SWW interviews

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All the interviewers needed to take unconscious bias training

My kid is one of the interviewers and was required to participate in unconscious bias training before signing up for interviewer slots.

They and their friends who are doing this are all taking the job very seriously. I've heard no conversations about looks, but have heard them talking about thoughtful questions and wanting to do their part to contribute to building a solid cohort of students for the incoming grade.

Yes, it's basically a lottery of 4.0 kids, but it really does a disservice to these students to continue painting the process as some sort of beauty pageant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Initially offered an interview and had it rescinded today.[/quote

Same thing happened to my child, this school without walls is a complete joke…. No wonder many of the kids decline admission when they are accepted…. The admissions stafff are unholy combination of incompetent and corrupt

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did get initial email but have not received the time.

We are in the same boat, I hope that doesn't mean our offer was taken away!

[Anonymous]

I think the biggest problem is that they go by seventh grade GPAs, and make no differentiation of the school attended, the course difficulty and the grading policies….

In a few years time, I think MacArthur high school will likely out rank SWW in terms of quality and desireability

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Initially offered an interview and had it rescinded today.[/quote

Same thing happened to my child, this school without walls is a complete joke…. No wonder many of the kids decline admission when they are accepted…. The admissions stafff are unholy combination of incompetent and corrupt

Did that happen this year? Did you just get an email that said as much?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All the interviewers needed to take unconscious bias training

My kid is one of the interviewers and was required to participate in unconscious bias training before signing up for interviewer slots.

They and their friends who are doing this are all taking the job very seriously. I've heard no conversations about looks, but have heard them talking about thoughtful questions and wanting to do their part to contribute to building a solid cohort of students for the incoming grade.

Yes, it's basically a lottery of 4.0 kids, but it really does a disservice to these students to continue painting the process as some sort of beauty pageant.

Look, I don't think there is a lot of merit to the allegations of selection based on looks/beauty pageant. But if it IS just a lottery of 4.0 kids (and I agree it is), they should get rid of the interview. The way the interview is "weighted" in the process opens the entire process up to scrutiny vs. just saying, all kids in DC with a 4.0 who apply to SWW are entered in a lottery for the available spots.

[Anonymous]

Email went out this afternoon from SWW: if you haven’t yet been contacted for an interview you are not getting one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I think the biggest problem is that they go by seventh grade GPAs, and make no differentiation of the school attended, the course difficulty and the grading policies….

In a few years time, I think MacArthur high school will likely out rank SWW in terms of quality and desireability

How would they differentiate by school? I might argue it’s not fair to claim a 3.7 at Basis is a stronger student than a 3.7 at a DCPS middle school. Who’s to say the kid at the DCPS wouldn’t get a 3.7 at Basis? There is no way to do this in a fair way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I think the biggest problem is that they go by seventh grade GPAs, and make no differentiation of the school attended, the course difficulty and the grading policies….

In a few years time, I think MacArthur high school will likely out rank SWW in terms of quality and desireability

How would they differentiate by school? I might argue it’s not fair to claim a 3.7 at Basis is a stronger student than a 3.7 at a DCPS middle school. Who’s to say the kid at the DCPS wouldn’t get a 3.7 at Basis? There is no way to do this in a fair way.

Exactly!

How can you prove that a 4.0 student from Deal is a stronger student than a 4.0 student (native or non-native bilingual) from Oyster-Adams? It can’t be proven.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Email went out this afternoon from SWW: if you haven’t yet been contacted for an interview you are not getting one.

Even if you got an initial email?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Initially offered an interview and had it rescinded today.[/quote

Same thing happened to my child, this school without walls is a complete joke…. No wonder many of the kids decline admission when they are accepted…. The admissions stafff are unholy combination of incompetent and corrupt

Did that happen this year? Did you just get an email that said as much?

Can you please cut/paste the email that rescinded your child’s interview? What was the reason given?

[Anonymous]

Time to reinstate an admissions test

[Anonymous]

Maybe they only sent out the March 4th Slots? Did anyone get a slot for the 11th today?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Time to reinstate an admissions test

+1

Also- for this group of kids, 7th grade was their return from virtual learning. Some kids might have struggled to get back into the swing of school/ COVID impact. A 3.5 student last year might have been a 4.0 student in another situation. They had no chance of making the Wall’s cut this year.

[Anonymous]

Good afternoon, parents, and students. Thank you for taking the time to apply to School Without Walls for the upcoming school year.
Although your student met the minimum GPA requirement of a 3.0 at the end of the last school year to be considered for admissions to SWW, as we advanced through the interview process his/her GPA scored below our 2023 bar for an interview, largely due to an exceptionally large applicant pool. As your child will not be continuing with our process, we wanted you to have this information as early as possible so you may consider some of the other great high school opportunities in DCPS.
Students did a fantastic job last school year and should be praised for their hard work.
We appreciate your consideration in School Without Walls and wish you the best during this admission season.
Thank you,
School Without Walls Administration

Warmly,
N. Hardge