Is Georgetown Day's Reputation Merited?

[Anonymous]

Have a good family friend that is a GDS grad, incredibly intelligent and caring person.

The only thing that is odd, is his lack of maturity and his attachment to his mom and dad. This guy is a very good artist, very successful, financially and professionally but something feels so off about how he acts.

After reading this thread I can understand why.

There is something inherently wrong in a school that coddles and allows students to call teachers by their first names. Kids need boundaries between being treated like an adult and being a kid. They need to learn that if you work hard you succeed and if you don't you fail. This is a part of growing up and attaining maturity. I've met lots of people like the one the poster described and if you talk to them long enough you will find something like GDS in their background, the are emotionally stunted, they never really grow up because they missed key experiences that took them out of being the center of the universe.

I work with kids and I am astounded by the way the talk to their parents, how they question their parents as if they are equal to them, and how the parents don't correct their children.

[Anonymous]

I am so glad this thread exists--less competition for DS to get into GDS!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Have a good family friend that is a GDS grad, incredibly intelligent and caring person.

The only thing that is odd, is his lack of maturity and his attachment to his mom and dad. This guy is a very good artist, very successful, financially and professionally but something feels so off about how he acts.

After reading this thread I can understand why.

There is something inherently wrong in a school that coddles and allows students to call teachers by their first names. Kids need boundaries between being treated like an adult and being a kid. They need to learn that if you work hard you succeed and if you don't you fail. This is a part of growing up and attaining maturity. I've met lots of people like the one the poster described and if you talk to them long enough you will find something like GDS in their background, the are emotionally stunted, they never really grow up because they missed key experiences that took them out of being the center of the universe.

I work with kids and I am astounded by the way the talk to their parents, how they question their parents as if they are equal to them, and how the parents don't correct their children.

What does this even mean? It is completely incoherent. What does a boundary related to addressing someone have to do with self reliance and learning to fail? How does a school like GDS produce as many strong students without having exceptionally high expectations, and to meet these expectations a requirement that kids rise to the occasion. I will take the GDS informality over all of the more formal/structured schools with mediocre academic environments.

[Anonymous]

Parent of GDS students -- GDS attracts and welcomes a broad spectrum of students. And therefore, it college matriculation list reflects that philosophy. You will find a handful of Ivies and Little Ivies....and you will find more than a few head-scratcher options. But those non-Tier 1 colleges are suitable fits for those GDS students. GDS allows it students to stretch and discover, does not expect them to overachieive for the sake of it and matriculate at snobby schools for the Volvo window-decal collecting crowd.

[Anonymous]

Some private schools exist because there is an excess of buyers over sellers in the DC area.

Ipso facto, GDS --a good damn school (GDS), but overpopulated with buyers.

[Anonymous]

Full disclosure: The broad spectrum of students at GDS includes a number of students on the spectrum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Full disclosure: The broad spectrum of students at GDS includes a number of students on the spectrum.

So do most workplaces where intelligence is a necessary attribute. Learning to work with and appreciate all types is one of the things that makes GDS the fabulous community it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parent of GDS students -- GDS attracts and welcomes a broad spectrum of students. And therefore, it college matriculation list reflects that philosophy. You will find a handful of Ivies and Little Ivies....and you will find more than a few head-scratcher options. But those non-Tier 1 colleges are suitable fits for those GDS students. GDS allows it students to stretch and discover, does not expect them to overachieive for the sake of it and matriculate at snobby schools for the Volvo window-decal collecting crowd.

I am a GDS HS parent too and I gotta cry BS on this post. You think the school piles on work the way it does and then doesn't care where kids choose to go to college? This is DC! You think GDS parents don't push their kids as hard (while hiding behind the illusion of "chill") as other parents? You are either living under a rock or you don't really have a kid at the school.

[Anonymous]

I did not assert that GDS does not care about its matriculation list. I assert that there are lots of students who are not being accepted or aspiring to top tier schools. Therefore, the secret college list includes an unexpected high concentration of college names that you would not expect to see on a private school with tuition, uh-hum, TUITION at $37,000.

[Anonymous]

From the website of GDS: "We, the GDS College Counseling Staff, firmly believe that there are no best colleges, only colleges that are best for individual students."

So after you have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to educate your DS or DD, and their college acceptance list reads like a top public school reject list, don't be dismayed -- it is the "best fit" that matters.

Ithaca College is not Cornell
Babson is not Harvard
U-New Haven is not Yale
Drexel is not Penn
U-Mass is not Amherst

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From the website of GDS: "We, the GDS College Counseling Staff, firmly believe that there are no best colleges, only colleges that are best for individual students."

So after you have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to educate your DS or DD, and their college acceptance list reads like a top public school reject list, don't be dismayed -- it is the "best fit" that matters.

Ithaca College is not Cornell
Babson is not Harvard
U-New Haven is not Yale
Drexel is not Penn
U-Mass is not Amherst

I think this reflects more about you than GDS, including that your DCs, if you have any, are not in a private/independent school. If a DC parent is really trying to game out college admissions, and is not a legacy or one with pull, then they homeschool or send their kid to a farm in rural Wyoming for their last two years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am so glad this thread exists--less competition for DS to get into GDS!

LOL I heartily agree!

[Anonymous]

A thread on DCUM will not deter one soul from applying.....but good luck to everyone applying.

[Anonymous]

I haven't quite figured out if there is any school that would fare well on a thread titled as this one is. If you just look over the past month or two, there have been threads bashing NCS, Landon, Holton Arms, Field. Maret and Potomac seem to have less vocal supporters and opponents - maybe just less on the radar. Sidwell may be the one exception and not sure why it is generally so untouched by the judging class; it is a great school among many others but I'm sure has its issues as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I haven't quite figured out if there is any school that would fare well on a thread titled as this one is. If you just look over the past month or two, there have been threads bashing NCS, Landon, Holton Arms, Field. Maret and Potomac seem to have less vocal supporters and opponents - maybe just less on the radar. Sidwell may be the one exception and not sure why it is generally so untouched by the judging class; it is a great school among many others but I'm sure has its issues as well.

LOL, Geez, do a search function. Sidwell gets bashed all the time on this site. I would say that Landon pushes the most buttons, but Sidwell might be in second place with NCS.