Is Walter Johnson the Cornell of the “W schools?”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WJ is a little bit more diverse than the other W schools (not counting BCC the honorary W), a little bit less of a pressure cooker, yet still full of high-achieving kids.

I'm a WJ parent and from what I've observed WJ parents are probably not as hard-core as Whitman or Churchill parents. We chose the WJ catchment area for this very reason.

chose it for the same reasons.

signed,
a cornell alum

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP is there a real question underneath your post? Or are you just trying to stir up trouble?

-Whitman grad

The question is real. And by the way, Whitman is by far the best of the Ws so it’s maybe very easy for you to assume all schools are as good as the one you attended. You were very lucky to have attended Whitman.

If by best you mean fewest low income students dragging down standardized test averages then sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is Walter Johnson the Cornell of the “W schools?”

Meaning, is it the least prestigious and some argue not even worthy of the “W School” title? Or is it excellent? I ask this because I have been hearing conflicting thoughts on this.

Anyone with direct experience with the school?

That's silly, OP. Obviously Walter Johnson is the Dartmouth of the "W Schools." Or maybe the Penn of the "W Schools"?

Plus, where would the prestigiousness of these public MCPS high schools come from anyway? The prestige of having parents who reside in Bethesda or Potomac?

I remember when the county leaked the SATs averages by HS broken down by racial cohort. Turns out WJ had higher scores for my kid's demographic than any other W. If anything, I feel it's underrated.

As a PP noted, these rankings are less about high-achievement than the lack of low-SES students. Typically the most minor diverse schools have a higher overall average but also fail to lead in most any significant category like NMSF, Regeneron, USAMO, or college admissions. You'd think this disconnect would be clear but this narrative is propped up by the real estate industry mostly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP is there a real question underneath your post? Or are you just trying to stir up trouble?

-Whitman grad

The question is real. And by the way, Whitman is by far the best of the Ws so it’s maybe very easy for you to assume all schools are as good as the one you attended. You were very lucky to have attended Whitman.

If by best you mean fewest low income students dragging down standardized test averages then sure.

Whitman is ultra competitive. The parents who buy to live there are hyper focused on education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really hate to break to you all but the "W" schools are just big public schools with large class sizes and a lot of rich kids.

Yeah but WJ is the most overcrowded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP is there a real question underneath your post? Or are you just trying to stir up trouble?

-Whitman grad

The question is real. And by the way, Whitman is by far the best of the Ws so it’s maybe very easy for you to assume all schools are as good as the one you attended. You were very lucky to have attended Whitman.

If by best you mean fewest low income students dragging down standardized test averages then sure.

Whitman is ultra competitive. The parents who buy to live there are hyper focused on education.

No more so than similar SES parents in other areas. There's really nothing special about these rankings. It's just an average and less diverse schools typically do better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really hate to break to you all but the "W" schools are just big public schools with large class sizes and a lot of rich kids.

Yeah but WJ is the most overcrowded.

No for long since many will end up at Woodward. Along with some folks who are currently at Einstein and BCC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WJ is a little bit more diverse than the other W schools (not counting BCC the honorary W), a little bit less of a pressure cooker, yet still full of high-achieving kids.

I'm a WJ parent and from what I've observed WJ parents are probably not as hard-core as Whitman or Churchill parents. We chose the WJ catchment area for this very reason.

chose it for the same reasons.

signed,
a cornell alum

From what I can tell WJ seems like one of the better overall better choices in the county except for the overcrowding. Also for STEM Cornell is vastly better than most other Ivies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WJ is a little bit more diverse than the other W schools (not counting BCC the honorary W), a little bit less of a pressure cooker, yet still full of high-achieving kids.

I'm a WJ parent and from what I've observed WJ parents are probably not as hard-core as Whitman or Churchill parents. We chose the WJ catchment area for this very reason.

chose it for the same reasons.

signed,
a cornell alum

Do you think if you'd gone to Whitman you could have been a Yale alum?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WJ is a little bit more diverse than the other W schools (not counting BCC the honorary W), a little bit less of a pressure cooker, yet still full of high-achieving kids.

I'm a WJ parent and from what I've observed WJ parents are probably not as hard-core as Whitman or Churchill parents. We chose the WJ catchment area for this very reason.

chose it for the same reasons.

signed,
a cornell alum

From what I can tell WJ seems like one of the better overall better choices in the county except for the overcrowding. Also for STEM Cornell is vastly better than most other Ivies.

Do you think OP meant to say WJ has the best STEM program?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really hate to break to you all but the "W" schools are just big public schools with large class sizes and a lot of rich kids.

Yeah but WJ is the most overcrowded.

No for long since many will end up at Woodward. Along with some folks who are currently at Einstein and BCC.

Or Whitman.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1128527.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WJ is a little bit more diverse than the other W schools (not counting BCC the honorary W), a little bit less of a pressure cooker, yet still full of high-achieving kids.

I'm a WJ parent and from what I've observed WJ parents are probably not as hard-core as Whitman or Churchill parents. We chose the WJ catchment area for this very reason.

chose it for the same reasons.

signed,
a cornell alum

From what I can tell WJ seems like one of the better overall better choices in the county except for the overcrowding. Also for STEM Cornell is vastly better than most other Ivies.

Do you think OP meant to say WJ has the best STEM program?

Or most gorgeous campus? No, probably not.

[Anonymous]

Although it starts with a W, I’ve never considered WJ to be a W school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Although it starts with a W, I’ve never considered WJ to be a W school.

You are supporting OPs point - many don’t consider Cornell to be an Ivy.

[Anonymous]

I’m a WJ parent and a Cornell alum and this post is everything