Is Bullis the new Sidwell??

[Anonymous]

I’m confused. Is this supposed to be an impressive list? Considering the class size, there are very few going to ivies and top schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Move over Big threes. It's hard to argue against facts. Is Bullis the new number one school in Greater DC?

This is where Bullis grads are going to college. Many of the the Colleges are the best in the country/world.
https://www.bullis.org/class-of-2023-admitted-data#data

Is Bullis the new Sidwell prestige-wise?

But the 2 that got into Harvard are probably the same 1 that got into MIT and 2 of the 5 that got into UPENN….how big is the class? If maybe they have 6 people that got into a bunch of tops schools I don’t think that’s anywhere near the level of the big 3 or big 5 for that matter

Bullis has about 140 seniors each year. These numbers are a handful of students who were accepted to a large number of top ranking colleges.

Are they athletes?

Bullis breaks it out so you can see DI athletic commitments. You can't see D3 athletes (so a bit flawed in my opinion), but still very insightful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Move over Big threes. It's hard to argue against facts. Is Bullis the new number one school in Greater DC?

This is where Bullis grads are going to college. Many of the the Colleges are the best in the country/world.
https://www.bullis.org/class-of-2023-admitted-data#data

Is Bullis the new Sidwell prestige-wise?

We chose St. Andrew's over Bullis and we are sorry we did. St. Andrew's has not been the experience we thought.

Please elaborate. These are two schools on my radar.

We chose St. Andrew's because of the CCTL. They stressed it so much when we were looking at the school, and we were excited about what they presented. It turned out that the educational experience was far below what we had expected. Bullis was our second choice, but in retrospect it should have been our first. And now with there 2023 college acceptance list, they are proving that they have better placement as well.

This is a significant flaw in your reasoning. St. Andrew's is our target for next year, so I began monitoring their outplacement data some time ago. The first major flaw is that you are conflating acceptance with matriculation lists as you compare Bullis to SAES. Major error! SAES, like most schools, only publishes matriculation but doesn't publish acceptances so you have no idea how those lists would stack up. Furthermore, making such a declaration, about any school, based on a single year is horribly flawed. A single graduating class cannot provide you sufficient data to draw a reliable conclusion. In fact, look up the data or Instagram page for SAES Class of 2022 and you will see outstanding results that are comparable to Bullis 2023. But those results for each school can change next year; that is common, which is why aggregate data is published.

Otherwise, I would love to hear more details on your dissatisfactory "educational experience", if you care to share.

Do you have regrets after seeing this Bullis list? The two schools are so close to each other. Is it too late for you to try to switch to Bullis?

Absolutely not. Even if outplacement becomes more similar, the culture of the schools differ greatly, and St. Andrew's is a far better fit for us. The genuine warmth, kindness, and focus on developing each child to their best potential are not comparable with Bullis. I am thrilled for all of the Bullis students and parents who got their desired results this year, but school is not solely about outplacement. After all, the kids (and parents to some extent) must experience that school daily for years prior to the finish line - that experience matters.

I completely agree with you, which is why we are thrilled that our child is at Bullis. She was in the lower school and is now in the middle school and couldn’t be happier.

Did you start at K? Did you choose Bullis over Sidwell? I ask because I am considering Bullis for K.

She did not start in K, and we did not consider Sidwell. We have plenty of friends whose children go there and we weren’t interested in a pressure cooker environment for our child. We’ve seen that our daughter can have a challenging and rewarding academic experience at Bullis while also feeling supported and encouraged. There are incredible opportunities for leadership, terrific athletics, a fabulous arts program, and true diversity of all kinds (racial, socioeconomic, neurodiversity, etc.) and our daughter truly couldn’t be happier. Our daughter was in lower school with the former head, but I’ve heard that the new lower school head is great. Good luck to you and your little one as you make your decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Move over Big threes. It's hard to argue against facts. Is Bullis the new number one school in Greater DC?

This is where Bullis grads are going to college. Many of the the Colleges are the best in the country/world.
https://www.bullis.org/class-of-2023-admitted-data#data

Is Bullis the new Sidwell prestige-wise?

No.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Move over Big threes. It's hard to argue against facts. Is Bullis the new number one school in Greater DC?

This is where Bullis grads are going to college. Many of the the Colleges are the best in the country/world.
https://www.bullis.org/class-of-2023-admitted-data#data

Is Bullis the new Sidwell prestige-wise?

Are you seeking to provoke a pointless conversation? Curious, why is this topic worthy - in your mind? Seems rather pointless. Or maybe the point is to provoke discord?

You are joking, right??? Bullis received so much unworthy negativity here that it's ridiculous. Does it bother you that the facts show otherwise? Why can't we have a talk about Bullis being the best. By the way it also has the best campus.

When admissions is based on athletics and money, of course Bullis students are going to do well. Those have nothing to do with academics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really like Bullis and actually don’t like Sidwell (my experience with each limited to friends’ families, reputation, and their websites; my kids aren’t at either school—we’d have considered Bullis if closer but not Sidwell). However, Bullis is not a “big 3” and is not equal to Sidwell in terms of prestige, etc. For me, that’s a good thing—Bullis meets the needs of a wider range of students and, I think, cared more about each student as an individual and about finding the right fit for them in college rather than finding what will look best on the school’s list of college acceptances.

You judge a school by its website?

Ok then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Move over Big threes. It's hard to argue against facts. Is Bullis the new number one school in Greater DC?

This is where Bullis grads are going to college. Many of the the Colleges are the best in the country/world.
https://www.bullis.org/class-of-2023-admitted-data#data

Is Bullis the new Sidwell prestige-wise?

But the 2 that got into Harvard are probably the same 1 that got into MIT and 2 of the 5 that got into UPENN….how big is the class? If maybe they have 6 people that got into a bunch of tops schools I don’t think that’s anywhere near the level of the big 3 or big 5 for that matter

Bullis has about 140 seniors each year. These numbers are a handful of students who were accepted to a large number of top ranking colleges.

What an odd thing to claim to know. Unless you work for Bullis and know this for certain, which seems hard to believe.

It is the truth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m confused. Is this supposed to be an impressive list? Considering the class size, there are very few going to ivies and top schools

There are some, which is better than years past. hence the Bullis boosters out in force.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m confused. Is this supposed to be an impressive list? Considering the class size, there are very few going to ivies and top schools

There are some, which is better than years past. hence the Bullis boosters out in force.

Ok, now I understand. There are a few Bullis parents excited about the two Ivy posts on Instagram (Cornell and UPenn). Well, I will not rain on your parade Bullis parents. Enjoy your moment in the sun!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really like Bullis and actually don’t like Sidwell (my experience with each limited to friends’ families, reputation, and their websites; my kids aren’t at either school—we’d have considered Bullis if closer but not Sidwell). However, Bullis is not a “big 3” and is not equal to Sidwell in terms of prestige, etc. For me, that’s a good thing—Bullis meets the needs of a wider range of students and, I think, cared more about each student as an individual and about finding the right fit for them in college rather than finding what will look best on the school’s list of college acceptances.

You judge a school by its website?

Ok then.

No, I learn about a school from its website. That’s what they are for.

[Anonymous]

Most are legacy or athletic recruits. Bullis is new money and lots of it. Money and legacy gets you in. Don’t believe the hype. Once they go back to requiring SAT or ACT things will go back to pre-pandemic with Bullis being mediocre on college acceptances.

[Anonymous]

Agreed. But sadly, colleges are not bringing standardized test requirements back any time soon, if ever. They still like AP though. Oh, and GPAs.

[Anonymous]

My oldest is a DS in a private middle school. Why the conversation about AP and GPA? Of course they are important for college entry - at least that is my assumption. Don't they matter any more? I have worried that HS public school GPAs will disadvantage my son.

[Anonymous]

Meh. Whole lot of meh.

[Anonymous]

AP courses are super easy at Bullis. Everyone gets in them. I think they have gamed the system. They want to be like GDS, Sidwell, etc. so they give out A’s and AP courses so that kids get into top colleges. I feel really bad for the teachers who have to deal with these average kids. But, feel worse for the kids who will struggle in these colleges. Bring back testing. That will make things right. My kid is a senior at Bullis and got into their ED school so I’m not bitter but just telling the truth. I honestly don’t think my kid would have gotten in without being at Bullis. No test scores submitted.