Bullis

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well it is our first choice and now I'm even more anxious hearing that they have 400 applicants! What will stand out? My DC didn't do well on SSAT (Terrible). Great grades though. Does do sports and loves the arts. We looked at 6 schools for HS and this was the one we ALL liked. Finally we all agree on something : )

1. 400 applicants sounds high, to be honest, but they do have international students and perhaps they are getting a boomlet of foreign applications to bolster applications from area students.
2. 55 spots is just one part of the equation -- what's the yield? If they have 50% yield (which would be a reasonable guess), that means admitting 110 applicants. 1 in 4 chances (assuming the 400 number is correct) is a lot better than 1 in 7.

Try not to stress too much -- sounds like you have a great kid. I'd bet your DC has a very solid chance of admission.

50% yield seems high.....does bullis publish this stat?

^^^^ meant to add that 400 apps seems high as well. Don’t forget that ADs are also marketers....their job is to create buzz and demand. Don’t stress out I’m sure everything will turn out great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
As long as the school continues to accept kids who were denied admission at other league schools or accepts kids who were flat out rejected from other privates, the perception of the school will never change.

I have no pony in this race, but this is a disappointing sentiment. There shouldn't be some private schools that are willing to work with a wider range of student and are willing to be more adventurous in where they find potential? Is it really necessary for parents to view any school that isn't selecting only stereotypically strong students as a "bad school"? This strikes me as a narrow way to think about people and the future.

Don't get me wrong, if you have a straight A child with three or four exceptional skills, all power to you. That took both a lot of luck and a ton of hard work. But it shouldn't follow that you need to eye-roll at everyone else. Plenty of people with different profiles go on to live perfectly fine, even accomplished lives -- and I would gladly pay for a school that viewed a more average student as valuable person.

I have never been on the Bullis campus, so I am not saying that Bulls is that school. But if I could find such a school, I'd be more likely to enroll -- not only because my child might be more likely to get in, but also because it reflects the way our family rolls. I always get a little twitchy when I sense a community is interested in only a narrow profile.

This is a beautiful post.

[Anonymous]

It seems like Bullis has changed? People talk less trash about it...and it seems people are generally happy with it this year with Covid.

[Anonymous]

There is a brand new Head of School this year, who is a breath of fresh air. Priorities include education, faculty, facility, diversity. He talks the talk and walks the walk.

Unlike most schools, including most privates, students have had in person school all year. Hybrid at the start, 4 days a week for a while now. Wants to take class size from 16 to 14. Limiting class size for US. Over-enrolled 4th grade this year, so opened a new section of 4th grade. Upper grades are full for next year, very low attrition, and there are just a handful of openings in the lower school (except 4th grade because they added a section - watch out when this group hits 9th grade, because that means fewer openings for newbies).

Teachers are engaged, and as my child said early on, "mom, a teacher asked me about _________ (something outside of that class). That never happened before." They are interested and care about the kids - they connect. Administration is communicative and responsive. Way more meetings/newsletters/information than I ever received at public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems like Bullis has changed? People talk less trash about it...and it seems people are generally happy with it this year with Covid.

It still seems have broadly open door admissions, however the type of families and kids attending seems to have changed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like Bullis has changed? People talk less trash about it...and it seems people are generally happy with it this year with Covid.

It still seems have broadly open door admissions, however the type of families and kids attending seems to have changed.

According to the HOS email, there are waitlists for all middle and upper school grades, as well as grade 3. It may not be Sidwell, but clearly not everyone is getting in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like Bullis has changed? People talk less trash about it...and it seems people are generally happy with it this year with Covid.

It still seems have broadly open door admissions, however the type of families and kids attending seems to have changed.

According to the HOS email, there are waitlists for all middle and upper school grades, as well as grade 3. It may not be Sidwell, but clearly not everyone is getting in.

Sure, but let’s not overstate the case. I would find it hard to find an advantage over Wooton, Churchill and Whitman other than if your kid needs smaller class sizes for whatever reason or you just like the community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like Bullis has changed? People talk less trash about it...and it seems people are generally happy with it this year with Covid.

It still seems have broadly open door admissions, however the type of families and kids attending seems to have changed.

I think it’s changing. Many references to significantly lower acceptance rates than ever before. Our DC put it at the top of list above “better” schools. HoS and direction he’s moving the school in are very impressive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like Bullis has changed? People talk less trash about it...and it seems people are generally happy with it this year with Covid.

It still seems have broadly open door admissions, however the type of families and kids attending seems to have changed.

According to the HOS email, there are waitlists for all middle and upper school grades, as well as grade 3. It may not be Sidwell, but clearly not everyone is getting in.

Sure, but let’s not overstate the case. I would find it hard to find an advantage over Wooton, Churchill and Whitman other than if your kid needs smaller class sizes for whatever reason or you just like the community.

The PP was saying it was open door admissions. My point was that it is not. The quality of the education is a different issue. You can ask the same question about all of the area privates. What do any of them offer that is better than Wooton, Churchill or Whitman, other than small classes and better facilities?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems like Bullis has changed? People talk less trash about it...and it seems people are generally happy with it this year with Covid.

+1 We are a new family. Very happy with what we have seen so far. New HoS is very focused on prioritizing quality of academics.

[Anonymous]

We don't live in the Wooton, Churchill, Whitman area so I suppose if you have those schools as a choice that would be a very different discussion. I'm not sure why people keep comparing Bullis to those schools when many of the students don't necessarily live in those neighborhoods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems like Bullis has changed? People talk less trash about it...and it seems people are generally happy with it this year with Covid.

Well they were complaining about the school prioritizing sports and there were no sports this season.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like Bullis has changed? People talk less trash about it...and it seems people are generally happy with it this year with Covid.

Well they were complaining about the school prioritizing sports and there were no sports this season.

This year I meant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like Bullis has changed? People talk less trash about it...and it seems people are generally happy with it this year with Covid.

It still seems have broadly open door admissions, however the type of families and kids attending seems to have changed.

According to the HOS email, there are waitlists for all middle and upper school grades, as well as grade 3. It may not be Sidwell, but clearly not everyone is getting in.

Sure, but let’s not overstate the case. I would find it hard to find an advantage over Wooton, Churchill and Whitman other than if your kid needs smaller class sizes for whatever reason or you just like the community.

The PP was saying it was open door admissions. My point was that it is not. The quality of the education is a different issue. You can ask the same question about all of the area privates. What do any of them offer that is better than Wooton, Churchill or Whitman, other than small classes and better facilities?

I don't know. It was reported that due to the number of applicants they are opening more classes in some grades. If people are not getting in/there is a waitlist, I would wonder what that group of applicants looked like. Maybe they only have capacity to deal with x number of ADHD students per year, I am not sure. I don't want to knock Bullis as it is decent school and it has a lot of very good students. But from the students that I know who are there (one was a B- student in MCPS), even calling admissions "selective" would be a stretch.

I do agree with you the overall student body profile of Bullis is pretty consistent with the area public schools, although they do lack the advanced levels that you can find at the publics. The main differentiator is mainly size and some, but not all facilities. Let's be honest here, the facilities at many public schools, like Whitman, are also very good.

[Anonymous]

I think the US student body will begin to shift if they continue the trajectory of this years 9th grade class. This year was highly competitive.

Seriously doubt any publics have facilities on par with Bullis.