Don't understand the crazy about sidwell friend

[Anonymous]

I want to add to the poster above. Many of Sidwell's recent admits to HYPS have parents whose accomplishments and achievements you can easily Google. Your daughter's class might have been an exception. It should come as no surprise that accomplished parents often raise ambitious, intelligent children. In the classes I know well, the better known, more famous parents always had their children admitted to the top colleges.

[Anonymous]

Well, there are "famous" (by DC standards) parents, but there are also wealthy ones who can donate a huge amount of money to a college and get their kid in. there's plenty of that demographic at SFS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I want to add to the poster above. Many of Sidwell's recent admits to HYPS have parents whose accomplishments and achievements you can easily Google. Your daughter's class might have been an exception. It should come as no surprise that accomplished parents often raise ambitious, intelligent children. In the classes I know well, the better known, more famous parents always had their children admitted to the top colleges.

It comes as no surprise to anyone that fame, power, connections, or wealth have a disparate and positive impact on college admissions, which in turn obviously positively affects Sidwell's college admissions stats. This is not to say that Sidwell students are not qualified, they are, but what sets them apart in today's extremely competitive world from the equally qualified students who are not admitted is honestly those other factors.

[Anonymous]

Sidwell is not for intellectuals; it's for the DC glitterati.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sidwell is not for intellectuals; it's for the DC glitterati.

Oh give it a rest. I just looked at the grade lists for my two kids there. One grade has 4 people I'd consider either (a) wealthy enough to donate something like $100K to a college, or (b) important enough to rate as "famous for DC." The other grade has just 2. The other 100+ parents are just regular working people. Yes, they certainly skew more toward well paying jobs like doctors or lawyers, but none of the others are famous or fabulously wealthy. Some of you have unrealistic understandings of the families that actually attend these schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I want to add to the poster above. Many of Sidwell's recent admits to HYPS have parents whose accomplishments and achievements you can easily Google. Your daughter's class might have been an exception. It should come as no surprise that accomplished parents often raise ambitious, intelligent children. In the classes I know well, the better known, more famous parents always had their children admitted to the top colleges.

I suppose the real question is whether the school support your ordinary, no-connections kid, as strongly as it does for the connected kids, for college placement among the HYPS? Are the non-connected kids disadvantaged in college placement?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Sidwell is not for intellectuals; it's for the DC glitterati.

Why do you think they have so many National Merit semis and Presidential Scholar nominees? Must be because their parents are famous.

[Anonymous]

Color me impressed. Thomas Jefferson in Fairfax County has about 455 students in its Senior class, and 119 of them, or a quarter of the class, are National Merit Semifinalists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Color me impressed. Thomas Jefferson in Fairfax County has about 455 students in its Senior class, and 119 of them, or a quarter of the class, are National Merit Semifinalists.

Yes, and TJ selects all of its students at the 9th grade juncture, with high test scores in hand. As compared to other dc privates, Sidwell regularly compares very favorably in terms of NMSF. Also, the NMSF cutoff is lower for va than dc. I have no idea how many more Sidwell, or other dc school kids, would be NMSF in the Virginia context. I am guessing g that PP us just offering facts to dispel any myth that may be out there that Sidwell students do not stack up well against other dc privates, but rather skate by on their families' status or legacy.

[Anonymous]

Just 1 point loser than DC. Use the % to compare them.

We all know that TJ kids academically are much more endowed than any top schools in DC/MD/VA. Why can we just accept this as a fact. My own DCs are not in TJ, but by all academic standards, TJ is well above any top private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Color me impressed. Thomas Jefferson in Fairfax County has about 455 students in its Senior class, and 119 of them, or a quarter of the class, are National Merit Semifinalists.

Yes, and TJ selects all of its students at the 9th grade juncture, with high test scores in hand. As compared to other dc privates, Sidwell regularly compares very favorably in terms of NMSF. Also, the NMSF cutoff is lower for va than dc. I have no idea how many more Sidwell, or other dc school kids, would be NMSF in the Virginia context. I am guessing g that PP us just offering facts to dispel any myth that may be out there that Sidwell students do not stack up well against other dc privates, but rather skate by on their families' status or legacy.

Wow, that's a lot of NMSFs. Sidwell had 11 last year out of a class of ~120, around 9%. I think that's a decent number; it's just that TJ is insanely high. The differences in cutoff scores wouldn't come close to making up the gap.

Anyway, I don't understand why people get worked up or defensive about this. It's not a judgment on you or your kid, how many semifinalists there are at the school. Not that I think it's possible to convince some people otherwise!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. No, I'm not from this country. I doubt those who tease my grammar can write a word in my language, given the same year of exposure to that language as I was in English. Thanks for all the other posts that are trying to be helpful. We will tour MS and US.

OP, I speak many different languages. In whatever language I speak, I have the emotional intelligence to know that tone matters. Your tone and communication of entitlement is irritating.

My children go to a different Big 3, but I would not want someone like you in my community.

There is no tone in text, choose your interpretation wisely.

Only a witless imbecile would write something so asinine. Interpret as you will.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want to add to the poster above. Many of Sidwell's recent admits to HYPS have parents whose accomplishments and achievements you can easily Google. Your daughter's class might have been an exception. It should come as no surprise that accomplished parents often raise ambitious, intelligent children. In the classes I know well, the better known, more famous parents always had their children admitted to the top colleges.

I suppose the real question is whether the school support your ordinary, no-connections kid, as strongly as it does for the connected kids, for college placement among the HYPS? Are the non-connected kids disadvantaged in college placement?

Yes, good question.
As an a HYP alum interviewer in bethesda, I get a mix of MCPS magnet students and half privates. I'm frequently surprised who makes the cut and who does not. My 2nd impression is how many kids openly tell me that half their high school career and where they are applying is due to their parents making them do so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just 1 point loser than DC. Use the % to compare them.

We all know that TJ kids academically are much more endowed than any top schools in DC/MD/VA. Why can we just accept this as a fact. My own DCs are not in TJ, but by all academic standards, TJ is well above any top private.

What private school(s) do you think come right after TJ? Our DD is a great student, loves math and applied to TJ this year. Everybody who knows her thinks that she has the highest chances of being accepted, but I'm thinking about plan B. Since now is the private school application season, perhaps it's worth applying to a couple of private schools just in case. Which private schools would you apply?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids are at GDS LS. It is definitely worse, but we love our school!

It’s never too early to start aiming for Harvard.