Sidwell College Admissions This Year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Seniors are also upset but the parents are the ones in here.

No, the chatter here is not reflective of SF families. It's sad trolls stirring the pot; trolls who likely have no affiliation with the school or any private school. Many of these responses detail creeping around social media accounts. This is not normal behavior, it's unstable.

Sidwell senior parent here. not some "sad troll"with no affiliation with the school. Your conclusion is simply incorrect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here’s an exercise: one year later none of this will matter.

Mamadou has entered the chat.

Ha ha..

?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Seniors are also upset but the parents are the ones in here.

No, the chatter here is not reflective of SF families. It's sad trolls stirring the pot; trolls who likely have no affiliation with the school or any private school. Many of these responses detail creeping around social media accounts. This is not normal behavior, it's unstable.

We have two kids in the upper school. Without trolling social media accounts I know what the general consensus among the senior class is. I also know that many parents with kids in 9th/10th/11th, who ask parents with older kids or recent graduates, are told that the CCO is awful.

I am not certain what posts you are referring to as far as what you think is not reflective of Sidwell families. There are certainly some weird and very nasty, incoherent posts that have cropped up this morning, about which I would agree that they are probably from trolls. But there have also been many substantive comments here that are absolutely reflective of families at the school and their disappointment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am confused. Sidwell kids seem to have great choices so far based on the Instagram account, which admittedly doesn’t have a lot of data yet. Are the kids who have not yet posted shut out of all their targets? For those posters who are angry, what outcome would allow you to say that it was a successful year?

I am bumping this bc I am also interested in the answer to either question - are kids shut out of their safeties (assuming safeties are reasonable meaning no one is using a school with less than 20-30% admit rate as a safety). And more generally what would make it a successful admissions year in your eyes. Asking posters who have knowledge about sidwell or other privates who are presumably having similar outcomes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Seniors are also upset but the parents are the ones in here.

No, the chatter here is not reflective of SF families. It's sad trolls stirring the pot; trolls who likely have no affiliation with the school or any private school. Many of these responses detail creeping around social media accounts. This is not normal behavior, it's unstable.

We have two kids in the upper school. Without trolling social media accounts I know what the general consensus among the senior class is. I also know that many parents with kids in 9th/10th/11th, who ask parents with older kids or recent graduates, are told that the CCO is awful.

I am not certain what posts you are referring to as far as what you think is not reflective of Sidwell families. There are certainly some weird and very nasty, incoherent posts that have cropped up this morning, about which I would agree that they are probably from trolls. But there have also been many substantive comments here that are absolutely reflective of families at the school and their disappointment.

Kids can occasionally get into Harvard from schools where college counseling is basically non existent.

Many students (certainly not all) at elite private schools have a huge advantage in this process in that their parents are already familiar with applying and attending competitive universities and grad programs. This is more valuable than any counselling office.

[Anonymous]

Except colleges no longer want kids from "elite" private schools. There is no advantage and it can actually hurt.

At this point all you can expect from your CCO office is that they offer useful info in selecting colleges, write a coherent letter and keep students on track in the application process. Colleges don't want them to call and advocate on behalf of a student anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Seniors are also upset but the parents are the ones in here.

No, the chatter here is not reflective of SF families. It's sad trolls stirring the pot; trolls who likely have no affiliation with the school or any private school. Many of these responses detail creeping around social media accounts. This is not normal behavior, it's unstable.

We have two kids in the upper school. Without trolling social media accounts I know what the general consensus among the senior class is. I also know that many parents with kids in 9th/10th/11th, who ask parents with older kids or recent graduates, are told that the CCO is awful.

I am not certain what posts you are referring to as far as what you think is not reflective of Sidwell families. There are certainly some weird and very nasty, incoherent posts that have cropped up this morning, about which I would agree that they are probably from trolls. But there have also been many substantive comments here that are absolutely reflective of families at the school and their disappointment.

Kids can occasionally get into Harvard from schools where college counseling is basically non existent.

Many students (certainly not all) at elite private schools have a huge advantage in this process in that their parents are already familiar with applying and attending competitive universities and grad programs. This is more valuable than any counselling office.

I don’t understand your point. The fact that Sidwell has families like this is no excuse for having a bad, do-nothing CCO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Except colleges no longer want kids from "elite" private schools. There is no advantage and it can actually hurt.

At this point all you can expect from your CCO office is that they offer useful info in selecting colleges, write a coherent letter and keep students on track in the application process. Colleges don't want them to call and advocate on behalf of a student anymore.

CCO writes the school profile. CCO writes the school letter for each student. CCO does develop relationships with admissions officers and can advocate for the school and its general excellence, without talking about any specific student. These are all things that a good CCO can do strategically that can help each and every student, depending on how the office approaches this role.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Except colleges no longer want kids from "elite" private schools. There is no advantage and it can actually hurt.

At this point all you can expect from your CCO office is that they offer useful info in selecting colleges, write a coherent letter and keep students on track in the application process. Colleges don't want them to call and advocate on behalf of a student anymore.

Kids from elite private schools are well represented in the ivy league.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Except colleges no longer want kids from "elite" private schools. There is no advantage and it can actually hurt.

At this point all you can expect from your CCO office is that they offer useful info in selecting colleges, write a coherent letter and keep students on track in the application process. Colleges don't want them to call and advocate on behalf of a student anymore.

TROLL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Except colleges no longer want kids from "elite" private schools. There is no advantage and it can actually hurt.

At this point all you can expect from your CCO office is that they offer useful info in selecting colleges, write a coherent letter and keep students on track in the application process. Colleges don't want them to call and advocate on behalf of a student anymore.

Kids from elite private schools are well represented in the ivy league.

+1 The Crimson reported that 37% of the class of 2025 attended a private school. That’s nearly 4x the percentage of kids who attend private schools in the US. Our kids are less over-represented than in the past, but they’re still over-represented.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here’s an exercise: one year later none of this will matter.

To the upper caste at SF it does not matter now. This thread was likely created by and certainly the overwhelming majority of the responses are fueled by sorry saps who have zero affiliation to Sidwell. Likely no affiliation to any private school. I'd bet many do not even have children. It's the same unhinged trolls who spam the private school forum all day.

Are these Indian trolls? Who talks about caste like this? Sheesh, is this what parents at SFS are like?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here’s an exercise: one year later none of this will matter.

To the upper caste at SF it does not matter now. This thread was likely created by and certainly the overwhelming majority of the responses are fueled by sorry saps who have zero affiliation to Sidwell. Likely no affiliation to any private school. I'd bet many do not even have children. It's the same unhinged trolls who spam the private school forum all day.

Are these Indian trolls? Who talks about caste like this? Sheesh, is this what parents at SFS are like?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College admissions have been unpredictable and sometimes shocking. But Sidwell students have been well prepared to succeed wherever they go. College isn't the end goal. It's just another step. They will all be fine.

This may all be true, but it’s also a distraction in the context of this discussion. This is the kind of nonsense that Mamadou and the school trots out, consistent with its arrogant and dismissive tone towards parents. It is a very convenient way to deflect any scrutiny of the school.

“Shocking” results are not OK just because the kids are well prepared. Saying that they will all be fine in this context suggests that college placement doesn’t matter.

Why is it Sidwell's fault that COVID prompted colleges to go test optional causing a steep decline in acceptance rates everywhere? All they can do is advise families of the landscape, which they did. The kids who were realistic about their options and chose a variety of schools that would make them happy, did fine. I have yet to hear about a senior who had no options.

IMO they did not advise families of the landscape or actually counsel families. “They will all be fine” is their crutch for not doing any meaningful, real advising or advocacy.

They absolutely did. Lauren was very clear from the beginning of junior year how COVID was changing things, how the then current class (2021) had to adjust and how it was very important not to focus on the reach+ schools but rather the targets and safeties. Sorry you didn't get the message. It was pretty clear at the time.

No need for the snarky response. And why are you making assumptions about my kid, who actually got in ED? That was no thanks to the school or its crappy counseling; everything I said above is 100% accurate, and I am pissed for my kid’s friends and classmates.

And I don’t know what you are talking about when you say “Lauren was very clear from the beginning of junior year...” Are you referring to the grade-wide zoom meetings? I attended all of those, and I disagree that any meaningful substantive advice or counseling was shared in those silly PowerPoint-heavy meetings going over checklists. Regardless, the real counseling and advising is supposed to occur in the individual meetings. And in those meetings, based on our experience and discussions with other parents, the counselors absolutely did not provide any real advice or counseling.

Then you weren't paying attention to what she was saying. She was very clear.

Congrats to your kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am confused. Sidwell kids seem to have great choices so far based on the Instagram account, which admittedly doesn’t have a lot of data yet. Are the kids who have not yet posted shut out of all their targets? For those posters who are angry, what outcome would allow you to say that it was a successful year?

Many kids have not posted yet because they are trying to decide between 2 or 3 really good options.

Other kids have not posted because they don't want to be seen as bragging.

I have yet to hear about any kids who have no "decent" options.