maret placement. Director of college counseling is first-rate. Any school would be lucky to have him.

Yup. People at Sidwell were beside themselves that Sidwell didn’t recruit him back and let Maret hire him. And then Sidwell hired a junior counselor who was borderline illiterate and kept on for too long a Director who was burned out. Fortunately they are both gone now. Someday Sidwell will hire Maret’s Director.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disagree strongly about Maret placement. Director of college counseling is first-rate. Any school would be lucky to have him.

Yup. People at Sidwell were beside themselves that Sidwell didn’t recruit him back and let Maret hire him. And then Sidwell hired a junior counselor who was borderline illiterate and kept on for too long a Director who was burned out. Fortunately they are both gone now. Someday Sidwell will hire Maret’s Director.

Agree that the Director of College Counseling is incredible.

[Anonymous]

Agree that the Director of College Counseling is great, but he unfortunately can't take part in every student's process.

And yes, the admits are impressive and likely would have ended up with the same results regardless of their high schools- Maret or not.