Sidwell College Admissions This Year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Sure, but this puts the burden onto the students entirely, rather than to say how the school will maximize opportunities in this situation.

The burden is on the students. That is who is getting to these places. A high school can't change that. A high school can make a kid into an athletic recruit? A development case? A published author or researcher? A musical virtuoso? Look at who these elite college admit? Great stats from a great high school is not enough.

The great high school education is to prepare the student to excel at the ultimate college destination. It cannot engineer that destination.

DP. I believe what pp was saying is that the school should provide real and meaningful individual counseling advice to students, and the school shouldn’t act as if it has no obligation to help engineer the best outcomes—which a school can still do. Partly by providing good advice, and partly through its advocacy for each student. Sidwell’s CCO appears not to believe it has a responsibility to play such a role. And if it does try, it clearly does not do a very good job at it.

This is what the pps were getting at with the “turbocharged” comments (also not mine). A good CCO can still do much more than just provide information and push paper to make sure deadlines are met. Sidwell’s CCO is not good.

The CCO's CANNOT call colleges and advocate for kids. The colleges can and do call the CCOs to ask about applicants.

The CCO CAN advise kids about realistic lists. They cannot fill out the forms, produce videos or write the essays.

they CAN put your applicant in the best light possible with their official school letter of recommendation.

I am not sure what else you think the CCO is supposed to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Obviously their student was rejected by a top desired school and they are struggling with anger over the rejection.

With due respect, not so interested in speculation but rather from posters with direct knowledge of the situation.

Fair enough but there are lots of upset parents dealing with college rejections at this time of year. I know plenty.

then they didn't prepare realistic lists for their kids, or maybe their kids didn't have glowing letters of recommendations from their teachers for whatever reason

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Inside goss easy that this has been a pretty rough year at Sidwell. Some of the "best" students don't have strong options.

Disagree.

What do you consider options that are not strong?

Bumping this bc I think all of this is perspective. I know a Sidwell kid who was disappointed with their “safety,” which was a top 30 school with less than 10% admit rate. That kid has luckily shifted gears and now sees this is a great choice but to listen to parents this is the kind of “bloodbath” they are referencing.

I am the PP you are quoting. That was what I was hoping to get at. If some family is upset because their kid got shut out of 5 ivies, but they are going to Chicago or Pomona, my heart is not going to bleed. I have not yet heard of any Sidwell senior who doesn't have at least one fantastic option for the Fall.

[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.

What else do people expect from the CCO? I am asking this honestly.

[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.

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.

The Sidwell CCO - the Director and the staff, all do this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Sure, but this puts the burden onto the students entirely, rather than to say how the school will maximize opportunities in this situation.

The burden is on the students. That is who is getting to these places. A high school can't change that. A high school can make a kid into an athletic recruit? A development case? A published author or researcher? A musical virtuoso? Look at who these elite college admit? Great stats from a great high school is not enough.

The great high school education is to prepare the student to excel at the ultimate college destination. It cannot engineer that destination.

DP. I believe what pp was saying is that the school should provide real and meaningful individual counseling advice to students, and the school shouldn’t act as if it has no obligation to help engineer the best outcomes—which a school can still do. Partly by providing good advice, and partly through its advocacy for each student. Sidwell’s CCO appears not to believe it has a responsibility to play such a role. And if it does try, it clearly does not do a very good job at it.

This is what the pps were getting at with the “turbocharged” comments (also not mine). A good CCO can still do much more than just provide information and push paper to make sure deadlines are met. Sidwell’s CCO is not good.

The CCO's CANNOT call colleges and advocate for kids. The colleges can and do call the CCOs to ask about applicants.

The CCO CAN advise kids about realistic lists. They cannot fill out the forms, produce videos or write the essays.

they CAN put your applicant in the best light possible with their official school letter of recommendation.

I am not sure what else you think the CCO is supposed to do.

Whats the CCO supposed to do?

See Dalton School (NY) outcomes (scroll to bottom of page): https://www.dalton.org/programs/high-school/college-counseling

Approximately 40 percent into HYPS + MIT. 40 percent!

It gets to 60 percent when you add top LACs and other major schools like Duke, NorthWestern and JHU..

That's what a CCO is supposed to do.

Note: SAT/ACT scores are identical for both schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Sure, but this puts the burden onto the students entirely, rather than to say how the school will maximize opportunities in this situation.

The burden is on the students. That is who is getting to these places. A high school can't change that. A high school can make a kid into an athletic recruit? A development case? A published author or researcher? A musical virtuoso? Look at who these elite college admit? Great stats from a great high school is not enough.

The great high school education is to prepare the student to excel at the ultimate college destination. It cannot engineer that destination.

DP. I believe what pp was saying is that the school should provide real and meaningful individual counseling advice to students, and the school shouldn’t act as if it has no obligation to help engineer the best outcomes—which a school can still do. Partly by providing good advice, and partly through its advocacy for each student. Sidwell’s CCO appears not to believe it has a responsibility to play such a role. And if it does try, it clearly does not do a very good job at it.

This is what the pps were getting at with the “turbocharged” comments (also not mine). A good CCO can still do much more than just provide information and push paper to make sure deadlines are met. Sidwell’s CCO is not good.

The CCO's CANNOT call colleges and advocate for kids. The colleges can and do call the CCOs to ask about applicants.

The CCO CAN advise kids about realistic lists. They cannot fill out the forms, produce videos or write the essays.

they CAN put your applicant in the best light possible with their official school letter of recommendation.

I am not sure what else you think the CCO is supposed to do.

Whats the CCO supposed to do?

See Dalton School (NY) outcomes (scroll to bottom of page): https://www.dalton.org/programs/high-school/college-counseling

Approximately 40 percent into HYPS + MIT. 40 percent!

It gets to 60 percent when you add top LACs and other major schools like Duke, NorthWestern and JHU..

That's what a CCO is supposed to do.

Note: SAT/ACT scores are identical for both schools.

Lol you’re comparing children of $$$$$$ hedge fund/PE executives to children of professors, think tank workers, lawyers etc (Sidwell).

[Anonymous]

Your logic is that is the identical students had attended Dalton instead of sidwell, the college list would be identical. That is not sound logic.

[Anonymous]

So many misconceptions and delusional thinking in this thread. I can't tell what's genuine and who's just using this as a vessel to make anonymous personal and professional attacks. Nobody at any school is getting your kid into an elite college, no matter how much or how little effort they put into uploading the transcript and clicking a few boxes on the CA website, which is about the extent of the effort they put forth. People who work in an college counseling office were too dim and lazy to become teachers or admins, and they frankly do not care about your kid. They have literally zero pull. If they had pull don't you think they'd use it to get themselves a better freakin' job! Look at Jared Kushner's path into Harvard over 20 year ago. He was a rich but dimwitted B or C student, did his dad press the dummy college counselor? No, he went directly to Harvard and/or his Harvard connections and gave a $2 million or whatever it was gift. And when Kushner got admitted the clueless dummy counselor was shocked. The rich and powerful get in working directly with alum network, trustees, and donor class, not some powerless lazy schmuck in a college counselor office. Stop blaming the saps at the school. And frankly, if any of you are actually genuinely SF parents, it is incredibly uncouth to b**** about what T40 your kid is off to instead of whatever T10 you hoped. It actually suggests SF made an error in letting your tacky *** social climbing striver family in in the first place.

[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.

Sidwell senior parent here. Completely agree with what you said. I was in every zoom meeting. Also the Lauren sent all the outside contract seminars , and received all Ads after listening to the seminars.

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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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.

The Sidwell CCO - the Director and the staff, all do this.

They don't do it well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your logic is that is the identical students had attended Dalton instead of sidwell, the college list would be identical. That is not sound logic.

Who said anything about "identical" outcomes? Sidwell is way off compared to this School. The Dalton outcomes also suggest that not all elite schools have taken a hit in recent years (as some were claiming upthread).

[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.

This is bs. The majority of students at elite schools are from elite privates.
The numbers have dropped a small amount though and that is why everyone is freaking out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Sure, but this puts the burden onto the students entirely, rather than to say how the school will maximize opportunities in this situation.

The burden is on the students. That is who is getting to these places. A high school can't change that. A high school can make a kid into an athletic recruit? A development case? A published author or researcher? A musical virtuoso? Look at who these elite college admit? Great stats from a great high school is not enough.

The great high school education is to prepare the student to excel at the ultimate college destination. It cannot engineer that destination.

DP. I believe what pp was saying is that the school should provide real and meaningful individual counseling advice to students, and the school shouldn’t act as if it has no obligation to help engineer the best outcomes—which a school can still do. Partly by providing good advice, and partly through its advocacy for each student. Sidwell’s CCO appears not to believe it has a responsibility to play such a role. And if it does try, it clearly does not do a very good job at it.

This is what the pps were getting at with the “turbocharged” comments (also not mine). A good CCO can still do much more than just provide information and push paper to make sure deadlines are met. Sidwell’s CCO is not good.

The CCO's CANNOT call colleges and advocate for kids. The colleges can and do call the CCOs to ask about applicants.

The CCO CAN advise kids about realistic lists. They cannot fill out the forms, produce videos or write the essays.

they CAN put your applicant in the best light possible with their official school letter of recommendation.

I am not sure what else you think the CCO is supposed to do.

Whats the CCO supposed to do?

See Dalton School (NY) outcomes (scroll to bottom of page): https://www.dalton.org/programs/high-school/college-counseling

Approximately 40 percent into HYPS + MIT. 40 percent!

It gets to 60 percent when you add top LACs and other major schools like Duke, NorthWestern and JHU..

That's what a CCO is supposed to do.

Note: SAT/ACT scores are identical for both schools.

Sidwell cannot compete with the NYC private schools. They are on a different level

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I know you keep saying this. I disagree with you. Neither of us can definitively establish that our recollection is the correct one.

As I said previously though, the much more important question is what all four counselors discussed in their individual meetings and communications with kids and families. That is the principal context in which counseling and advice is provided. And I will say, based on our own interactions with our kid's counselor, that there was absolutely no substantive advice provided whatsoever, much less any substantive advice provided regarding the "changing landscape." Believe me, I asked, and I got nothing in return. My discussions with other parents tells me that our family was not alone in this respect.