Potomac vs St. Albans

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:9th grade. Which would you choose?
Sporty boy and travel athlete but not headed to play in college. Loves science and math. Laid back and very well liked by peers. No financial aid but not wealthy and family lives a pretty simple lifestyle.

Which is closer to your home? That should be a huge factor.

[Anonymous]

These are two very different schools. One is coeducational and the other is not. One has a religious affiliation in the other does not. And they are completely different areas.

It sounds like your child as confused as to what he wants.

[Anonymous]

I would choose Saint Albans because it is a big three.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:9th grade. Which would you choose?
Sporty boy and travel athlete but not headed to play in college. Loves science and math. Laid back and very well liked by peers. No financial aid but not wealthy and family lives a pretty simple lifestyle.

Which is closer to your home? That should be a huge factor.

I would also think about this. Both schools require a lot of homework and your kid will also be doing sports. Don’t waste study time/mental energy commuting.

[Anonymous]

STA definitely. The Cathedral Close would be an inspiring and stimulating place to learn. And if you live off of Mass Ave or Wisconsin Ave your son can take the WMATA bus to and from school for free. About 20 years ago that was common, but not sure how many ride the public bus today. STA was more upper middle class back then.

[Anonymous]

Well, they are just so different. Have you thought about talking to your child about his wants?

[Anonymous]

College admissions are really changing since the pandemic. If either of the schools still has APs, I'd go there. The schools will tell you their honors are better than APs and they very well may be, but the bottom line is in a test optional world, APs are a way to definitely show rigor to colleges. Some schools will say that honors kids can take AP tests to demonstrate rigor, but that requires outside study and nobody taking a bunch of honors has time for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agreed
Commuting from DC to go to Potomac makes no sense

Actually it depends where in dc. We’re at Potomac and live in VA, but our commute is significantly longer than friends who live in palisades, spring valley, etc. Also consider how your son will be commuting. The Potomac bus system is fabulous.

We turned down STA bc there were social aspects of the single sex school we didn’t like. It also seemed like a snobby social atmosphere for the parents. While there are very wealthy and prominent families at both, we’ve found Potomac to be incredibly down to earth and welcoming. I think both schools are pressure cookers academically in upper school, but Potomac seems to have a lighter workload for homework, which is meaningful if your son is going to try to do school and travel sports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would choose Saint Albans because it is a big three.

hahahhaha

[Anonymous]

STA does have some coeducational classes and activities with NCS. And some sports like cross country and voyageur have co-ed aspects as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We're in DC.

Then StA with no doubts, unless you strenuously object to an Episcopal (light-touch religious) school or strenuously object to an all-boys school.

(Separately, in all honesty, commuting daily from DC to Potomac, even by bus, seems completely nuts to me. YMMV.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:College admissions are really changing since the pandemic. If either of the schools still has APs, I'd go there. The schools will tell you their honors are better than APs and they very well may be, but the bottom line is in a test optional world, APs are a way to definitely show rigor to colleges. Some schools will say that honors kids can take AP tests to demonstrate rigor, but that requires outside study and nobody taking a bunch of honors has time for that.

Both schools still fully support having students take AP exams. Both schools are phasing-out labelling classes as “AP”.

In many cases, the only change to the actual course is dropping the label “AP”, which label the college admissions offices do not care about. So students continue to be able to take AP exams at school. College admissions do care about scores/results from AP exams, but not the AP course labels. The individual’s AP test scores/results are what actually matter to college admssions offices. At both schools, students still are being fully prepared to take those AP exams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We're in DC.

Then StA with no doubts, unless you strenuously object to an Episcopal (light-touch religious) school or strenuously object to an all-boys school.

(Separately, in all honesty, commuting daily from DC to Potomac, even by bus, seems completely nuts to me. YMMV.)

We are a DC family that chose Potomac. The logistics are easy and I don't have to wait in a carpool line twice a day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agreed
Commuting from DC to go to Potomac makes no sense

That completely depends where you are. Palisades? Just as easy to get to Potomac as St. Albans.

If you also work in dc then no the palisades doesn’t help.

I went to Potomac and we lived in Barnaby Woods and both my parents worked downtown. Bus picked me up half a block away. This was the 80s though.

It's still an option. The buses also give a lot of flexibility - my kids take different ones on different days depending on what they have after school, going to friends, staying late for activities or games or sports, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These are two very different schools. One is coeducational and the other is not. One has a religious affiliation in the other does not. And they are completely different areas.

It sounds like your child as confused as to what he wants.

They are not so different and plenty apply to both. Both are considered rigorous schools with motivated students. What else is "like" STA? What else is "like" Potomac?