I'm sure it's a good place to go, but the poster who has said it is not viewed as Tier 1 is accurate. This may be undervaluing Bullis' merits, but it is an accurate statement of the reputation. The few objective indicators such as National Merit Semi-finalists also show a big difference between Bullis and DC schools like STA/NCS; Sidwell; and GDS in terms of the academic strength of the cohort (not surprising, given that the MoCo high schools are so much stronger than the DC high school, giving the DC independent schools an advantage in recruiting strong students). |
| Lifelong MoCo resident here... Bullis has always been perceived as a good school but never mentioned in the same breath as STA/NCS or even Prep, for that matter. They are "tier 1" only in terms of cost. They do have a beautiful campus and there's a lot of good things going on at the school but they have never been considered an academic powerhouse. |
| They also have appeared to hang their hats now on recruiting athletes in the high profile area boys' sports (football, basketball, lacrosse). That will get them a lot of press but it may diminish one aspect of the area independent schools -- that an ordinary relatively athletic but not super gifted high schooler can play one or more varsity sports. Time will tell how their strategy works for them -- Americans love sports so it may be a good marketing angle for them. |
It certainly won't help the academic reputation. |
It will for parents that want balance in their kids lives. Many won't even consider driving into the city for school. I know because people thought my parents were crazy that they let me go into the city for HS. National Merit Scholars are not really created by a school. The are identified in middle school testing. They get scholarship offers to the schools that want to use them as advertisement for years to come. I have 2 neices, a brother and a best friend that were all NMS and went to the schools of their choice for free. They would have been NMS no matter where they attended school. |
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30% of the Bullis class of 2012 are attending top 35 (USNWR) liberal arts schools or national universities including: Brown, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell (2), Dartmouth, Georgetown (4), Hamilton, Haverford, Michigan (5), NYU (2), UNC Chapel Hill, Princeton, Trinity, Tufts, Vanderbilt (2), UVA (4), Washington and Lee, Wash U (2), Wesleyan and Yale.
Maybe this information will be helpful to you. |
That's impressive... |
I agree. I would like to add that i heard they also have a pretty impressive learning center. I will be checking it out this fall at the open house. They also welcome kids, from what I have heard, with learning differences like Dyslexia. So maybe, hopefully, they aren't so worried about their "academic reputation" that they wouldn't educate all types of kids. |
| They will educate anyone who can cradle, dribble, shoot, or pass at a high level. |
One of Bullis' most positive attributes is its stance on academic diversity. So while a third of the students are top-notch academically, there are others who, while academically able but maybe not as gifted as some, make other contributions to the school whether through athletics, the arts or leadership. Students with learning disabilities who work hard and have supportive parents do well at Bullis and end up with solid college acceptances. |
If you athletic you should be denied an education.
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Say what you want, it's a second-tier school making a move towards third-tier status. |
Oh my poor third tier children. How will they ever make it in this world. |
National Merit Scholars are identified through the PSAT - which kids take during the junior year of high school. NMS status is announced senior year. This is too late to get a full ride to a private high school. Your relatives may have gotten full rides based on something, but it wasn't based on their NMS status. FWIW, kids take the SSAT to get into private middle schools and some private schools may require the PSAT instead. It's general wisdom that some private high schools select based on PSAT results from middle school, because they think a kid has potential to be NMS by senior year. Although the testing is one part of the package with other parts (teacher recs, GPA) also important. |
No doubt your first-tier wallet will cushion the blow. |