Baltimore opinions: Friends vs. Calvert vs. Gilman?
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Anonymous
Don't understand your point, half the schools you listed as gril's schools are co ed. There are way more than three boy's schools. No on ever refers to a top three in baltimore and if they did, it would most likely be bryn mawr/gilman, park, and mcdonough for college placements. |
baltimoreguy
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I didn't list those as girls schools, I listed them as schools that girls can attend, adding to the very sizable inventory of private school spaces available to girls. For boys, I meant it's one of the top 3 most saturated markets in the country for private schools - when you divide the number of available spaces by the number of school-age boys. |
Anonymous
I take it you didn't actually do this calculation, it is just your opinion. Some of the schools you list are boarding schools and take kids from outside the Baltimore area. Some draw from Baltimore, Howard, Harford and Carroll counties, others from some mix of those counties plus Baltimore city. |
baltimoreguy
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I didn't do this calculation, I am quoting a presentation I heard by the executive director of AIMS, the Association of Independent Maryland Schools. While some of the schools above are partially boarding, all also offer day enrollment and therefore count in the inventory of private school seats available to students in the Baltimore area. When people talk about the Baltimore area, they are commonly referring to the Baltimore MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area), which includes all the counties you mention as well as a couple others. Just like when people talk about Washington, they are also including Fairfax County, Montgomery County, etc. Not sure why my point - that Baltimore parents and students have an exceedingly wide array of school choices, as borne out by the FACT that we live in one of the nation's most saturated private school markets - is causing such contention. According to the way OMB defines our MSA vs. Washington, we have fewer than one-third the population and yet seem to have almost the same number of school choices. Which is one reason the drama surrounding private schools here seems to be so much less than in Washington (present company excluded, perhaps). |
Anonymous
I sort of believe this -- I noticed a few last names that I recognized at Calvert, and by "recognized" I mean "had seen them on the side of a building with the word 'Hall' after them." I liked a lot about Calvert, though! They're really focused on younger children, which I think is nice. The buildings are beautiful. I was a little... distressed... that they're still using a history book written by their founder. I generally love quaint old-fashioned things, but if there is one subject in the world that should be taught from a modern perspective, it's history. Love the handwriting thing, though. On the whole I think we're really lucky to have so many wonderful schools in the area. Gilman was the right fit for us, but for a different kid I definitely could have seen us going the Calvert or Friends or Park route. |
Anonymous
^^ P.S. We are definitely not Baltimore blue bloods (or any other kind of blue bloods) and all three of the schools -- Calvert, Gilman, and Friends -- were warm and welcoming. And offered admission. 
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Anonymous
| As long as you can pay full tuition, all of these schools will welcome you with open arms. |
Anonymous
I'm the PP, and we required FA. I really didn't get a sense that they would have been nicer to us if we had been able to pay full freight. |
Anonymous
Not quite true, some have more competitive admissions than others. I personally know families who needed no financial aid turned down by Gilman, Calvert, and Mcdonough (different families at each school), sometimes with a sibling already at that school. If you can meet the admission criteria and they have room, they are happy to have you. Other schools are easier to get into. |
Anonymous
| Many of these schools still advertise in the spring which means if your child meets their admission standards and you have the money to pay, they'll take you. |
Anonymous
| Gilman acceptance rate is 25-30%. Not exactly a shoo-in. I know people who got shut out from all the top Baltimore schools. But there are a lot of good next tier options (Boys Latin, etc). |
Anonymous
They still advertise in the spring because that's when families who have been admitted are doing their final decisions about which school they will choose. Additionally, it's a time of the year families are commonly considering what their options will be for next year and if they're considering going private, they want to start doing their research so they can schedule fall tours. Many of the private schools in Baltimore do some level of advertising year round. I don't think I've ever picked up a Baltimore's Child that didn't have private school ads in it. It doesn't mean they are taking all comers. It means they have decided that low level marketing year round is a cost effective choice for them, with additional efforts during application and admission periods. I've lived in other areas of the country with similar patterns. I wasn't as well acquainted with their private schools, but their reputations didn't generally appear to be taking all comers either. |
Anonymous
| If they have signs up advertising tours and meet the admin lunches, etc in the spring, it means they still have spots open after they have let families know in March/April. If you don't need FA and your kid isn't a total idiot, they'll take your money. With do many expensive private schools in an area with not as many high earners as DC, many of these schools have room for kids as long as you can pay full tuition. |
Anonymous
Why do you keep repeating this as if it will make it true? It just isn't true of the top Baltimore schools. But you're right, there are quite a few good schools that will have places -- but if you're counting on your low-performing kid being an easy admit to Gilman/Bryn Mawr/Calvert/Park/McDonough just because you have the dough, I suggest you have a backup plan. |
Anonymous
| As I wrote before, if your child isn't an idiot and you can foot the bill, most of these schools have spots even after their admissions cycle ends. The economy has impacted the fewer wealthy families in Baltimore too. |