Data on Wilson graduates' admissions to university

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does the 4X4 schedule scare anyone else off? If my kid will be handicapped on standardized tests and also will lose so much when they don't have language or math classes, I really have to consider whether wilson makes sense.

It's not great coming off the pandemic especially.

My Wilson kid has no math or ELA this fall.

So (for example) he's going May-->Jan with no math, after 18 months of crappy virtual math. Then he's expected to learn a year of honors pre-calc in 5 months.

How is this supposed to work? It will take him a few weeks to just turn on his math brain.

In contrast, his private school sister is learning Calc over the course of a year with no massive break. I try not to worry about it.

Wow -- how is it possible that there is no math or ELA in the fall? (Sorry if answer is obvious -- elementary school parent here)

Wilson now has block scheduling: the kids take 4 classes in the fall, 4 different classes in the spring.

This means that all kids only have 1/2 year of math and 1/2 year of ELA.

I'm a teacher and have genuinely never heard of doing it like this 😳

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does the 4X4 schedule scare anyone else off? If my kid will be handicapped on standardized tests and also will lose so much when they don't have language or math classes, I really have to consider whether wilson makes sense.

It's not great coming off the pandemic especially.

My Wilson kid has no math or ELA this fall.

So (for example) he's going May-->Jan with no math, after 18 months of crappy virtual math. Then he's expected to learn a year of honors pre-calc in 5 months.

How is this supposed to work? It will take him a few weeks to just turn on his math brain.

In contrast, his private school sister is learning Calc over the course of a year with no massive break. I try not to worry about it.

Side question: how does this work out in your home? Does your son have feelings about not being in a private school like his sister? Was there any jealousy between siblings based on who got to see friends at school or who got to stay at home?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Even Walls kids had some disappointments last college admission cycle. Several I know did not get into their 1st or 2nd pick.

Kids at every school face this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look- Wilson kids were out of school for 18 months. It shows.

So was everyone else!!!

No. Privates were open in the DMV. Further - across the country - applicants were in school. Good grief - stop the denial.

[Anonymous]

How do Wooten or Montgomery Blair compare to Wilson? Thoughts beyond Whitman?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do Wooten or Montgomery Blair compare to Wilson? Thoughts beyond Whitman?

They are all included in this article linked upthread: https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-magazine/september-october-2020/college-bound-5/

Each school has a handful of students going to most of the top tier colleges (compared to 0 for Wilson).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s amazing all the mental gymnastics on display here from the Wilson parents explaining away the Wilson college admissions.

+1. I find it quite funny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look- Wilson kids were out of school for 18 months. It shows.

So was everyone else!!!

No. Privates were open in the DMV. Further - across the country - applicants were in school. Good grief - stop the denial.

I think you should stop the denial. All the top public high schools in the DMV were in the same position as Wilson and that’s who we are comparing Wilson with and PP is correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This whole thread is stupid. Wilson didn't bother to make a big public list of where their seniors are attending college because, frankly, with COVID, they have lots of other things to do besides compile and produce this list so that a bunch of anonymous folks on DCUM can chew it up. All this speculation is a waste of everybody's time and does nothing to unearth any actual information.

I mean, this is all a small sample size problem. If in an average year they have 3 kids gets into Ivies (1% of their graduating class), in some years they will have one kid, in some they will have five or six. You are all endlessly regurgitating theories about how many angels can fit on the head of a pin.

And yet here you are. Creating the list should be a simple thing and is informative for prospective parents/students (I guess this is obvious, but apparently not).

[Anonymous]

Is this entire thread based on one year's worth of data? What's the 5 year data look like? Who cares if they have one fluke year if it's not part of a bigger trend?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this entire thread based on one year's worth of data? What's the 5 year data look like? Who cares if they have one fluke year if it's not part of a bigger trend?

I predict it’s going to be part of a bigger trend. With honors for all, the top kids won’t be challenge to reach their full potential. The curriculum is dumb downed. This potentially translates to lower SAT scores, lower AP scores, etc…

Also, because if honors for all, families with these top performing kids who would have chosen Wilson in the past are now looking at other options for HS. If you don’t believe this, you have not been paying attention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this entire thread based on one year's worth of data? What's the 5 year data look like? Who cares if they have one fluke year if it's not part of a bigger trend?

I predict it’s going to be part of a bigger trend. With honors for all, the top kids won’t be challenge to reach their full potential. The curriculum is dumb downed. This potentially translates to lower SAT scores, lower AP scores, etc…

Also, because if honors for all, families with these top performing kids who would have chosen Wilson in the past are now looking at other options for HS. If you don’t believe this, you have not been paying attention.

Yes PP, #1, that is correct - all this nonsense on one year of flawed data!

PP #2, you are foolishly speculating with no basis whatsoever. The curriculum is not "dumb downed," families of high-performing kids are not fleeing Wilson, and honors-for-all is not making much of a difference for high-performing kids. Not sure why their are so many bedwetters on this forum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s amazing all the mental gymnastics on display here from the Wilson parents explaining away the Wilson college admissions.

+1. I find it quite funny.

I'm curious PPs, and hope you can answer a question once you get over your amazement and cease finding it to be so funny...I am a Wilson parent. Overall I'm happy with the school, although I admit, its not perfect, and its not for everybody. What actions do you think I should be taking based on this old list of college admissions? What would you be doing if you were a Wilson parent?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this entire thread based on one year's worth of data? What's the 5 year data look like? Who cares if they have one fluke year if it's not part of a bigger trend?

I predict it’s going to be part of a bigger trend. With honors for all, the top kids won’t be challenge to reach their full potential. The curriculum is dumb downed. This potentially translates to lower SAT scores, lower AP scores, etc…

Also, because if honors for all, families with these top performing kids who would have chosen Wilson in the past are now looking at other options for HS. If you don’t believe this, you have not been paying attention.

Yes PP, #1, that is correct - all this nonsense on one year of flawed data!

PP #2, you are foolishly speculating with no basis whatsoever. The curriculum is not "dumb downed," families of high-performing kids are not fleeing Wilson, and honors-for-all is not making much of a difference for high-performing kids. Not sure why their are so many bedwetters on this forum.

NP - Principal Martin's decision to eliminate AP World History as an option for 10th grade was the last "Honors for All" straw for our family. Last year we sent our straight A Deal student to Walls instead. We did not choose Walls; we effectively were driven from Wilson. At Wilson academically strong students are slow rolled for two years (9th & 10th) in "Honors for All" and then placed into large AP classes with 30+ students their last two years (11th & 12th) so that the on-level classes for juniors and seniors can be limited to no more than 20 students. The school's policies are no longer designed to meet the needs of academically strong students (which I believe is unethical) and as such it does not surprise me that Wilson's placements into top schools have begun to slip.

[Anonymous]

Truth is most higher SES families in DC never stay for middle school let alone high school. It’s gotten better but the exodus is still prolific in the Elementary schools. Wilson is running on a fraction of quality kids that start here. Some are staying which is why the demographics are changing but it is still a fraction.