Is Bullis the new Sidwell??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AP courses are super easy at Bullis. Everyone gets in them. I think they have gamed the system. They want to be like GDS, Sidwell, etc. so they give out A’s and AP courses so that kids get into top colleges. I feel really bad for the teachers who have to deal with these average kids. But, feel worse for the kids who will struggle in these colleges. Bring back testing. That will make things right. My kid is a senior at Bullis and got into their ED school so I’m not bitter but just telling the truth. I honestly don’t think my kid would have gotten in without being at Bullis. No test scores submitted.

Are you saying that Bullis is trying to manipulate the College admissions offices???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alos, I love how transparent Bullis is being about its college matriculations.

For full transparency, how about saying how many are legacy and sports recruits.

Did you click the link? They do pull out D1 sports admits. There is no school ever that is going to share legacy information.

[Anonymous]

Not at all. What I’m saying is everyone is a A+ student because they inflate grades. They let you take as many AP courses as you desire. The parents (rich people) go ballistic on teachers when their kid gets less than a A+. Having a 5.0 is very appealing to colleges. Sadly many top colleges do not require SAT or ACT so go by GPA. Another important factor to consider is that Bullis does not rank the students. Everyone is A+ with between 4.0 and 5.0.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not at all. What I’m saying is everyone is a A+ student because they inflate grades. They let you take as many AP courses as you desire. The parents (rich people) go ballistic on teachers when their kid gets less than a A+. Having a 5.0 is very appealing to colleges. Sadly many top colleges do not require SAT or ACT so go by GPA. Another important factor to consider is that Bullis does not rank the students. Everyone is A+ with between 4.0 and 5.0.

I assume you’re not being literal. This is a bit hyperbolic? Having said that, do you really believe there’s some truth to this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AP courses are super easy at Bullis. Everyone gets in them. I think they have gamed the system. They want to be like GDS, Sidwell, etc. so they give out A’s and AP courses so that kids get into top colleges. I feel really bad for the teachers who have to deal with these average kids. But, feel worse for the kids who will struggle in these colleges. Bring back testing. That will make things right. My kid is a senior at Bullis and got into their ED school so I’m not bitter but just telling the truth. I honestly don’t think my kid would have gotten in without being at Bullis. No test scores submitted.

I really don’t think they do. That’s the whole point of this post. Bullis has surpassed Sidwell at least from a college matriculation perspective.

[Anonymous]

It's all a matter of perspective. Do they inflate or is my DD at Big 3 subject to teacher egotism and grade deflation? In the game that colleges play, it seems that GPA is more important now than ever, especially as our school no longer offers AP. And my daughter works inappropriately (IMHO) and frankly, worryingly, long hours. To what end? (Yes - I'm anxious!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have younger kids (k-8) and value the independent school experience. College admissions are not the reason we send out kids to private school.

That being said, we care a lot about college admissions and would not send our kids to a high school which didn’t show good college admissions.

Our friends with kids at some of the big 3 schools complain a lot more about their kids stress than those at schools like Bullis, Flint Hill, etc. If the other schools start doing well with college admissions, we will go there.

Bullis is sending kids to Ivy and top 10s.

Completely agree. Pressure cooker without results to match is an easy no. DC is at a top private but not a pressure cooker, don’t have a lot of reasons to switch to big 3.

[Anonymous]

I see the know nothing Bullis bashers are out in force

Actual Bullis parent here.

Our senior did submit test scores, so no, they don't all go test optional

APs are not "easy" to get into, and if your child takes more then a few (normal in public, not so much in private), parents have to sign a form allowing it - trust me, I've had to sign it 2 years in a row

Not everyone has straight As

We are not new money or old money - we are the poor folks at Bullis who would be UMC in many other parts of the country

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Move over Big threes. It's hard to argue against facts. Is Bullis the new number one school in Greater DC?

This is where Bullis grads are going to college. Many of the the Colleges are the best in the country/world.
https://www.bullis.org/class-of-2023-admitted-data#data

Is Bullis the new Sidwell prestige-wise?

But the 2 that got into Harvard are probably the same 1 that got into MIT and 2 of the 5 that got into UPENN….how big is the class? If maybe they have 6 people that got into a bunch of tops schools I don’t think that’s anywhere near the level of the big 3 or big 5 for that matter

Bullis has about 140 seniors each year. These numbers are a handful of students who were accepted to a large number of top ranking colleges.

Are they athletes?

Look at the info. Click on the link. There is transparency regarding athletes. https://www.bullis.org/class-of-2023-admitted-data#data

That's D1.. Nothing about D3. Which, in fairness, Sidwell and STA have plenty of, too

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:The level of work at Sidwell and Bullis are vastly different in both depth and quantity, as are the level of expectations and corresponding assessments (how hard they grade).

Do you have children attending both schools? Also, assuming you are correct with your assertion, maybe Bullis is teaching the children more efficiently? Look at the colleges...

DP (and I don't have kids at either school0: the colleges kids go to has literally nothing to do with what or how a high school teaches. If you haven't been through the process yet, you will find this out someday. Take whichever prestige college you want and look at where ALL the freshman come from -- a wide range of high schools. This is related to why you don't pick a high school based on lists of college matriculations. Also, don't pick a college based on where some magazine puts it in a generalized linear list.

Agreed. But the matriculation list obviously does provide "prestige" and that is what this post is about. Sidwell may be allegedly working them "harder" but is it just more busy work from and a much less efficient approach? If so, couldn't those Sidwell students be working on other skills? Bullis is on fire and other schools cannot keep up...

It’s more work and it’s their “teach yourself” mantra. Like the british uni tutelage- study and learn it yourself, then swing by class to discuss the intracacies once a week.

Do you think reading John Stuart Mill in its entirey is busy work? With Socratic dissection of the themes in a seminar-style class? Ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have younger kids (k-8) and value the independent school experience. College admissions are not the reason we send out kids to private school.

That being said, we care a lot about college admissions and would not send our kids to a high school which didn’t show good college admissions.

Our friends with kids at some of the big 3 schools complain a lot more about their kids stress than those at schools like Bullis, Flint Hill, etc. If the other schools start doing well with college admissions, we will go there.

Bullis is sending kids to Ivy and top 10s.

Completely agree. Pressure cooker without results to match is an easy no. DC is at a top private but not a pressure cooker, don’t have a lot of reasons to switch to big 3.

Which 'top school' doesn't have an atmosphere with general pressure? I think a lot of us are curious which school that could be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's all a matter of perspective. Do they inflate or is my DD at Big 3 subject to teacher egotism and grade deflation? In the game that colleges play, it seems that GPA is more important now than ever, especially as our school no longer offers AP. And my daughter works inappropriately (IMHO) and frankly, worryingly, long hours. To what end? (Yes - I'm anxious!)

All great questions.

We too deal with the power imbalance the teachers now have given no test scores, mainly subjective grading, grade deflation, and 3-4 hours of project or reading work per night. To what end? To show up at $70k/a year college and find the first two years easy and duplicative? What a racket.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have younger kids (k-8) and value the independent school experience. College admissions are not the reason we send out kids to private school.

That being said, we care a lot about college admissions and would not send our kids to a high school which didn’t show good college admissions.

Our friends with kids at some of the big 3 schools complain a lot more about their kids stress than those at schools like Bullis, Flint Hill, etc. If the other schools start doing well with college admissions, we will go there.

Bullis is sending kids to Ivy and top 10s.

Completely agree. Pressure cooker without results to match is an easy no. DC is at a top private but not a pressure cooker, don’t have a lot of reasons to switch to big 3.

Please stop. You couldn’t switch to Big 3 if you tried. You couldn’t get in when you tried the first time. That’s why you’re at your 3rd tier private and hating on Sidwell.

[Anonymous]

As a current Bullis family, I do NOT want our school to be like Sidwell. We are there because they are diverse and students can be both supported and challenged.

Bullis is its own thing and I’m not sure why those bashing it are so insecure, but you don’t have to worry about Bullis being Sidwell. It’s not and I am very hopeful that it stays the diverse community that is what drew us there in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AP courses are super easy at Bullis. Everyone gets in them. I think they have gamed the system. They want to be like GDS, Sidwell, etc. so they give out A’s and AP courses so that kids get into top colleges. I feel really bad for the teachers who have to deal with these average kids. But, feel worse for the kids who will struggle in these colleges. Bring back testing. That will make things right. My kid is a senior at Bullis and got into their ED school so I’m not bitter but just telling the truth. I honestly don’t think my kid would have gotten in without being at Bullis. No test scores submitted.

I really don’t think they do. That’s the whole point of this post. Bullis has surpassed Sidwell at least from a college matriculation perspective.

Bullis hasn’t surpassed Sidwell in anything (unless it’s something negative). The PR piece the Bulllis administration released is a list of college acceptances for a small number of Bullis students.