Looking for feedback on the Potomac School

[Anonymous]

Any newer experiences or people who’d like to share?

Not OP but have a ~$600-750k HHI, and also 3 kids. Considering Potomac for K for the oldest but also worried about the financials + wealth bubble.

[Anonymous]

From our private k-8 the only kids that got into Potomac were recruited athletes and siblings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any newer experiences or people who’d like to share?

Not OP but have a ~$600-750k HHI, and also 3 kids. Considering Potomac for K for the oldest but also worried about the financials + wealth bubble.

My best advice is to talk with families there who are like you- people of similar income, no obvious connections or history with school. Ideally from a cross section of divisions and number of years there. The experiences can really vary.

As other PPs and threads can attest, it is a mixed bag. Don't blindly trust the brand and marketing- research it for the big investment it is.

[Anonymous]

Potomac looks so good from the outside but dig deeper. Don’t be fooled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Potomac looks so good from the outside but dig deeper. Don’t be fooled.

+ 1. I’ve been hearing more and more about unhappy parents at Potomac the past couple of years.

[Anonymous]

Not sure what the overall trend might be…some anecdotes.

That said, our immediate neighbors (with no hooks) are happy. Mind, they picked Potomac for academic strengths, did not want SERC, and did NOT pick it based on expected college placement. Kid is on a middle math track, solid in other subjects, and is happy with friends and good grades. They are planning for DC to attend a strong STEM school, but understand HYPS level colleges will be in the “reach” category.

We know a different family who picked Potomac expecting their DC would get Ivy admission as an unhooked student. They are unhappy now that they realize how the hooked kids have fundamental Ivy/T20/college admissions advantages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not sure what the overall trend might be…some anecdotes.

That said, our immediate neighbors (with no hooks) are happy. Mind, they picked Potomac for academic strengths, did not want SERC, and did NOT pick it based on expected college placement. Kid is on a middle math track, solid in other subjects, and is happy with friends and good grades. They are planning for DC to attend a strong STEM school, but understand HYPS level colleges will be in the “reach” category.

We know a different family who picked Potomac expecting their DC would get Ivy admission as an unhooked student. They are unhappy now that they realize how the hooked kids have fundamental Ivy/T20/college admissions advantages.

This is so weird. Why do you have such specific knowledge of these families? Sounds fishy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure what the overall trend might be…some anecdotes.

That said, our immediate neighbors (with no hooks) are happy. Mind, they picked Potomac for academic strengths, did not want SERC, and did NOT pick it based on expected college placement. Kid is on a middle math track, solid in other subjects, and is happy with friends and good grades. They are planning for DC to attend a strong STEM school, but understand HYPS level colleges will be in the “reach” category.

We know a different family who picked Potomac expecting their DC would get Ivy admission as an unhooked student. They are unhappy now that they realize how the hooked kids have fundamental Ivy/T20/college admissions advantages.

This is so weird. Why do you have such specific knowledge of these families?

Nearly all they talk about is kids' school and kids....surprised you don't know people exactly like them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hard as hell to get into

Got to know someone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's either wealthy parents or parents who are trying to get those wealthy parents as clients. One group you won't have a lot in common with, and the other group won't bother talking to you for more than 3 seconds. So might be a bit lonely.

lol. I went to an athletic event and saw a parent from one of dc’s old travel teams. This is exactly how they acted around the Real Housewives of The Potomac School crowd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hard as hell to get into

Not if you live in DC or MD.

It's a known fact that that is a huge boost for admissions. They are desperate to appear to be a DMV-focused school, as opposed to a NOVA-centric school, which they currently are, or at least are perceived as.

Not sure where you are getting that. You do know the school was founded in dc and was located in dc foe the first 40+ years? Ask the admissions dept, but the acceptance rates are actually almost identical from dc, md & va. There just happen to be a lot more va applicants as there’s nothing comparable in va. If they were as desperate as you claim, they’d have much higher acceptance rates from dc than elsewhere

That’s true. Potomac expanded and moved to McLean around the time schools were ordered to start integrating and all the other segregation academies started to open up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rich woke folk

That’s funny. Potomac is respectful, but I wouldn’t call it woke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That’s true. Potomac expanded and moved to McLean around the time schools were ordered to start integrating and all the other segregation academies started to open up.

Untrue.

Potomac School has been in the same place for over 100 years. They expanded sometime circa 1990 (+/-).

Someone else here will have the precise year they expanded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hard as hell to get into

Got to know someone.

No it is one of the few schools in the area where knowing someone does not help at all and sending an extra recommendation for a prospective student could hurt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hard as hell to get into

Got to know someone.

No it is one of the few schools in the area where knowing someone does not help at all and sending an extra recommendation for a prospective student could hurt.

Sending an extra recommendation could hurt? I could understand how sending three extras would hurt but one extra—from a coach, for example—if it supplements teacher recs shouldn’t be a negative.