Basis Acceptances for college

[Anonymous]

This year's college list is lackluster considering that most of the current BASIS seniors followed a super accelerated STEM oriented curriculum there all the way from 7th grade. Plus, they've had a full-time college counselor practically to themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This year's college list is lackluster considering that most of the current BASIS seniors followed a super accelerated STEM oriented curriculum there all the way from 7th grade. Plus, they've had a full-time college counselor practically to themselves.

Do you actually know these kids and their goals?

I know a few of them. The schools they are attending make a lot of sense for them. One wanted a military academy; got in there and applied nowhere else. A first gen student aimed high and got a full ride to one of their top 3 choices, and significant scholarships from the others (going to free ride school). More than one decided to go to art school and they were accepted at several good ones; some others applied to all HBCUs and got into several.

They didn’t set out to create lists with a goal of impressing DCUM. They’re good kids who have worked hard. Period.

[Anonymous]

Sounds more impressive than Wilson. Are half of Wilson students even going to graduate - much less get accepted to college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This year's college list is lackluster considering that most of the current BASIS seniors followed a super accelerated STEM oriented curriculum there all the way from 7th grade. Plus, they've had a full-time college counselor practically to themselves.

Huh? Are my reading skills super poor or has this year’s list not been posted? I see the 2017 list but not this year’s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[q

Sorry, not impressed (other than with Princeton) given the alleged stratospheric rigor of the curriculum and heavy STEM emphasis from MS.

Signed,
Ivy League grad who attended public HS where most grads didn't go on to 4-year colleges.

And one went to UDC after transferring from BASIS during December of his senior year.

Why would a student transfer December of Senior year near finish line?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This year's college list is lackluster considering that most of the current BASIS seniors followed a super accelerated STEM oriented curriculum there all the way from 7th grade. Plus, they've had a full-time college counselor practically to themselves.

curriculum is a small factor in college admissions. GPA and standardized scoring play a much larger role --- so a rigorous curriculum can actually hurt college admission prospects by lowering GPA's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This year's college list is lackluster considering that most of the current BASIS seniors followed a super accelerated STEM oriented curriculum there all the way from 7th grade. Plus, they've had a full-time college counselor practically to themselves.

curriculum is a small factor in college admissions. GPA and standardized scoring play a much larger role --- so a rigorous curriculum can actually hurt college admission prospects by lowering GPA's.

College counselor who has not found this with GPA in my work, at least not for elite private colleges. Colleges know that the same HS student's GPA could be significantly higher or lower on roughly the same output at different schools in different parts of the country. I would agree that standardized tests scores play larger role. But from what I've observed, the heaviest weight is given to personal qualities like intellectual curiosity and drive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, it's only 14 kids, so hard to really draw any conclusions.
But as a Wilson parent who has been listening to my neighbors who are Basis parents go on and on and on about how superior Basis is, I would have expected a better list than this.

Really? For 14 kids you expected more? And the school is less than 10 years old. Meanwhile half of Wilson students are not even on track to graduate.

Lady, you are not expecting better from BASIS. You are not-so-secretly enraged that you overpaid for an unrenovated, ugly, front hall colonial in Wilson's catchment and no-one is impressed. Sorry you made a stupid real estate decision, but BASIS did well.

** NOT affiliated with BASIS, Wilson, the PCSB or DCPS. No axe to grind, no dog in the hunt. I just like popping the balloons of the self-important.

I'm the PP. Just for the record, I'm not a lady, and I did not overpay for my home in Wilson's catchment - that actually turned out to be the best investment I've ever made in my life.

I'm not enraged about anything - I'm just observing that Basis parents talk about the school like it is an otherworldly college prep school - and, based on this list, it is just like any other school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, it's only 14 kids, so hard to really draw any conclusions.
But as a Wilson parent who has been listening to my neighbors who are Basis parents go on and on and on about how superior Basis is, I would have expected a better list than this.

Really? For 14 kids you expected more? And the school is less than 10 years old. Meanwhile half of Wilson students are not even on track to graduate.

Lady, you are not expecting better from BASIS. You are not-so-secretly enraged that you overpaid for an unrenovated, ugly, front hall colonial in Wilson's catchment and no-one is impressed. Sorry you made a stupid real estate decision, but BASIS did well.

** NOT affiliated with BASIS, Wilson, the PCSB or DCPS. No axe to grind, no dog in the hunt. I just like popping the balloons of the self-important.

I'm the PP. Just for the record, I'm not a lady, and I did not overpay for my home in Wilson's catchment - that actually turned out to be the best investment I've ever made in my life.

I'm not enraged about anything - I'm just observing that Basis parents talk about the school like it is an otherworldly college prep school - and, based on this list, it is just like any other school.

But when you do not live in the Wilson catchment, and the application DCPS do not appeal for one reason or another, did not get off the Latin waitlist, don’t have $50k sitting around your house every year and all the private schools are a minimum 45 minute commute, BASIS is kind of wonderful and is a whole lot better than the IB DCPS HS options of the majority of the city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is the 2017 list of where they actually went:

The colleges and universities that the BASIS DC Class of 2017 will attend include:

Boston College

University of Dallas

Bowie State University

Johnson & Wales University

Barnard College

Georgia State University

University of Maine

Hampshire College
Princeton University

Haverford College

George Mason University

University of Dallas

Montgomery College

Culinary Institute of America

Morgan State University

Coppin State University

That’s a pretty good list. As good as many privates.

These schools are all fine. The issue I see is that the students put in way more hours and crammed in a lot of busy work to achieve these schools while kids in the burbs did half the amount of work yet got the same results.

IN other words, the work at BASIS is not significantly more advanced than any basic suburban high school in this area, they just have more homework, busy work and is likely poorly taught and rushed through.

[Anonymous]

If you can make it to 12th, senior year at Basis is unique among DC public’s (note that I am not saying better).

For most students all AP classes and exams are done (unless you are taking your required Calc AB in 12th) and replaced with 4 Capstone courses and a daily college counseling workshop for 2 trimesters. Then you are either off campus for a senior project and internship for the last few months.

Next year with 40+ seniors there are more Capstones to choose from.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is the 2017 list of where they actually went:

The colleges and universities that the BASIS DC Class of 2017 will attend include:

Boston College

University of Dallas

Bowie State University

Johnson & Wales University

Barnard College

Georgia State University

University of Maine

Hampshire College
Princeton University

Haverford College

George Mason University

University of Dallas

Montgomery College

Culinary Institute of America

Morgan State University

Coppin State University

That’s a pretty good list. As good as many privates.

These schools are all fine. The issue I see is that the students put in way more hours and crammed in a lot of busy work to achieve these schools while kids in the burbs did half the amount of work yet got the same results.

IN other words, the work at BASIS is not significantly more advanced than any basic suburban high school in this area, they just have more homework, busy work and is likely poorly taught and rushed through.

Do you know this to be true, or are you just speculating? If you live in the suburbs where all high schools are pretty good, I can see how you'd be unimpressed. But for students in DC, a citywide public high school that regularly produces these college acceptances is really exciting. Maybe you need to live here to understand the significance.
-DC native, not a basis parent

[Anonymous]

Here's the class of 2018 list (from a college counseling newsletter to upper school parents in early April). They collectively earned $3.145M in merit aid and scholarships.

Agnes Scott College
Alabama A&M University
Albright College
Allegheny College
Arcadia University
Arizona State University
Barnard College
Boston University
Brunel University London
Central State University
Champlain College
Cleveland Institute of Art
Columbia College Chicago
DePauw University
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Emory University
Fisk University
Gannon University
George Washington University
Georgetown University
Goucher College
Hampton University
Harrisburg University of Science & Technology
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
King's College London
Lawrence Technological University
Loyola University Chicago
Loyola University New Orleans
Manhattan College
New York Institute of Technology
North Carolina A&T State University
North Carolina Central University
Northwestern University
Ohio University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Pennsylvania State University
Pennsylvania State University - Altoona
Pratt Institute
Regent's University London
Ringling College of Art and Design
Rochester Institute of Technology
Salisbury University
Savannah College of Art and Design
School of Visual Arts
Seton Hall University
Spelman College
St. John's University - Queens Campus
St. Mary's College of Maryland
Syracuse University
Temple University
The College of New Jersey
United States Coast Guard Academy
Universidad de Navarra
University of Akron
University of Hartford
University of Kansas
University of Maryland, College Park
University of New Hampshire at Durham
University of North Carolina at Wilmington
University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh at Bradford
University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown
University of San Francisco
University of Vermont
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Union University
Voorhees College
West Virginia University
Wichita State University

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is the 2017 list of where they actually went:

The colleges and universities that the BASIS DC Class of 2017 will attend include:

Boston College

University of Dallas

Bowie State University

Johnson & Wales University

Barnard College

Georgia State University

University of Maine

Hampshire College
Princeton University

Haverford College

George Mason University

University of Dallas

Montgomery College

Culinary Institute of America

Morgan State University

Coppin State University

That’s a pretty good list. As good as many privates.

These schools are all fine. The issue I see is that the students put in way more hours and crammed in a lot of busy work to achieve these schools while kids in the burbs did half the amount of work yet got the same results.

IN other words, the work at BASIS is not significantly more advanced than any basic suburban high school in this area, they just have more homework, busy work and is likely poorly taught and rushed through.

Do you know this to be true, or are you just speculating? If you live in the suburbs where all high schools are pretty good, I can see how you'd be unimpressed. But for students in DC, a citywide public high school that regularly produces these college acceptances is really exciting. Maybe you need to live here to understand the significance.
-DC native, not a basis parent

I live in the area suburbs and have my entire life. I am well aware of the challenges with DC public schools. but the demographic stats for BASIS are close to other close in suburban high schools that get the exact same results for colleges. It's very likely that these kids killed themselves for nothing and they could have achieved the same results elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is the 2017 list of where they actually went:

The colleges and universities that the BASIS DC Class of 2017 will attend include:

Boston College

University of Dallas

Bowie State University

Johnson & Wales University

Barnard College

Georgia State University

University of Maine

Hampshire College
Princeton University

Haverford College

George Mason University

University of Dallas

Montgomery College

Culinary Institute of America

Morgan State University

Coppin State University

That’s a pretty good list. As good as many privates.

These schools are all fine. The issue I see is that the students put in way more hours and crammed in a lot of busy work to achieve these schools while kids in the burbs did half the amount of work yet got the same results.

IN other words, the work at BASIS is not significantly more advanced than any basic suburban high school in this area, they just have more homework, busy work and is likely poorly taught and rushed through.

Do you know this to be true, or are you just speculating? If you live in the suburbs where all high schools are pretty good, I can see how you'd be unimpressed. But for students in DC, a citywide public high school that regularly produces these college acceptances is really exciting. Maybe you need to live here to understand the significance.
-DC native, not a basis parent

I live in the area suburbs and have my entire life. I am well aware of the challenges with DC public schools. but the demographic stats for BASIS are close to other close in suburban high schools that get the exact same results for colleges. It's very likely that these kids killed themselves for nothing and they could have achieved the same results elsewhere.

If you live in the suburbs why are you even on here dissing DC schools? I think these kids deserve a hand and will probably fare well or better than suburban kids who'll spend college wasted at frat parties.