Average GPA at SWW (DC "magnet") is 3.93 unweighted; this is what private kids are up against

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Insane grade inflation in DCPS:
https://www.swwrookery.com/post/hugely-inflated-are-pandemic-era-grading-policies-doing-more-harm-than-good
A's are given for "any effort at all"

SWW has fantastic college admissions again this year--better than any private. This is what the DC private school kids are up against with their
3.4's for working their a$$es off. 🙁

Can you provide evidence for that?

They're probably the best in the DC for getting unhooked (white/Asian, non-legacy, non athletic recruit) kids into Ivies. This year I don't know exactly but it's probably as many as 10 kids.
Some are on their Instagram, others I just know about. In contrast, the Big 3s' are maybe getting in 2 of these kids per class this year. I have a Big3 kid who attended DCPS until middle school
so we know Walls kids very well as many of my kid's friends attend Walls.

Are you saying Walls is the best public school doing this?

Based on Instagram posts alone, Sidwell is sending 11 students to Ivies this year (and Ivy equivalents—MIT and U of C). Sidwell also has 25 fewer students per grade than Walls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Insane grade inflation in DCPS:
https://www.swwrookery.com/post/hugely-inflated-are-pandemic-era-grading-policies-doing-more-harm-than-good
A's are given for "any effort at all"

SWW has fantastic college admissions again this year--better than any private. This is what the DC private school kids are up against with their
3.4's for working their a$$es off. 🙁

Can you provide evidence for that?

They're probably the best in the DC for getting unhooked (white/Asian, non-legacy, non athletic recruit) kids into Ivies. This year I don't know exactly but it's probably as many as 10 kids.
Some are on their Instagram, others I just know about. In contrast, the Big 3s' are maybe getting in 2 of these kids per class this year. I have a Big3 kid who attended DCPS until middle school
so we know Walls kids very well as many of my kid's friends attend Walls.

Are you saying Walls is the best public school doing this?

Based on Instagram posts alone, Sidwell is sending 11 students to Ivies this year (and Ivy equivalents—MIT and U of C). Sidwell also has 25 fewer students per grade than Walls.

Then why the long thread bemoaning the SFS college outcomes? Which is it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Insane grade inflation in DCPS:
https://www.swwrookery.com/post/hugely-inflated-are-pandemic-era-grading-policies-doing-more-harm-than-good
A's are given for "any effort at all"

SWW has fantastic college admissions again this year--better than any private. This is what the DC private school kids are up against with their
3.4's for working their a$$es off. 🙁

Can you provide evidence for that?

They're probably the best in the DC for getting unhooked (white/Asian, non-legacy, non athletic recruit) kids into Ivies. This year I don't know exactly but it's probably as many as 10 kids.
Some are on their Instagram, others I just know about. In contrast, the Big 3s' are maybe getting in 2 of these kids per class this year. I have a Big3 kid who attended DCPS until middle school
so we know Walls kids very well as many of my kid's friends attend Walls.

Are you saying Walls is the best public school doing this?

Based on Instagram posts alone, Sidwell is sending 11 students to Ivies this year (and Ivy equivalents—MIT and U of C). Sidwell also has 25 fewer students per grade than Walls.

Then why the long thread bemoaning the SFS college outcomes? Which is it?

Because I’m not the OP. I’m simply asking a question. Instagram posts show that Walls is sending 7 students to Ivies (I’m generously including Barnard). Perhaps Walls is having “better” placement than some privates this years, but it’s certainly not better than Sidwell.

[Anonymous]

Walls did well this year but I believe so did Sidwell

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Insane grade inflation in DCPS:
https://www.swwrookery.com/post/hugely-inflated-are-pandemic-era-grading-policies-doing-more-harm-than-good
A's are given for "any effort at all"

SWW has fantastic college admissions again this year--better than any private. This is what the DC private school kids are up against with their
3.4's for working their a$$es off. 🙁

Can you provide evidence for that?

They're probably the best in the DC for getting unhooked (white/Asian, non-legacy, non athletic recruit) kids into Ivies. This year I don't know exactly but it's probably as many as 10 kids.
Some are on their Instagram, others I just know about. In contrast, the Big 3s' are maybe getting in 2 of these kids per class this year. I have a Big3 kid who attended DCPS until middle school
so we know Walls kids very well as many of my kid's friends attend Walls.

Are you saying Walls is the best public school doing this?

Based on Instagram posts alone, Sidwell is sending 11 students to Ivies this year (and Ivy equivalents—MIT and U of C). Sidwell also has 25 fewer students per grade than Walls.

Did you read my post? Walls is getting UNHOOKED kids into the Ivies. white/Asian/non-legacy/non athletes.
My understanding is that pretty much all the Sidwell kids are hooked. You can tell by their Instagram and by some quick googling.
For example, Princeton at Sidwell: one URM, two legacies. One legacy is also a VIP's kid, I believe the other has a parent who has been active at Princeton post graduation.

Anyway, this is the trend with most if not all Ivy admits from Big3 schools this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Insane grade inflation in DCPS:
https://www.swwrookery.com/post/hugely-inflated-are-pandemic-era-grading-policies-doing-more-harm-than-good
A's are given for "any effort at all"

SWW has fantastic college admissions again this year--better than any private. This is what the DC private school kids are up against with their
3.4's for working their a$$es off. 🙁

WEIGHTED. The very beginning of this article said weighted. It said the median grade is over 4.0… which means we are talking about weighted. That’s a huge difference.

Exactly! The title of this post is not correct! It’s 3.93 WEIGHTED. So plenty of kids are getting B’s and C’s in classes that are honors/AP. This whole thread should be deleted or the title fixed.

Where do you see the word weighted?

This is the paragraph:

“The junior class at Walls has an average GPA of 3.93, a number school counselor Kathryn Moore called “very high.” She also noted that the median GPA was over a 4.0. That means that well over half the class had a GPA above 4.0 at the start of the 2022-23 school year. This number will likely only increase, as juniors take on more AP classes, which are graded on a 5.0 scale.”

There is nothing to indicate that the 3.9 average gpa is weighted.

Since you can't have an unweighted GPA over 4.0, the fact that the median is over 4.0 is proof that they are talking about weighted GPA. That and the comment about the 5.0 scale.

How do you know that the 3.9 average gpa for juniors refers to a weighted gpa? I’m not looking for inferences, I’m asking for facts. The student who wrote this article should have made this clear.

I know you’re joking because it’s not an inference it’s math, oh my word!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Insane grade inflation in DCPS:
https://www.swwrookery.com/post/hugely-inflated-are-pandemic-era-grading-policies-doing-more-harm-than-good
A's are given for "any effort at all"

SWW has fantastic college admissions again this year--better than any private. This is what the DC private school kids are up against with their
3.4's for working their a$$es off. 🙁

Can you provide evidence for that?

They're probably the best in the DC for getting unhooked (white/Asian, non-legacy, non athletic recruit) kids into Ivies. This year I don't know exactly but it's probably as many as 10 kids.
Some are on their Instagram, others I just know about. In contrast, the Big 3s' are maybe getting in 2 of these kids per class this year. I have a Big3 kid who attended DCPS until middle school
so we know Walls kids very well as many of my kid's friends attend Walls.

Are you saying Walls is the best public school doing this?

Based on Instagram posts alone, Sidwell is sending 11 students to Ivies this year (and Ivy equivalents—MIT and U of C). Sidwell also has 25 fewer students per grade than Walls.

Did you read my post? Walls is getting UNHOOKED kids into the Ivies. white/Asian/non-legacy/non athletes.
My understanding is that pretty much all the Sidwell kids are hooked. You can tell by their Instagram and by some quick googling.
For example, Princeton at Sidwell: one URM, two legacies. One legacy is also a VIP's kid, I believe the other has a parent who has been active at Princeton post graduation.

Anyway, this is the trend with most if not all Ivy admits from Big3 schools this year.

By your definition, TWO of the Walls students heading to Penn are hooked (one is also a legacy). That brings Walls’ total down to 5.
Based on YOUR definition, Sidwell still has 8 unhooked students heading to Ivies/equivalent. Btw, I don’t trust your definition of a VIP.

[Anonymous]

I love how no one on this thread seems to have read the article.

Walls staff, teachers, and staff all realize that the massive grade inflation that occurred at DCPS and especially Walls during the pandemic is a bad thing. This is going to hurt the school going forward.

Also, note that the current Walls senior class was admitted when Walls had an entrance exam to identify the best candidates for admission. That entrance exam was scrapped during the pandemic and DCPS has refused to bring it back (in contrast to DC, magnet high schools in NYC, SF, and other cities have an entrance exam).

As a result, the quality of students admitted to Walls has decreased and is getting worse every year. Indeed, the current Walls admissions criteria (which focuses on identifying a pool of 500 with the highest GPA) just rewards students who have benefitted from the immense recent grade inflation in DCPS. So, over the next few years and beyond, you can expect to see Walls college admissions go downhill as well.

See here: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1125565.page.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Insane grade inflation in DCPS:
https://www.swwrookery.com/post/hugely-inflated-are-pandemic-era-grading-policies-doing-more-harm-than-good
A's are given for "any effort at all"

SWW has fantastic college admissions again this year--better than any private. This is what the DC private school kids are up against with their
3.4's for working their a$$es off. 🙁

Can you provide evidence for that?

They're probably the best in the DC for getting unhooked (white/Asian, non-legacy, non athletic recruit) kids into Ivies. This year I don't know exactly but it's probably as many as 10 kids.
Some are on their Instagram, others I just know about. In contrast, the Big 3s' are maybe getting in 2 of these kids per class this year. I have a Big3 kid who attended DCPS until middle school
so we know Walls kids very well as many of my kid's friends attend Walls.

Are you saying Walls is the best public school doing this?

Based on Instagram posts alone, Sidwell is sending 11 students to Ivies this year (and Ivy equivalents—MIT and U of C). Sidwell also has 25 fewer students per grade than Walls.

Did you read my post? Walls is getting UNHOOKED kids into the Ivies. white/Asian/non-legacy/non athletes.
My understanding is that pretty much all the Sidwell kids are hooked. You can tell by their Instagram and by some quick googling.
For example, Princeton at Sidwell: one URM, two legacies. One legacy is also a VIP's kid, I believe the other has a parent who has been active at Princeton post graduation.

Anyway, this is the trend with most if not all Ivy admits from Big3 schools this year.

By your definition, TWO of the Walls students heading to Penn are hooked (one is also a legacy). That brings Walls’ total down to 5.
Based on YOUR definition, Sidwell still has 8 unhooked students heading to Ivies/equivalent. Btw, I don’t trust your definition of a VIP.

Huh? I'm not writing down the hooks for the rest of the 8 Sidwell kids. most if not all have a hook. I chose Princeton to illustrate (as an example!) . And if a household name is not a VIP, I'm not sure who is.

Also, I don't know all the Walls admits. But I do know two of the Cornell kids personally and neither is hooked. walls had a completely unhooked Princeton admit last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Insane grade inflation in DCPS:
https://www.swwrookery.com/post/hugely-inflated-are-pandemic-era-grading-policies-doing-more-harm-than-good
A's are given for "any effort at all"

SWW has fantastic college admissions again this year--better than any private. This is what the DC private school kids are up against with their
3.4's for working their a$$es off. 🙁

Can you provide evidence for that?

They're probably the best in the DC for getting unhooked (white/Asian, non-legacy, non athletic recruit) kids into Ivies. This year I don't know exactly but it's probably as many as 10 kids.
Some are on their Instagram, others I just know about. In contrast, the Big 3s' are maybe getting in 2 of these kids per class this year. I have a Big3 kid who attended DCPS until middle school
so we know Walls kids very well as many of my kid's friends attend Walls.

Are you saying Walls is the best public school doing this?

Based on Instagram posts alone, Sidwell is sending 11 students to Ivies this year (and Ivy equivalents—MIT and U of C). Sidwell also has 25 fewer students per grade than Walls.

Did you read my post? Walls is getting UNHOOKED kids into the Ivies. white/Asian/non-legacy/non athletes.
My understanding is that pretty much all the Sidwell kids are hooked. You can tell by their Instagram and by some quick googling.
For example, Princeton at Sidwell: one URM, two legacies. One legacy is also a VIP's kid, I believe the other has a parent who has been active at Princeton post graduation.

Anyway, this is the trend with most if not all Ivy admits from Big3 schools this year.

By your definition, TWO of the Walls students heading to Penn are hooked (one is also a legacy). That brings Walls’ total down to 5.
Based on YOUR definition, Sidwell still has 8 unhooked students heading to Ivies/equivalent. Btw, I don’t trust your definition of a VIP.

Huh? I'm not writing down the hooks for the rest of the 8 Sidwell kids. most if not all have a hook. I chose Princeton to illustrate (as an example!) . And if a household name is not a VIP, I'm not sure who is.

Also, I don't know all the Walls admits. But I do know two of the Cornell kids personally and neither is hooked. walls had a completely unhooked Princeton admit last year.

You two are really invested in this and not in a healthy way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Insane grade inflation in DCPS:
https://www.swwrookery.com/post/hugely-inflated-are-pandemic-era-grading-policies-doing-more-harm-than-good
A's are given for "any effort at all"

SWW has fantastic college admissions again this year--better than any private. This is what the DC private school kids are up against with their
3.4's for working their a$$es off. 🙁

Can you provide evidence for that?

They're probably the best in the DC for getting unhooked (white/Asian, non-legacy, non athletic recruit) kids into Ivies. This year I don't know exactly but it's probably as many as 10 kids.
Some are on their Instagram, others I just know about. In contrast, the Big 3s' are maybe getting in 2 of these kids per class this year. I have a Big3 kid who attended DCPS until middle school
so we know Walls kids very well as many of my kid's friends attend Walls.

Are you saying Walls is the best public school doing this?

Based on Instagram posts alone, Sidwell is sending 11 students to Ivies this year (and Ivy equivalents—MIT and U of C). Sidwell also has 25 fewer students per grade than Walls.

Did you read my post? Walls is getting UNHOOKED kids into the Ivies. white/Asian/non-legacy/non athletes.
My understanding is that pretty much all the Sidwell kids are hooked. You can tell by their Instagram and by some quick googling.
For example, Princeton at Sidwell: one URM, two legacies. One legacy is also a VIP's kid, I believe the other has a parent who has been active at Princeton post graduation.

Anyway, this is the trend with most if not all Ivy admits from Big3 schools this year.

By your definition, TWO of the Walls students heading to Penn are hooked (one is also a legacy). That brings Walls’ total down to 5.
Based on YOUR definition, Sidwell still has 8 unhooked students heading to Ivies/equivalent. Btw, I don’t trust your definition of a VIP.

Huh? I'm not writing down the hooks for the rest of the 8 Sidwell kids. most if not all have a hook. I chose Princeton to illustrate (as an example!) . And if a household name is not a VIP, I'm not sure who is.

Also, I don't know all the Walls admits. But I do know two of the Cornell kids personally and neither is hooked. walls had a completely unhooked Princeton admit last year.

“Most if not all have a hook.” Pure speculation—you have absolutely no idea if this is true.
As I mentioned, at least one of the Penn admits from Walls is both an URM and a legacy (I know the parents).

As for VIP status, unless it’s the child of the President/VP, A-list celebrity, billionaire, royalty (not an abolished monarchy), or the equivalent I don’t accept your definition of a VIP. If the average person on the street wouldn’t recognize the person’s name and/or face…not a VIP.

Btw, did Walls only get students into Penn and Cornell this year? That’s nice, but Sidwell’s Ivy admits are much more diverse and impressive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love how no one on this thread seems to have read the article.

Walls staff, teachers, and staff all realize that the massive grade inflation that occurred at DCPS and especially Walls during the pandemic is a bad thing. This is going to hurt the school going forward.

Also, note that the current Walls senior class was admitted when Walls had an entrance exam to identify the best candidates for admission. That entrance exam was scrapped during the pandemic and DCPS has refused to bring it back (in contrast to DC, magnet high schools in NYC, SF, and other cities have an entrance exam).

As a result, the quality of students admitted to Walls has decreased and is getting worse every year. Indeed, the current Walls admissions criteria (which focuses on identifying a pool of 500 with the highest GPA) just rewards students who have benefitted from the immense recent grade inflation in DCPS. So, over the next few years and beyond, you can expect to see Walls college admissions go downhill as well.

See here: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1125565.page.

How can you be sure the quality has gone down? The students getting into Walls have the best grades they can get. They simply cannot do better than they have done. You seem to think because DCPS refuses to measure quality that the quality is not there. I agree the present system does these kids no good because people will make the same assumption you have made.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Insane grade inflation in DCPS:
https://www.swwrookery.com/post/hugely-inflated-are-pandemic-era-grading-policies-doing-more-harm-than-good
A's are given for "any effort at all"

SWW has fantastic college admissions again this year--better than any private. This is what the DC private school kids are up against with their
3.4's for working their a$$es off. 🙁

Can you provide evidence for that?

They're probably the best in the DC for getting unhooked (white/Asian, non-legacy, non athletic recruit) kids into Ivies. This year I don't know exactly but it's probably as many as 10 kids.
Some are on their Instagram, others I just know about. In contrast, the Big 3s' are maybe getting in 2 of these kids per class this year. I have a Big3 kid who attended DCPS until middle school
so we know Walls kids very well as many of my kid's friends attend Walls.

Are you saying Walls is the best public school doing this?

Based on Instagram posts alone, Sidwell is sending 11 students to Ivies this year (and Ivy equivalents—MIT and U of C). Sidwell also has 25 fewer students per grade than Walls.

Did you read my post? Walls is getting UNHOOKED kids into the Ivies. white/Asian/non-legacy/non athletes.
My understanding is that pretty much all the Sidwell kids are hooked. You can tell by their Instagram and by some quick googling.
For example, Princeton at Sidwell: one URM, two legacies. One legacy is also a VIP's kid, I believe the other has a parent who has been active at Princeton post graduation.

Anyway, this is the trend with most if not all Ivy admits from Big3 schools this year.

You do realize that legacy status alone won’t get you into any Ivy, right? A closer look? Perhaps, but that’s it. I know top students (grades and test scores) who are double Ivy legacies but they were not admitted to their parents’ alma mater.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Insane grade inflation in DCPS:
https://www.swwrookery.com/post/hugely-inflated-are-pandemic-era-grading-policies-doing-more-harm-than-good
A's are given for "any effort at all"

SWW has fantastic college admissions again this year--better than any private. This is what the DC private school kids are up against with their
3.4's for working their a$$es off. 🙁

Can you provide evidence for that?

They're probably the best in the DC for getting unhooked (white/Asian, non-legacy, non athletic recruit) kids into Ivies. This year I don't know exactly but it's probably as many as 10 kids.
Some are on their Instagram, others I just know about. In contrast, the Big 3s' are maybe getting in 2 of these kids per class this year. I have a Big3 kid who attended DCPS until middle school
so we know Walls kids very well as many of my kid's friends attend Walls.

Are you saying Walls is the best public school doing this?

Based on Instagram posts alone, Sidwell is sending 11 students to Ivies this year (and Ivy equivalents—MIT and U of C). Sidwell also has 25 fewer students per grade than Walls.

Did you read my post? Walls is getting UNHOOKED kids into the Ivies. white/Asian/non-legacy/non athletes.
My understanding is that pretty much all the Sidwell kids are hooked. You can tell by their Instagram and by some quick googling.
For example, Princeton at Sidwell: one URM, two legacies. One legacy is also a VIP's kid, I believe the other has a parent who has been active at Princeton post graduation.

Anyway, this is the trend with most if not all Ivy admits from Big3 schools this year.

You do realize that legacy status alone won’t get you into any Ivy, right? A closer look? Perhaps, but that’s it. I know top students (grades and test scores) who are double Ivy legacies but they were not admitted to their parents’ alma mater.

sure, it doesn't get you in but it gets you about a 30% chance vs 3% for the general population.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Insane grade inflation in DCPS:
https://www.swwrookery.com/post/hugely-inflated-are-pandemic-era-grading-policies-doing-more-harm-than-good
A's are given for "any effort at all"

SWW has fantastic college admissions again this year--better than any private. This is what the DC private school kids are up against with their
3.4's for working their a$$es off. 🙁

Can you provide evidence for that?

They're probably the best in the DC for getting unhooked (white/Asian, non-legacy, non athletic recruit) kids into Ivies. This year I don't know exactly but it's probably as many as 10 kids.
Some are on their Instagram, others I just know about. In contrast, the Big 3s' are maybe getting in 2 of these kids per class this year. I have a Big3 kid who attended DCPS until middle school
so we know Walls kids very well as many of my kid's friends attend Walls.

Are you saying Walls is the best public school doing this?

Based on Instagram posts alone, Sidwell is sending 11 students to Ivies this year (and Ivy equivalents—MIT and U of C). Sidwell also has 25 fewer students per grade than Walls.

Did you read my post? Walls is getting UNHOOKED kids into the Ivies. white/Asian/non-legacy/non athletes.
My understanding is that pretty much all the Sidwell kids are hooked. You can tell by their Instagram and by some quick googling.
For example, Princeton at Sidwell: one URM, two legacies. One legacy is also a VIP's kid, I believe the other has a parent who has been active at Princeton post graduation.

Anyway, this is the trend with most if not all Ivy admits from Big3 schools this year.

You do realize that legacy status alone won’t get you into any Ivy, right? A closer look? Perhaps, but that’s it. I know top students (grades and test scores) who are double Ivy legacies but they were not admitted to their parents’ alma mater.

sure, it doesn't get you in but it gets you about a 30% chance vs 3% for the general population.

Citation for the 30% please? The citation should only include legacies who are NOT also URM, recruited athletes, and the children of big donors.