FAQ: What is the "Big 3"? (or "Big 5", or "Big 10", etc)

[Anonymous]

PP -- I don't have a kid at Potomac, but I know people who do. It's a great school -- there's no sense in deriding it and why do you care to? Some kind of sicky or jealous?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do not see what is so funny about putting Potomac on the list. I do not have a child at this school but, I know it to be a great school and very competitive. Many of you are so close minded. If the school is not in DC you do not deem it worthy of a high ranking. Only DC parents obsess over this shit because your optons (DCPS) are the worst and many MD an VA parents are not betting the horses with their child's education and have decent options in the instance their DC does not get in,can not, or choose not to go private. These schools are most sought after because of location and demand. GDS used to be a not so fabulous school, in fact it was where students went who could not get into other schools! Now it is considered a TT school! Please! If Potomac was located in DC many of you would be running to this school. along with many other schools located outside of DC. Worry about your child. Help them to be succesful, you determine that, not a school!

Well said, poster. And right on the mark. Many DC parents have no vantage point outside of the city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have lived in Chevy Chase in Montgomery County, MD, for 13 years and have a 13yo and a 9yo yet had never heard of Potomac until I joined this forum this year. Potomac never even came up on the radar as we researched private schools for our two children. It has no national reputation at all. How can you call Potomac a Big 3 when the other schools usuallly referred to as Big 3 (or Big 2) have national reputations?

Then you have been living under a rock.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have lived in Chevy Chase in Montgomery County, MD, for 13 years and have a 13yo and a 9yo yet had never heard of Potomac until I joined this forum this year. Potomac never even came up on the radar as we researched private schools for our two children. It has no national reputation at all. How can you call Potomac a Big 3 when the other schools usuallly referred to as Big 3 (or Big 2) have national reputations?

Then you have been living under a rock.

Rather, you have been living on the banks of the Nile.

[Anonymous]

Frankly, I had never heard of Potomac either--and I've lived in Montgomery County and prior to that D.C. for years. I'm sure Potomac is a lovely school, but it doesn't have the same name recognition as some of the other schools most often referred to as the Big 3.

[Anonymous]

I'm one of the Montgomery County rock-dwellers who have never heard of Potomac. I invite Potomac parents to inform me and others on this thread about the reasons their school should be deemed one of the Big 3. Ready to hear your reasons . . . .

[Anonymous]

I must be a rock dweller too, because I had never heard of the Potomac School before going on this message board. Apparently there are a lot of us out there...

[Anonymous]

Don't you people read the paper at least? Yikes -- you're very poorly informed...I have no dog or kid in the fight...no one at Potomac but know it is hard to get into.

[Anonymous]

So . . . . "hard to get into" makes Potomac a Big 3? There are a lot of schools that are hard to get into, and then how hard to get into is relative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't you people read the paper at least? Yikes -- you're very poorly informed...I have no dog or kid in the fight...no one at Potomac but know it is hard to get into.

Do you have any figures from the admissions office of Potmac on its acceptance rate?

Average SATs? National Merit numbers? Presidential Scholars numbers?

As an ignorant rock-dweller who had never heard of Potomac until this forum, I Googled and found the school's website but was not able to find a college- acceptance or college-matriculation list. Any Potomac parents have that info to share? Of course I am not asking for students' names so, please, let's have no arguments based on students' privacy.

Thank you.

[Anonymous]

I never said it was a big 3 pp -- I just wonder why people are so quick to put something down when they know nothing about it. It seems the people way out in MD are living under a rock or something. I don't care...my kid didn't go to Potomac. And, I still don't get why people are so obsessed about the Big 3. My kid is at the best Ivy and went to a top private...but one out in MD which people probably don't consider a big 3.

[Anonymous]

For 15:51 that info has already appeared on DCUM numerous times. Do your own homework...don't ask other people to do it for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For 15:51 that info has already appeared on DCUM numerous times. Do your own homework...don't ask other people to do it for you.

"Big 3" is the topic of this thread. Anyone who makes the claim should be able to support it. I'm not going to do someone else's work for them.

[Anonymous]

I don't think the numbers support the claims that Potomac is up there as a Big 3 or even a top-tier school.

[Anonymous]

In other words, you have no stats to back up your claim. That's exactly what we thought...

Anonymous wrote:For 15:51 that info has already appeared on DCUM numerous times. Do your own homework...don't ask other people to do it for you.