Sidwell throttling down college admissions?

[Anonymous]

In the Sidwell vs. GDS thread and in the thread about a girl being shut out of 7th (Child Shut),different posters mention that some schools really limit opportunities for some kids applying to colleges.

Can parents who have experience with Sidwell speak to this? Must you have the endorsement of the school to apply to top colleges? What if your kid wants to apply to Harvard, and Sidwell says they won’t support your candidacy?

We were considering applying to Sidwell next year, but his information is giving me second thoughts.

[Anonymous]

Bump
I would assume you can apply to any school you like. They may not make calls on your behalf on all of them? Just guessing.

[Anonymous]

Think through what you're asking. All schools balance students' desires for where to go and where the school thinks they can get in. The school cannot back 20 kids who apply to Harvard. That is not how college admissions works. The school has 20 kids apply and then chooses which ones to get behind. That is true at every TT school in the nation. Nothing to do with Sidwell.

[Anonymous]

yeah, this is true for every good private school. at my high school, in junior year we were shown graphs that plotted gpa and sat score and the result (admit, wl, decline) for everyone at my school who applied to every college for the previous 3 years. college counselors used those graphs to help guide kids as to which colleges we should apply to. there was an implication that you’d get more support in your application if the school agreed it made sense for you.

given that the school has longstanding relationships with deans of admission, it makes sense to heed the school’s advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:yeah, this is true for every good private school. at my high school, in junior year we were shown graphs that plotted gpa and sat score and the result (admit, wl, decline) for everyone at my school who applied to every college for the previous 3 years. college counselors used those graphs to help guide kids as to which colleges we should apply to. there was an implication that you’d get more support in your application if the school agreed it made sense for you.

given that the school has longstanding relationships with deans of admission, it makes sense to heed the school’s advice.

It every single top college gives at least lip service to th idea that gaps and test scores are not determinative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:yeah, this is true for every good private school. at my high school, in junior year we were shown graphs that plotted gpa and sat score and the result (admit, wl, decline) for everyone at my school who applied to every college for the previous 3 years. college counselors used those graphs to help guide kids as to which colleges we should apply to. there was an implication that you’d get more support in your application if the school agreed it made sense for you.

given that the school has longstanding relationships with deans of admission, it makes sense to heed the school’s advice.

It every single top college gives at least lip service to th idea that gaps and test scores are not determinative.

Oh, let’s try that again. But every single top college gives at least lip service to the idea that grades and test scores are not determinative,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:yeah, this is true for every good private school. at my high school, in junior year we were shown graphs that plotted gpa and sat score and the result (admit, wl, decline) for everyone at my school who applied to every college for the previous 3 years. college counselors used those graphs to help guide kids as to which colleges we should apply to. there was an implication that you’d get more support in your application if the school agreed it made sense for you.

given that the school has longstanding relationships with deans of admission, it makes sense to heed the school’s advice.

It every single top college gives at least lip service to th idea that gaps and test scores are not determinative.

Oh, let’s try that again. But every single top college gives at least lip service to the idea that grades and test scores are not determinative,

Um, what? No one is going to get into Harvard or Yale without excellent grades and test scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:yeah, this is true for every good private school. at my high school, in junior year we were shown graphs that plotted gpa and sat score and the result (admit, wl, decline) for everyone at my school who applied to every college for the previous 3 years. college counselors used those graphs to help guide kids as to which colleges we should apply to. there was an implication that you’d get more support in your application if the school agreed it made sense for you.

given that the school has longstanding relationships with deans of admission, it makes sense to heed the school’s advice.

It every single top college gives at least lip service to th idea that gaps and test scores are not determinative.

Oh, let’s try that again. But every single top college gives at least lip service to the idea that grades and test scores are not determinative,

Um, what? No one is going to get into Harvard or Yale without excellent grades and test scores.

right. the graphs are meant to guide the decisions, not be 100% predictive of a given kid’s outcome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:yeah, this is true for every good private school. at my high school, in junior year we were shown graphs that plotted gpa and sat score and the result (admit, wl, decline) for everyone at my school who applied to every college for the previous 3 years. college counselors used those graphs to help guide kids as to which colleges we should apply to. there was an implication that you’d get more support in your application if the school agreed it made sense for you.

given that the school has longstanding relationships with deans of admission, it makes sense to heed the school’s advice.

It every single top college gives at least lip service to th idea that gaps and test scores are not determinative.

Oh, let’s try that again. But every single top college gives at least lip service to the idea that grades and test scores are not determinative,

Um, what? No one is going to get into Harvard or Yale without excellent grades and test scores.

That’s what you’d like to believe. In every class, however, there are kids whose grades and test scores are not “top,” but who have something unique that Harvard, Yale, Princeton, insert elite school, wants. Assuming that might be found in an applicant from Sidwell, it would be stupid of them to shut down an application based solely on grades and test scores.

[Anonymous]

The above is true, but there is a baseline. However if your kid has a unique quality/experience you should apply wherever you want in addition to the schools the private Aja’s supports.

[Anonymous]

So a friend’s daughter went to Sidwell and wanted to apply EA to an Ivy. She was told that the school couldn’t support that because they were trying to get a student-athlete with mediocre grades in EA.

The DD was admitted to her First choice during regular admissions, but it seemed really unfair to me.

That said, I have heard that they don’t do that sort of favoritism now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:yeah, this is true for every good private school. at my high school, in junior year we were shown graphs that plotted gpa and sat score and the result (admit, wl, decline) for everyone at my school who applied to every college for the previous 3 years. college counselors used those graphs to help guide kids as to which colleges we should apply to. there was an implication that you’d get more support in your application if the school agreed it made sense for you.

given that the school has longstanding relationships with deans of admission, it makes sense to heed the school’s advice.

It every single top college gives at least lip service to th idea that gaps and test scores are not determinative.

Oh, let’s try that again. But every single top college gives at least lip service to the idea that grades and test scores are not determinative,

Um, what? No one is going to get into Harvard or Yale without excellent grades and test scores.

That’s what you’d like to believe. In every class, however, there are kids whose grades and test scores are not “top,” but who have something unique that Harvard, Yale, Princeton, insert elite school, wants. Assuming that might be found in an applicant from Sidwell, it would be stupid of them to shut down an application based solely on grades and test scores.

Unique = rich parents/grandparents

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:yeah, this is true for every good private school. at my high school, in junior year we were shown graphs that plotted gpa and sat score and the result (admit, wl, decline) for everyone at my school who applied to every college for the previous 3 years. college counselors used those graphs to help guide kids as to which colleges we should apply to. there was an implication that you’d get more support in your application if the school agreed it made sense for you.

given that the school has longstanding relationships with deans of admission, it makes sense to heed the school’s advice.

It every single top college gives at least lip service to th idea that gaps and test scores are not determinative.

Oh, let’s try that again. But every single top college gives at least lip service to the idea that grades and test scores are not determinative,

Um, what? No one is going to get into Harvard or Yale without excellent grades and test scores.

That’s what you’d like to believe. In every class, however, there are kids whose grades and test scores are not “top,” but who have something unique that Harvard, Yale, Princeton, insert elite school, wants. Assuming that might be found in an applicant from Sidwell, it would be stupid of them to shut down an application based solely on grades and test scores.

Unique = rich parents/grandparents

Nope. That’s not unique. Dime a dozen.

What is unique is a child who shows a talent for an unusual field - filmmaking? Acting? Sculpting? Particle physics? Who knows? — who gets good solid grades and test scores, but is uniquely excellent in a particular field of endeavor that makes them stand out from other applicants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:yeah, this is true for every good private school. at my high school, in junior year we were shown graphs that plotted gpa and sat score and the result (admit, wl, decline) for everyone at my school who applied to every college for the previous 3 years. college counselors used those graphs to help guide kids as to which colleges we should apply to. there was an implication that you’d get more support in your application if the school agreed it made sense for you.

given that the school has longstanding relationships with deans of admission, it makes sense to heed the school’s advice.

It every single top college gives at least lip service to th idea that gaps and test scores are not determinative.

Oh, let’s try that again. But every single top college gives at least lip service to the idea that grades and test scores are not determinative,

Um, what? No one is going to get into Harvard or Yale without excellent grades and test scores.

That’s what you’d like to believe. In every class, however, there are kids whose grades and test scores are not “top,” but who have something unique that Harvard, Yale, Princeton, insert elite school, wants. Assuming that might be found in an applicant from Sidwell, it would be stupid of them to shut down an application based solely on grades and test scores.

Sidwell and other elite privates have a ton of legacy applicants. Legacy applicants are going to beat out comparable applicants whose parents or grandparents didn't attend HYPS. It is what it is.
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/06/harvards-incoming-class-is-one-third-legacy.html

Unique = rich parents/grandparents

Nope. That’s not unique. Dime a dozen.

What is unique is a child who shows a talent for an unusual field - filmmaking? Acting? Sculpting? Particle physics? Who knows? — who gets good solid grades and test scores, but is uniquely excellent in a particular field of endeavor that makes them stand out from other applicants.

[Anonymous]

Sidwell and other elite privates have a ton of legacy applicants. Legacy applicants are going to beat out comparable applicants whose parents or grandparents didn't attend HYPS. It is what it is.
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/06/harvards-incoming-class-is-one-third-legacy.html