Another Maret question

[Anonymous]

I am hoping people on here can try to answer the following question without this thread devolving into snark and pettiness...

I am applying to K for my son, and Maret seems like a really great place. The kids are engaged and articulate in a way that I did not see at other schools -- though admittedly my interaction with all of these schools has been limited. I just wonder why on this board, people do not put it in the same category as Sidwell and Beauvoir? What am I missing? Are the academics on par with those schools (I am only concerned with the elementary years)?

Not trying to start an argument here just want to try to get some information here that will be difficult for me to get quickly from interacting with the schools themselves. If people do not want to offer their value judgments, I would appreciate suggested questions to ask that might help me get the info myself.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I think if you look at objective stats (such as percentage of Nat'l Merit Semifinalists, SAT scores, percentage of graduates going to top colleges, etc), Maret has a little less favorable numbers than schools like StA/NCS/Sidwell. I suspect that's why many people might not group them together.

Clearly those objective stats only tell a part of the story. They all relate to high school, not lower school. Also, there's a lot more to any school than objective stats. And the most important thing is how you and your child feel about the school. And by any measure, Maret is a great school. But I think those kind of objective stats are one reason some people might view them differently.

[Anonymous]

Agree fully PP. At some point people just have to do what they feel is best for their own child and move on. It gets to be a "hair splitting" category at some point.

True -- Sidwell gets more kids into Ivies than Maret. But, that might mean that someone at Sidwell who might ordinarily been accepted to an Ivy -- was boxed out by a student with higher grades/scores. And, maybe the Maret person getting into the Ivy was the top in the Maret category but may or may not have been at Sidwell.

The DC area has some of the best private schools in the nation. Choose one that works for you and don't feel you have to apologize or feel that it isn't "the best".

[Anonymous]

PP from 12:31 here. I think you're exactly right about the "hair splitting" point. All of the schools regularly discussed here are excellent, and the differences are actually not huge in the greater scheme of things. But when people focus so closely on the schools, the minor differences get magnified. (There's even a name for this psychological perception issue, but I can't remember it right now.)

[Anonymous]

12:35 again...thanks pp.

My child was so interested in going to Sidwell or NCS. She was waitlisted at Sidwell and outright rejected at NCS. She "only" got into Holton and then went on to an Ivy. I'm certain that many of the kids who "beat her" into Sidwell and NCS didn't end up at such a great university.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, I think it's because Maret doesn't start at PreK. Given how competitive admissions are in this area, you apply early and often. If your kid gets into Sidwell, GDS, or Beauvoir in PreK (or any other school) and you like what you saw of the school, it doesn't make sense to hold out for Maret (which you may not even have looked it because you couldn't apply and which may not accept you).

And by HS it's a smaller school than the others and that has its pros and cons. Not an issue (or a plus) with the lower school (since classes are smaller everywhere and because course choice is pretty limited everywhere), but more of a cause for concern (size of cohort, range of electives, social claustrophobia) in the teen years.

I also have to say that there are a few Maret posters here who really turn me off. I don't assume that they are typical, but their posts have left me with a worse impression of the school than I otherwise would have had.

[Anonymous]

OP here. thanks to everyone who responded. very helpful to have the insight.

[Anonymous]

I've had two children at Maret -- one has graduated. There's no question in my mind that the top students at Maret can go head-to-head academically with all the top students at Sidwell, St. A, NCS, etc., and they certainly go on to the same colleges. I do think it's possible that Maret accepts a slightly wider range of abilities because they do seem more focused on the whole child, with scores being only one factor in that equation. But it's important to make the point that Maret is fully capable of giving each child what s/he needs academically, and college placement is excellent. I think all the students benefit from that.

I'm fairly new to this board and would be interested in what Maret posters have given you a bad impression. Other than the poster who so obnoxiously insisted that the Obamas were going to choose Maret -- and who was so clearly a kid, not a parent -- I've actually been surprised that Maret parents haven't bragged a little more!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've had two children at Maret -- one has graduated. There's no question in my mind that the top students at Maret can go head-to-head academically with all the top students at Sidwell, St. A, NCS, etc., and they certainly go on to the same colleges. I do think it's possible that Maret accepts a slightly wider range of abilities because they do seem more focused on the whole child, with scores being only one factor in that equation. But it's important to make the point that Maret is fully capable of giving each child what s/he needs academically, and college placement is excellent. I think all the students benefit from that.

I'm fairly new to this board and would be interested in what Maret posters have given you a bad impression. Other than the poster who so obnoxiously insisted that the Obamas were going to choose Maret -- and who was so clearly a kid, not a parent -- I've actually been surprised that Maret parents haven't bragged a little more!

I totally agree with this. I very rarely see Maret parents post, I always wonder why. I also have children there and have been extremely pleased with everything about the school. It seems to be able to serve both of my children - who are quite different in almost every way - equally well. After touring all of the fine schools in this city, it was one of the few that I could see both of my children attending.

[Anonymous]

A couple people have asked for examples of posts that gave a bad impression of Maret. I'm not 14:08, but I too have been turned off by some Maret posters over the past couple years. Specifically, I recall two positions that some Maret poster (or maybe more than one?) pushed repeatedly across several threads of discussion:

(1) One Maret poster repeatedly would criticize GDS specifically, pick at supposed flaws of GDS, and claim that GDS is inferior in pretty much every respect to Maret. Anytime anyone said something positive about GDS, the Maret poster would mock the "GDS booster" and dismiss any positive comments about GDS as the work of a booster.

(2) One Maret poster would get very agitated whenever the term "Big 3" was used, would insist that Maret should be included in the Big 3, and would claim that the term "Big 3" was created by a GDS booster just to advance artificially GDS's prestige.

These two positions obviously have a lot of cross-over between them, so I actually suspect it was one Maret person taking both positions.

I don't have any connection to Maret or GDS, so I don't really have any opinion about the strengths/weaknesses of Maret and GDS. I really don't even care which is better (if either is better than the other). But I found the repeated attacks on GDS and defensiveness about Maret to be obnoxious, and they definitely gave me a negative impression. I think it's great when parents are excited to tell others about a great school they found, but I find it frustrating when people tear down other schools in the process.

I know that's not really fair to let one Maret poster skew my view of an entire school. And I have seen many other Maret posts on DCUM that are perfectly reasonable and helpful. And in my rational mind, I know that 99% of Maret parents are probably perfectly nice and normal people. But I do think the negative comments described above soured me on Maret to some degree.

Let me be clear that I everything I've read about Maret indicates it's a great school. I'm not criticizing the school in any way. I'm just trying to answer the question from 19:55 about what comments on DCUM gave a bad impression.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A couple people have asked for examples of posts that gave a bad impression of Maret. I'm not 14:08, but I too have been turned off by some Maret posters over the past couple years. Specifically, I recall two positions that some Maret poster (or maybe more than one?) pushed repeatedly across several threads of discussion:

(1) One Maret poster repeatedly would criticize GDS specifically, pick at supposed flaws of GDS, and claim that GDS is inferior in pretty much every respect to Maret. Anytime anyone said something positive about GDS, the Maret poster would mock the "GDS booster" and dismiss any positive comments about GDS as the work of a booster.

(2) One Maret poster would get very agitated whenever the term "Big 3" was used, would insist that Maret should be included in the Big 3, and would claim that the term "Big 3" was created by a GDS booster just to advance artificially GDS's prestige.

These two positions obviously have a lot of cross-over between them, so I actually suspect it was one Maret person taking both positions.

I don't have any connection to Maret or GDS, so I don't really have any opinion about the strengths/weaknesses of Maret and GDS. I really don't even care which is better (if either is better than the other). But I found the repeated attacks on GDS and defensiveness about Maret to be obnoxious, and they definitely gave me a negative impression. I think it's great when parents are excited to tell others about a great school they found, but I find it frustrating when people tear down other schools in the process.

I know that's not really fair to let one Maret poster skew my view of an entire school. And I have seen many other Maret posts on DCUM that are perfectly reasonable and helpful. And in my rational mind, I know that 99% of Maret parents are probably perfectly nice and normal people. But I do think the negative comments described above soured me on Maret to some degree.

Let me be clear that I everything I've read about Maret indicates it's a great school. I'm not criticizing the school in any way. I'm just trying to answer the question from 19:55 about what comments on DCUM gave a bad impression.

I think people could say the same thing about the, shall we say "very enthusiastic" GDS posters. There is one poster on this board who tries to claim the # of National Merit Semifinalists is the end all be all of a good school and pushes GDS's stats in this area to no end. Other posters have pointed out that for some, top academics is only one piece of the puzzle and an equal focus on sports, arts, and other activities is just as important to many people. I have a feeling this is where Maret excels.

[Anonymous]

Re OP's original question -- I have heard that Maret has gotten much stronger academically in the past decade, which is something that the high school test scores and overall outplacement may not necessarily reflect yet. That does not mean that the elementary school experience would be any "less" than what you would find at Beauvoir, Sidwell etc. Everything I have heard from parents of the younger classes has been excellent and it seems like a great place.

[Anonymous]

I think one consideration is the history of the institutions in question. Maret, until the mid 1980's was a mediocre private institution. It was only when demand skyrocketed for independent schools as DCPS etc fell off a cliff, that Maret and to a lesser extent GDS attracted more high caliber children who helped raise the overall prestige and program of the schools.

[Anonymous]

Well, wait a minute, I think you have to take "history" as just that -- a window on the past. I'm a native Washingtonian and I remember the days when Bullis was a school for kids who had been expelled from other schools, kids with poor academics and behavior problems. That is in no way what the Bullis School of today has become -- I wonder if current families even know this history. It has no bearing.

Yes, Maret was considered somewhat mediocre back in the day. I know several graduates from those days who have done very well in life, but no matter. It is an entirely different school today. It isn't just that "higher caliber" (grr... hate that phrase. The kids I knew who went to Maret back in they were very bright) kids are gong there, its the difference of several decades of fantastic leadership. It is an entirely different school now. I don't know that demand drove this change. I've always gotten the impression it was the change in leadership.

I don't see why this "history" matters one whit, unless it makes you feel superior that your kids go elsewhere. I don't have children at either school but I would hope I wouldn't be blinded by outdated stereotypes. Bullis, and Maret and GDS are all fantastic schools -- no matter what they were in 1978.