Sidwell College Admissions This Year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the Sidwell CCO actually does a very good job. The brutal reality is they have the absolutely daunting task of telling the PARENTS of the bottom 85 percent of the class that there is no way in hell their kid is getting into the Ivy League. I believe they deliver that message but parents don’t “hear” it. Sadly, I think parents don’t accept the reality that their kid just isn’t a top student in a Sidwell context no matter how otherwise fabulous the kid might be. I am with you when it comes to undistinguished legacies who defy this reality. My observation is that top students with the most rigorous coursework (top 10 percent of class — top 13 students) got into top schools. This year. The next 40 percent got into top 50 schools. Sound and fury signifying nothing. Every single kid in the grade has a bright future. Sidwell parent of senior.

Sidwell's top 10% aren't getting into super selective colleges without a hook, just like any school in this area.

This is what puzzles me the most. If a top student has the best credentials, why is a hook necessary? Don't CCOs support candidates who have good chances to get into super selective colleges even without hooks?

Because in the year 2022 no-one is getting into the ivies on grades and courses alone. Not from Sidwell, STA, Thomas Jefferson, Blair Magnet, Dalton, Andover, etc.
Any CCO on the planet is not going to move this needle.

Gone are the days when you can just get in by being a kid with excellent grades in top courses at a rigorous school.
Kids need a hook, in most cases two PLUS the good grades for admission to an Ivy:

Hooks to be added to a baseline of good grades from a rigorous school: (pick any two): URM, legacy, VIP (parent or child), athlete, super advanced coursework, rare and/or ground-breaking extracurricular(s), etc

I do think this has changed from ''rigorous school'' to ''rigorous courseload.''

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the Sidwell CCO actually does a very good job. The brutal reality is they have the absolutely daunting task of telling the PARENTS of the bottom 85 percent of the class that there is no way in hell their kid is getting into the Ivy League. I believe they deliver that message but parents don’t “hear” it. Sadly, I think parents don’t accept the reality that their kid just isn’t a top student in a Sidwell context no matter how otherwise fabulous the kid might be. I am with you when it comes to undistinguished legacies who defy this reality. My observation is that top students with the most rigorous coursework (top 10 percent of class — top 13 students) got into top schools. This year. The next 40 percent got into top 50 schools. Sound and fury signifying nothing. Every single kid in the grade has a bright future. Sidwell parent of senior.

How do you define top students? I know one student who took most rigorous courses (both math and science) with almost 4.0 GPA didn’t get into any Ivy except for one WL. A lot of students think the student is top 4 although Sidwell neither ranks nor weights the difficulty of the courses. But most students know who are truly top students. High GPA with all easy courses are not comparable with the same high GPA but taking the most difficult math (III and IV) and science courses (Physics II)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the Sidwell CCO actually does a very good job. The brutal reality is they have the absolutely daunting task of telling the PARENTS of the bottom 85 percent of the class that there is no way in hell their kid is getting into the Ivy League. I believe they deliver that message but parents don’t “hear” it. Sadly, I think parents don’t accept the reality that their kid just isn’t a top student in a Sidwell context no matter how otherwise fabulous the kid might be. I am with you when it comes to undistinguished legacies who defy this reality. My observation is that top students with the most rigorous coursework (top 10 percent of class — top 13 students) got into top schools. This year. The next 40 percent got into top 50 schools. Sound and fury signifying nothing. Every single kid in the grade has a bright future. Sidwell parent of senior.

How do you define top students? I know one student who took most rigorous courses (both math and science) with almost 4.0 GPA didn’t get into any Ivy except for one WL. A lot of students think the student is top 4 although Sidwell neither ranks nor weights the difficulty of the courses. But most students know who are truly top students. High GPA with all easy courses are not comparable with the same high GPA but taking the most difficult math (III and IV) and science courses (Physics II)

Not all colleges care about rigor as much as they do GPA. From our private, Wake took the kid that strategically choose easiest AP classes and took no advanced math or science at all, but graduated with a 4.6. Good but not special SAT score.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the Sidwell CCO actually does a very good job. The brutal reality is they have the absolutely daunting task of telling the PARENTS of the bottom 85 percent of the class that there is no way in hell their kid is getting into the Ivy League. I believe they deliver that message but parents don’t “hear” it. Sadly, I think parents don’t accept the reality that their kid just isn’t a top student in a Sidwell context no matter how otherwise fabulous the kid might be. I am with you when it comes to undistinguished legacies who defy this reality. My observation is that top students with the most rigorous coursework (top 10 percent of class — top 13 students) got into top schools. This year. The next 40 percent got into top 50 schools. Sound and fury signifying nothing. Every single kid in the grade has a bright future. Sidwell parent of senior.

How do you define top students? I know one student who took most rigorous courses (both math and science) with almost 4.0 GPA didn’t get into any Ivy except for one WL. A lot of students think the student is top 4 although Sidwell neither ranks nor weights the difficulty of the courses. But most students know who are truly top students. High GPA with all easy courses are not comparable with the same high GPA but taking the most difficult math (III and IV) and science courses (Physics II)

The student you are describing is obviously a top student under anyone's definition, so I don't know why you are bringing up this whole most difficult math/science track in this context. And there's no reason for you to disparage other kids as taking "all easy courses" which is patently ridiculous. Last, there are almost no kids with a 4.0, whether they take your supposed "easy courses" or not. The grading in the humanities classes is also far from easy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the Sidwell CCO actually does a very good job. The brutal reality is they have the absolutely daunting task of telling the PARENTS of the bottom 85 percent of the class that there is no way in hell their kid is getting into the Ivy League. I believe they deliver that message but parents don’t “hear” it. Sadly, I think parents don’t accept the reality that their kid just isn’t a top student in a Sidwell context no matter how otherwise fabulous the kid might be. I am with you when it comes to undistinguished legacies who defy this reality. My observation is that top students with the most rigorous coursework (top 10 percent of class — top 13 students) got into top schools. This year. The next 40 percent got into top 50 schools. Sound and fury signifying nothing. Every single kid in the grade has a bright future. Sidwell parent of senior.

How do you define top students? I know one student who took most rigorous courses (both math and science) with almost 4.0 GPA didn’t get into any Ivy except for one WL. A lot of students think the student is top 4 although Sidwell neither ranks nor weights the difficulty of the courses. But most students know who are truly top students. High GPA with all easy courses are not comparable with the same high GPA but taking the most difficult math (III and IV) and science courses (Physics II)

The student you are describing is obviously a top student under anyone's definition, so I don't know why you are bringing up this whole most difficult math/science track in this context. And there's no reason for you to disparage other kids as taking "all easy courses" which is patently ridiculous. Last, there are almost no kids with a 4.0, whether they take your supposed "easy courses" or not. The grading in the humanities classes is also far from easy.

Obviously you may not be a Sidwell parent. Or you may know different groups of the students. I know the student has GPA 3.98 and took most challenging math and science courses. The student only had 2 A-. I also know the student who took most challenging math but not science courses has perfect 4.0.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the Sidwell CCO actually does a very good job. The brutal reality is they have the absolutely daunting task of telling the PARENTS of the bottom 85 percent of the class that there is no way in hell their kid is getting into the Ivy League. I believe they deliver that message but parents don’t “hear” it. Sadly, I think parents don’t accept the reality that their kid just isn’t a top student in a Sidwell context no matter how otherwise fabulous the kid might be. I am with you when it comes to undistinguished legacies who defy this reality. My observation is that top students with the most rigorous coursework (top 10 percent of class — top 13 students) got into top schools. This year. The next 40 percent got into top 50 schools. Sound and fury signifying nothing. Every single kid in the grade has a bright future. Sidwell parent of senior.

How do you define top students? I know one student who took most rigorous courses (both math and science) with almost 4.0 GPA didn’t get into any Ivy except for one WL. A lot of students think the student is top 4 although Sidwell neither ranks nor weights the difficulty of the courses. But most students know who are truly top students. High GPA with all easy courses are not comparable with the same high GPA but taking the most difficult math (III and IV) and science courses (Physics II)

The student you are describing is obviously a top student under anyone's definition, so I don't know why you are bringing up this whole most difficult math/science track in this context. And there's no reason for you to disparage other kids as taking "all easy courses" which is patently ridiculous. Last, there are almost no kids with a 4.0, whether they take your supposed "easy courses" or not. The grading in the humanities classes is also far from easy.

Obviously you may not be a Sidwell parent. Or you may know different groups of the students. I know the student has GPA 3.98 and took most challenging math and science courses. The student only had 2 A-. I also know the student who took most challenging math but not science courses has perfect 4.0.

The seniors are very strong group of the students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the Sidwell CCO actually does a very good job. The brutal reality is they have the absolutely daunting task of telling the PARENTS of the bottom 85 percent of the class that there is no way in hell their kid is getting into the Ivy League. I believe they deliver that message but parents don’t “hear” it. Sadly, I think parents don’t accept the reality that their kid just isn’t a top student in a Sidwell context no matter how otherwise fabulous the kid might be. I am with you when it comes to undistinguished legacies who defy this reality. My observation is that top students with the most rigorous coursework (top 10 percent of class — top 13 students) got into top schools. This year. The next 40 percent got into top 50 schools. Sound and fury signifying nothing. Every single kid in the grade has a bright future. Sidwell parent of senior.

How do you define top students? I know one student who took most rigorous courses (both math and science) with almost 4.0 GPA didn’t get into any Ivy except for one WL. A lot of students think the student is top 4 although Sidwell neither ranks nor weights the difficulty of the courses. But most students know who are truly top students. High GPA with all easy courses are not comparable with the same high GPA but taking the most difficult math (III and IV) and science courses (Physics II)

The student you are describing is obviously a top student under anyone's definition, so I don't know why you are bringing up this whole most difficult math/science track in this context. And there's no reason for you to disparage other kids as taking "all easy courses" which is patently ridiculous. Last, there are almost no kids with a 4.0, whether they take your supposed "easy courses" or not. The grading in the humanities classes is also far from easy.

Obviously you may not be a Sidwell parent. Or you may know different groups of the students. I know the student has GPA 3.98 and took most challenging math and science courses. The student only had 2 A-. I also know the student who took most challenging math but not science courses has perfect 4.0.

I am a parent of a senior, though I don't gossip about kids' grades with my senior. Perhaps you know these kids well because your child is also in the top math/science cohort. That's awesome, really great, congrats. My point is that I agree they are top kids under anyone's definition, and I don't know why you are bring up all this extraneous information. No one is disagreeing with you. I still don't know what point it is that you are trying to make in the context of this discussion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the Sidwell CCO actually does a very good job. The brutal reality is they have the absolutely daunting task of telling the PARENTS of the bottom 85 percent of the class that there is no way in hell their kid is getting into the Ivy League. I believe they deliver that message but parents don’t “hear” it. Sadly, I think parents don’t accept the reality that their kid just isn’t a top student in a Sidwell context no matter how otherwise fabulous the kid might be. I am with you when it comes to undistinguished legacies who defy this reality. My observation is that top students with the most rigorous coursework (top 10 percent of class — top 13 students) got into top schools. This year. The next 40 percent got into top 50 schools. Sound and fury signifying nothing. Every single kid in the grade has a bright future. Sidwell parent of senior.

How do you define top students? I know one student who took most rigorous courses (both math and science) with almost 4.0 GPA didn’t get into any Ivy except for one WL. A lot of students think the student is top 4 although Sidwell neither ranks nor weights the difficulty of the courses. But most students know who are truly top students. High GPA with all easy courses are not comparable with the same high GPA but taking the most difficult math (III and IV) and science courses (Physics II)

What I don't understand is why you are so shocked by that. Is this kid owed a slot at an Ivy, just because s/he did well at Sidwell?

What all Sidwell underclassman parents had better wake up to is this: Top schools, and ivies in particular, have changed the profile of the kind of kid(s) they are looking for. They are no longer (as) interested in east coast prep school kids who have perfect stats, like they were back in the day when you were in high school. The formula now is top kid at an urban or rural school, first gen (that is REALLY big - how many of those do you think there are at Sidwell?) and THEN the grades/ stats/ activities to back it up.

Seriously, there is still time to move to North Dakota.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the Sidwell CCO actually does a very good job. The brutal reality is they have the absolutely daunting task of telling the PARENTS of the bottom 85 percent of the class that there is no way in hell their kid is getting into the Ivy League. I believe they deliver that message but parents don’t “hear” it. Sadly, I think parents don’t accept the reality that their kid just isn’t a top student in a Sidwell context no matter how otherwise fabulous the kid might be. I am with you when it comes to undistinguished legacies who defy this reality. My observation is that top students with the most rigorous coursework (top 10 percent of class — top 13 students) got into top schools. This year. The next 40 percent got into top 50 schools. Sound and fury signifying nothing. Every single kid in the grade has a bright future. Sidwell parent of senior.

How do you define top students? I know one student who took most rigorous courses (both math and science) with almost 4.0 GPA didn’t get into any Ivy except for one WL. A lot of students think the student is top 4 although Sidwell neither ranks nor weights the difficulty of the courses. But most students know who are truly top students. High GPA with all easy courses are not comparable with the same high GPA but taking the most difficult math (III and IV) and science courses (Physics II)

The student you are describing is obviously a top student under anyone's definition, so I don't know why you are bringing up this whole most difficult math/science track in this context. And there's no reason for you to disparage other kids as taking "all easy courses" which is patently ridiculous. Last, there are almost no kids with a 4.0, whether they take your supposed "easy courses" or not. The grading in the humanities classes is also far from easy.

Obviously you may not be a Sidwell parent. Or you may know different groups of the students. I know the student has GPA 3.98 and took most challenging math and science courses. The student only had 2 A-. I also know the student who took most challenging math but not science courses has perfect 4.0.

I am a parent of a senior, though I don't gossip about kids' grades with my senior. Perhaps you know these kids well because your child is also in the top math/science cohort. That's awesome, really great, congrats. My point is that I agree they are top kids under anyone's definition, and I don't know why you are bring up all this extraneous information. No one is disagreeing with you. I still don't know what point it is that you are trying to make in the context of this discussion.

Because you said no perfect GPA. Just try to let you know this is not the fact. Sorry to make you feel offended when just simply pointed out your not so accurate statement. Also do you everyone takes the same humanity courses no matter your STEM OR NON STEM students

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the Sidwell CCO actually does a very good job. The brutal reality is they have the absolutely daunting task of telling the PARENTS of the bottom 85 percent of the class that there is no way in hell their kid is getting into the Ivy League. I believe they deliver that message but parents don’t “hear” it. Sadly, I think parents don’t accept the reality that their kid just isn’t a top student in a Sidwell context no matter how otherwise fabulous the kid might be. I am with you when it comes to undistinguished legacies who defy this reality. My observation is that top students with the most rigorous coursework (top 10 percent of class — top 13 students) got into top schools. This year. The next 40 percent got into top 50 schools. Sound and fury signifying nothing. Every single kid in the grade has a bright future. Sidwell parent of senior.

How do you define top students? I know one student who took most rigorous courses (both math and science) with almost 4.0 GPA didn’t get into any Ivy except for one WL. A lot of students think the student is top 4 although Sidwell neither ranks nor weights the difficulty of the courses. But most students know who are truly top students. High GPA with all easy courses are not comparable with the same high GPA but taking the most difficult math (III and IV) and science courses (Physics II)

The student you are describing is obviously a top student under anyone's definition, so I don't know why you are bringing up this whole most difficult math/science track in this context. And there's no reason for you to disparage other kids as taking "all easy courses" which is patently ridiculous. Last, there are almost no kids with a 4.0, whether they take your supposed "easy courses" or not. The grading in the humanities classes is also far from easy.

Obviously you may not be a Sidwell parent. Or you may know different groups of the students. I know the student has GPA 3.98 and took most challenging math and science courses. The student only had 2 A-. I also know the student who took most challenging math but not science courses has perfect 4.0.

Are you talking about current senior class?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the Sidwell CCO actually does a very good job. The brutal reality is they have the absolutely daunting task of telling the PARENTS of the bottom 85 percent of the class that there is no way in hell their kid is getting into the Ivy League. I believe they deliver that message but parents don’t “hear” it. Sadly, I think parents don’t accept the reality that their kid just isn’t a top student in a Sidwell context no matter how otherwise fabulous the kid might be. I am with you when it comes to undistinguished legacies who defy this reality. My observation is that top students with the most rigorous coursework (top 10 percent of class — top 13 students) got into top schools. This year. The next 40 percent got into top 50 schools. Sound and fury signifying nothing. Every single kid in the grade has a bright future. Sidwell parent of senior.

How do you define top students? I know one student who took most rigorous courses (both math and science) with almost 4.0 GPA didn’t get into any Ivy except for one WL. A lot of students think the student is top 4 although Sidwell neither ranks nor weights the difficulty of the courses. But most students know who are truly top students. High GPA with all easy courses are not comparable with the same high GPA but taking the most difficult math (III and IV) and science courses (Physics II)

The student you are describing is obviously a top student under anyone's definition, so I don't know why you are bringing up this whole most difficult math/science track in this context. And there's no reason for you to disparage other kids as taking "all easy courses" which is patently ridiculous. Last, there are almost no kids with a 4.0, whether they take your supposed "easy courses" or not. The grading in the humanities classes is also far from easy.

Obviously you may not be a Sidwell parent. Or you may know different groups of the students. I know the student has GPA 3.98 and took most challenging math and science courses. The student only had 2 A-. I also know the student who took most challenging math but not science courses has perfect 4.0.

I am a parent of a senior, though I don't gossip about kids' grades with my senior. Perhaps you know these kids well because your child is also in the top math/science cohort. That's awesome, really great, congrats. My point is that I agree they are top kids under anyone's definition, and I don't know why you are bring up all this extraneous information. No one is disagreeing with you. I still don't know what point it is that you are trying to make in the context of this discussion.

Because you said no perfect GPA. Just try to let you know this is not the fact. Sorry to make you feel offended when just simply pointed out your not so accurate statement. Also do you everyone takes the same humanity courses no matter your STEM OR NON STEM students

I said "there are almost no kids with a 4.0." I did not say that it never happens. I don't know why are arguing with me, and believe me, I'm not surprised or offended as I didn't say anything inaccurate in the first place. It seems like you are very frustrated and looking to get into disagreements with people and arguing with straw men. Sorry about that, and good luck to you and your Sidwell student(s). I hope they had a college placement outcome that you are happy about. We're all good here as far as our senior is concerned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the Sidwell CCO actually does a very good job. The brutal reality is they have the absolutely daunting task of telling the PARENTS of the bottom 85 percent of the class that there is no way in hell their kid is getting into the Ivy League. I believe they deliver that message but parents don’t “hear” it. Sadly, I think parents don’t accept the reality that their kid just isn’t a top student in a Sidwell context no matter how otherwise fabulous the kid might be. I am with you when it comes to undistinguished legacies who defy this reality. My observation is that top students with the most rigorous coursework (top 10 percent of class — top 13 students) got into top schools. This year. The next 40 percent got into top 50 schools. Sound and fury signifying nothing. Every single kid in the grade has a bright future. Sidwell parent of senior.

How do you define top students? I know one student who took most rigorous courses (both math and science) with almost 4.0 GPA didn’t get into any Ivy except for one WL. A lot of students think the student is top 4 although Sidwell neither ranks nor weights the difficulty of the courses. But most students know who are truly top students. High GPA with all easy courses are not comparable with the same high GPA but taking the most difficult math (III and IV) and science courses (Physics II)

The student you are describing is obviously a top student under anyone's definition, so I don't know why you are bringing up this whole most difficult math/science track in this context. And there's no reason for you to disparage other kids as taking "all easy courses" which is patently ridiculous. Last, there are almost no kids with a 4.0, whether they take your supposed "easy courses" or not. The grading in the humanities classes is also far from easy.

Obviously you may not be a Sidwell parent. Or you may know different groups of the students. I know the student has GPA 3.98 and took most challenging math and science courses. The student only had 2 A-. I also know the student who took most challenging math but not science courses has perfect 4.0.

I am a parent of a senior, though I don't gossip about kids' grades with my senior. Perhaps you know these kids well because your child is also in the top math/science cohort. That's awesome, really great, congrats. My point is that I agree they are top kids under anyone's definition, and I don't know why you are bring up all this extraneous information. No one is disagreeing with you. I still don't know what point it is that you are trying to make in the context of this discussion.

Because you said no perfect GPA. Just try to let you know this is not the fact. Sorry to make you feel offended when just simply pointed out your not so accurate statement. Also do you everyone takes the same humanity courses no matter your STEM OR NON STEM students

DP: You really should not be pointing out such specific identifiable information about specific students at a school. What rights do you have to be sharing this information?

[Anonymous]

At a school like Sidwell, a kid can basically just graduate, join a club or sport or two, and get into schools like Bucknell, Lafayette and a bunch of others. There are public high schools out there where you have to walk on water compared to your classmates if you want to get into those schools above. From those high schools, you need to be top of the class and very involved at minimum.

[Anonymous]

Public school parent here. Sometimes I feel bad about my student not having gotten the type of education that kids at schools like Sidwell get. Then I read through threads like this one and THANK GOD that my kid wasn't in this type of toxic environment for the last few years, because:

1) my kid knows that their worth is not based on which college accepts them; and

2) we know that there are more than 7 great colleges out there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Public school parent here. Sometimes I feel bad about my student not having gotten the type of education that kids at schools like Sidwell get. Then I read through threads like this one and THANK GOD that my kid wasn't in this type of toxic environment for the last few years, because:

1) my kid knows that their worth is not based on which college accepts them; and

2) we know that there are more than 7 great colleges out there.

AAP threads and the TJ obsessed parents aren’t exactly devoid of toxicity.