Where did the B students at the top independent schools end up going to college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Former NCS parent here and I can't stress the importance of weighing the rigor of the curriculum your daughter selects. My daughter was a B student with great standardized test scores, was right below the NMSF cut off and did great on SATs and ACTs. She took the very rigorous courses - AP Chem in 11th, AP Physics C in 12th, honors math 9-11 and AP BC in 12th (did not get to HLAVC), AP US and AP Language in 11th grade etc. She ended up at Notre Dame with other acceptances at great places like Haverford, William & Mary etc. Her peers who took "easier" APs like AP Statistics, AP Bio, AP and less rigorous courses in general - art over engineering, regular math etc. ended up at places like Virginia Tech, Syracuse, UM College Park.

Ugh all that money at NCS with that reputation for College Park?

Would you be saying "Ugh" if it were a full academic scholarship to the University College?

I totally would have said "ugh" when my children were younger but now that we have a junior, UMD isn't looking so bad. He has been in independent schools since pre-k, along with his two siblings, so we've paid a lot of tuition over the years. While by any measure, we could afford it, I'm kind of tired of paying. UMD is a great bargain especially for math and science. DS is not going to MIT but the other schools that he is looking at are very expensive and probably won't provide the return on investment that UMD does. It isn't all about a return on investment, but I think that DS has had a very privileged life and a state school would be a great counterpoint to that.

PP you took the words right out of my mouth! DD is a junior and has spend her entire career in great , but expensive, privates. She has loved every minute and will come away with knowledge, confidence and conviction which is why we chose this path. Can we afford a more expensive college option? Yes, we can. She is drawn to UMD for many reasons and I think the fact that it's the opposite of the privileged life she's had is one reason. If she gets into the honors program I would be thrilled to send her to Maryland and I think she would have a great experience too. I would never have said that even two year ago but she's my oldest and I had no idea how strong UMCP was until we looked.

Free Tip[b]: Nobody will care it is honors program. It will be buried under University of Maryland on the resume forever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A 3.0 from Sidwell is equivalent to a higher GPA somewhere else. Not equivalent to a 4.0, but maybe a 3.5?

The rest of the world thinks Sidwell has grade inflation... seriously.

[Anonymous]

Really? I've never heard that. A 4.0 average at Sidwell would be almost historic.

[Anonymous]

Which schools around here have the toughest grading policies?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
This makes sense to me. The previous poster said her daughter was a B student in the most rigorous classes. A B student in less rigorous classes would not fare as well. Of course an A student in the most rigorous classes will do the best of all. My DD was an A- student at SFS with mostly top classes (not the very top math group) and 99% standardized test scores. She had sports and leadership and ended up at a top 10 university. I think that is a fairly typical outcome at SFS.

Thank you for posting this, as well as your follow-up re unhooked. Hope your daughter is happy and doing well wherever she is. May I ask if she applied early decision or early action or early whatever to the school she eventually decided on? That seems like a big piece of this puzzle as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Former NCS parent here and I can't stress the importance of weighing the rigor of the curriculum your daughter selects. My daughter was a B student with great standardized test scores, was right below the NMSF cut off and did great on SATs and ACTs. She took the very rigorous courses - AP Chem in 11th, AP Physics C in 12th, honors math 9-11 and AP BC in 12th (did not get to HLAVC), AP US and AP Language in 11th grade etc. She ended up at Notre Dame with other acceptances at great places like Haverford, William & Mary etc. Her peers who took "easier" APs like AP Statistics, AP Bio, AP and less rigorous courses in general - art over engineering, regular math etc. ended up at places like Virginia Tech, Syracuse, UM College Park.

Ugh all that money at NCS with that reputation for College Park?

Would you be saying "Ugh" if it were a full academic scholarship to the University College?

I totally would have said "ugh" when my children were younger but now that we have a junior, UMD isn't looking so bad. He has been in independent schools since pre-k, along with his two siblings, so we've paid a lot of tuition over the years. While by any measure, we could afford it, I'm kind of tired of paying. UMD is a great bargain especially for math and science. DS is not going to MIT but the other schools that he is looking at are very expensive and probably won't provide the return on investment that UMD does. It isn't all about a return on investment, but I think that DS has had a very privileged life and a state school would be a great counterpoint to that.

PP you took the words right out of my mouth! DD is a junior and has spend her entire career in great , but expensive, privates. She has loved every minute and will come away with knowledge, confidence and conviction which is why we chose this path. Can we afford a more expensive college option? Yes, we can. She is drawn to UMD for many reasons and I think the fact that it's the opposite of the privileged life she's had is one reason. If she gets into the honors program I would be thrilled to send her to Maryland and I think she would have a great experience too. I would never have said that even two year ago but she's my oldest and I had no idea how strong UMCP was until we looked.

Free Tip[b]: Nobody will care it is honors program. It will be buried under University of Maryland on the resume forever.

Maryland is a great school and if my talented child chooses to attend she will go far in life. The honors wish is mostly to make it feel smaller for the first two years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This makes sense to me. The previous poster said her daughter was a B student in the most rigorous classes. A B student in less rigorous classes would not fare as well. Of course an A student in the most rigorous classes will do the best of all. My DD was an A- student at SFS with mostly top classes (not the very top math group) and 99% standardized test scores. She had sports and leadership and ended up at a top 10 university. I think that is a fairly typical outcome at SFS.

Thank you for posting this, as well as your follow-up re unhooked. Hope your daughter is happy and doing well wherever she is. May I ask if she applied early decision or early action or early whatever to the school she eventually decided on? That seems like a big piece of this puzzle as well.

She was early decision.

[Anonymous]

Thank you.