Sidwell College Admissions This Year

[Anonymous]

These kids are smart and advanced. Many took precalculus in middle school. Do you have a problem with their intelligence and academic performance? Many play varsity sports at Blair, and active in music and theatre performance.

[Anonymous]

What/where is Blair?

[Anonymous]

Silver Spring, MD.

Montgomery Blair High School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a about to sound like a terrible person, but there are 2 schools on the Sidwell Instagram that they absolutely did NOT need to go to Sidwell to get into. One of the schools is one that I am familiar with, and it is so obscure I don’t think I have ever seen it mentioned on here before.

Everybody is different and you don’t know why kids choose certain schools. Maybe full ride or great merit or athletic scholarships or maybe just loved the school. Why must you be such a horrible person?

[Anonymous]

There are many public programs around the country with similar performance characteristics as Blair. Some of these real world public school students are increasingly looking at T25 for undergraduate education. For many, early access to research and graduate/professional schools are increasingly attractive since they are smart, intelligent, and academically advanced compared to Sidwell graduates. Are these students not worthy of admission because of socioeconomic status, wrong zip codes, genotype and phenotype. When will the decades of affirmative action for Sidwell students end to allow more fairness/equity/access for other worthy students an opportunity for the scarce commodity of a T25 admission seat. The immaturity and brazen arrogance exhibited by individuals is truly nauseating. No one really gives a damn outside of your echo chamber. T25 colleges will continue to expand opportunities and access for other equal or more worthy students. These schools understand concepts of survival and how to continually improve their work products entering academia and the US workforce.

[Anonymous]

Frankly, between you and I, I doubt the next impactful movers and shakers in this country this century will be Sidwell graduates. If I were a Director of Admissions at HYPSM and the like, I would be not load up scarce admission slots with Sidwell graduates. Diversify your class with worthy students from around the country for best return on investment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are many public programs around the country with similar performance characteristics as Blair. Some of these real world public school students are increasingly looking at T25 for undergraduate education. For many, early access to research and graduate/professional schools are increasingly attractive since they are smart, intelligent, and academically advanced compared to Sidwell graduates. Are these students not worthy of admission because of socioeconomic status, wrong zip codes, genotype and phenotype. When will the decades of affirmative action for Sidwell students end to allow more fairness/equity/access for other worthy students an opportunity for the scarce commodity of a T25 admission seat. The immaturity and brazen arrogance exhibited by individuals is truly nauseating. No one really gives a damn outside of your echo chamber. T25 colleges will continue to expand opportunities and access for other equal or more worthy students. These schools understand concepts of survival and how to continually improve their work products entering academia and the US workforce.

Huh? Blair’s a great school and it’s students do very well in college admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are many public programs around the country with similar performance characteristics as Blair. Some of these real world public school students are increasingly looking at T25 for undergraduate education. For many, early access to research and graduate/professional schools are increasingly attractive since they are smart, intelligent, and academically advanced compared to Sidwell graduates. Are these students not worthy of admission because of socioeconomic status, wrong zip codes, genotype and phenotype. When will the decades of affirmative action for Sidwell students end to allow more fairness/equity/access for other worthy students an opportunity for the scarce commodity of a T25 admission seat. The immaturity and brazen arrogance exhibited by individuals is truly nauseating. No one really gives a damn outside of your echo chamber. T25 colleges will continue to expand opportunities and access for other equal or more worthy students. These schools understand concepts of survival and how to continually improve their work products entering academia and the US workforce.

Such a weird post.

Of course there are great public magnets across this county with very very bright kids. Many represent a broader range of SES than privates. They go to T25 schools, they also go to their state flagship.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:This is a hard message to deliver and I apologize in advance. A 3.7 just isn’t all that compelling and neither is a 34 ACT relatively speaking for top 15 universities even coming from a great school like Sidwell. If your kid isn’t a NMF and/or Presidential Scholar candidate and done some substantive internships or academic research outside of school, and hit > 3.9 overall GPA having taken the Math I — Math IV sequence plus all the accelerated 1A sciences plus four years of language, plus a >1560 SAT or 35/36 ACT, you really don’t get on the radar screen of the top 15 schools. Exception is the hooked kids — namely athletes, legacies and URM, but a couple of those hooked kids have the former qualifications, too, making them spectacularly attractive applicants. These schools really know Sidwell and for example understand that a solid A from Math III is a pretty powerful academic signal. I just cannot sit by and continue to watch the Sidwell CCO get trashed the way it is by some folks on this forum. In the aggregate, they are doing a good job in a very challenging and competitive environment. The reality is, putting aside the “branding” element, the top 30 - 50 schools offer a great education. Sidwell parent of senior.

To the extent the above is at least partially true, it illustrates what has gone wrong with Sidwell over the years:

Offer a few very difficult (advanced) which are pretty harshly graded. Students who don't take these can't claim to have taken the most difficult classes. Those that do face harsh grading distributions and lower GPAs. Bad outcomes either way.

By contrast many other schools offer advanced courses that are perhaps slightly less tough than Sidwell's toughest classes, but are also graded much better (look at the course grading profiles from Westlake etc posted upthread). This allows the students at these schools to take the more advanced classes (and claim to have done so) and do well on them. Hard courses plus grade deflation favors the very very top (perhaps 5 students each grade) and hurts the top 10-25 percent of the class. If the objective is to provide the opportunity for a super high level education, that works. For better admissions outcomes it is a total fail.

--Senior Parent

Not everyone gets bad grades in the most rigorous math and science classes.

Thanks, STEM mom, good to see you again. Nothing that pp said suggests otherwise.

Huh? Answering a complaint about grading in the most rigorous math class does not make a person a stem mom. There is a reason for different levels of coursework. Not everyone is at the same place or ability in math or science or history or whatever. It is fine for there to be very challenging coursework in different diciplines and also less challenging options

Not everyone is at the same place in reading comprehension either, apparently.

Just because I think challenging courses and challenging grading is advantageous instead of disadvantageous does not mean I can't read. I just have a different opinion.

No one wrote or suggested that everyone gets bad grades in the most rigorous math and science classes.

There is a poster that would like less rigorous grading in the most challenging courses so more students can receive higher grades. I don't agree with this strategy.

Then calculate weighted GPA that is fair for every student

There is a GPA bump for taking advanced sciences and Maths.

No. All Sidwell GPA is unweighted.

Not true. When your kid is in one of these classes, they are given specifics about the weighted bump.

Very clearly you are not Sidwell parent. Or you DC get special treatment?

This isn't private information. When they send out the junior year GPA, they tell you how to calculate the "advanced' classes.

Maybe in your imagination. Same GPA as the rest of the regular courses

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:This is a hard message to deliver and I apologize in advance. A 3.7 just isn’t all that compelling and neither is a 34 ACT relatively speaking for top 15 universities even coming from a great school like Sidwell. If your kid isn’t a NMF and/or Presidential Scholar candidate and done some substantive internships or academic research outside of school, and hit > 3.9 overall GPA having taken the Math I — Math IV sequence plus all the accelerated 1A sciences plus four years of language, plus a >1560 SAT or 35/36 ACT, you really don’t get on the radar screen of the top 15 schools. Exception is the hooked kids — namely athletes, legacies and URM, but a couple of those hooked kids have the former qualifications, too, making them spectacularly attractive applicants. These schools really know Sidwell and for example understand that a solid A from Math III is a pretty powerful academic signal. I just cannot sit by and continue to watch the Sidwell CCO get trashed the way it is by some folks on this forum. In the aggregate, they are doing a good job in a very challenging and competitive environment. The reality is, putting aside the “branding” element, the top 30 - 50 schools offer a great education. Sidwell parent of senior.

To the extent the above is at least partially true, it illustrates what has gone wrong with Sidwell over the years:

Offer a few very difficult (advanced) which are pretty harshly graded. Students who don't take these can't claim to have taken the most difficult classes. Those that do face harsh grading distributions and lower GPAs. Bad outcomes either way.

By contrast many other schools offer advanced courses that are perhaps slightly less tough than Sidwell's toughest classes, but are also graded much better (look at the course grading profiles from Westlake etc posted upthread). This allows the students at these schools to take the more advanced classes (and claim to have done so) and do well on them. Hard courses plus grade deflation favors the very very top (perhaps 5 students each grade) and hurts the top 10-25 percent of the class. If the objective is to provide the opportunity for a super high level education, that works. For better admissions outcomes it is a total fail.

--Senior Parent

Not everyone gets bad grades in the most rigorous math and science classes.

Thanks, STEM mom, good to see you again. Nothing that pp said suggests otherwise.

Huh? Answering a complaint about grading in the most rigorous math class does not make a person a stem mom. There is a reason for different levels of coursework. Not everyone is at the same place or ability in math or science or history or whatever. It is fine for there to be very challenging coursework in different diciplines and also less challenging options

Not everyone is at the same place in reading comprehension either, apparently.

Just because I think challenging courses and challenging grading is advantageous instead of disadvantageous does not mean I can't read. I just have a different opinion.

No one wrote or suggested that everyone gets bad grades in the most rigorous math and science classes.

There is a poster that would like less rigorous grading in the most challenging courses so more students can receive higher grades. I don't agree with this strategy.

Then calculate weighted GPA that is fair for every student

There is a GPA bump for taking advanced sciences and Maths.

No. All Sidwell GPA is unweighted.

Not true. When your kid is in one of these classes, they are given specifics about the weighted bump.

Very clearly you are not Sidwell parent. Or you DC get special treatment?

This isn't private information. When they send out the junior year GPA, they tell you how to calculate the "advanced' classes.

Maybe in your imagination. Same GPA as the rest of the regular courses

I am literally looking at the email with the documentation as to how to calculate the bump. Whatever.

[Anonymous]

Of course there are great public magnets across this county with very very bright kids. Many represent a broader range of SES than privates. They go to T25 schools, they also go to their state flagship.

HYPSM could fill their classes several times over with these public school kids. What if this strategy was done decades ago excluding private school kids to minority status … or even now moving forward?

[Anonymous]

I don’t understand what’s so special about Sidwell students … academically, intellectually, creativity wise, cultural. Can someone elaborate I’d Sidwell uniqueness or distinction compared to other schools in DC or other States?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a hard message to deliver and I apologize in advance. A 3.7 just isn’t all that compelling and neither is a 34 ACT relatively speaking for top 15 universities even coming from a great school like Sidwell. If your kid isn’t a NMF and/or Presidential Scholar candidate and done some substantive internships or academic research outside of school, and hit > 3.9 overall GPA having taken the Math I — Math IV sequence plus all the accelerated 1A sciences plus four years of language, plus a >1560 SAT or 35/36 ACT, you really don’t get on the radar screen of the top 15 schools. Exception is the hooked kids — namely athletes, legacies and URM, but a couple of those hooked kids have the former qualifications, too, making them spectacularly attractive applicants. These schools really know Sidwell and for example understand that a solid A from Math III is a pretty powerful academic signal. I just cannot sit by and continue to watch the Sidwell CCO get trashed the way it is by some folks on this forum. In the aggregate, they are doing a good job in a very challenging and competitive environment. The reality is, putting aside the “branding” element, the top 30 - 50 schools offer a great education. Sidwell parent of senior.

To the extent the above is at least partially true, it illustrates what has gone wrong with Sidwell over the years:

Offer a few very difficult (advanced) which are pretty harshly graded. Students who don't take these can't claim to have taken the most difficult classes. Those that do face harsh grading distributions and lower GPAs. Bad outcomes either way.

By contrast many other schools offer advanced courses that are perhaps slightly less tough than Sidwell's toughest classes, but are also graded much better (look at the course grading profiles from Westlake etc posted upthread). This allows the students at these schools to take the more advanced classes (and claim to have done so) and do well on them. Hard courses plus grade deflation favors the very very top (perhaps 5 students each grade) and hurts the top 10-25 percent of the class. If the objective is to provide the opportunity for a super high level education, that works. For better admissions outcomes it is a total fail.

--Senior Parent

Not everyone gets bad grades in the most rigorous math and science classes.

Thanks, STEM mom, good to see you again. Nothing that pp said suggests otherwise.

Huh? Answering a complaint about grading in the most rigorous math class does not make a person a stem mom. There is a reason for different levels of coursework. Not everyone is at the same place or ability in math or science or history or whatever. It is fine for there to be very challenging coursework in different diciplines and also less challenging options

Not everyone is at the same place in reading comprehension either, apparently.

Just because I think challenging courses and challenging grading is advantageous instead of disadvantageous does not mean I can't read. I just have a different opinion.

No one wrote or suggested that everyone gets bad grades in the most rigorous math and science classes.

There is a poster that would like less rigorous grading in the most challenging courses so more students can receive higher grades. I don't agree with this strategy.

Then calculate weighted GPA that is fair for every student

There is a GPA bump for taking advanced sciences and Maths.

No. All Sidwell GPA is unweighted.

Not true. When your kid is in one of these classes, they are given specifics about the weighted bump.

Very clearly you are not Sidwell parent. Or you DC get special treatment?

This isn't private information. When they send out the junior year GPA, they tell you how to calculate the "advanced' classes.

Maybe in your imagination. Same GPA as the rest of the regular courses

I am literally looking at the email with the documentation as to how to calculate the bump. Whatever.

Really? LOL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Of course there are great public magnets across this county with very very bright kids. Many represent a broader range of SES than privates. They go to T25 schools, they also go to their state flagship.

HYPSM could fill their classes several times over with these public school kids. What if this strategy was done decades ago excluding private school kids to minority status … or even now moving forward?

2-3% of kids in the US attend secular private schools. Why shouldn’t they be a minority at top colleges?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand what’s so special about Sidwell students … academically, intellectually, creativity wise, cultural. Can someone elaborate I’d Sidwell uniqueness or distinction compared to other schools in DC or other States?

No one said they were special or unique.