Reply to Sidwell College Admissions This Year

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

Reply to "Sidwell College Admissions This Year"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I've been following this (as a public school parent).  I have so many thoughts but will limit them to a few that will be (hopefully) viewed as constructive:

1) I have full access to Naviance and it is not very helpful--if anything, it is quite misleading as the scattergrams combine 10 years of data (we all know how the admissions world has changed over 10 years) and it does not indicate hooks.  As a result, it is incredibly easy for students (and parents) to think the odds are much greater to get into specific colleges than it actually is.

2) The basic patterns play out in schools all over this area as they do in "the Big 3" (side note, barf) with regards to college admissions--it is an incredibly unpredictable and stressful process for these kids.  However, there is a HUGE difference between kids at schools like Sidwell and those at large public schools: expectations.  [b]For all of the short-comings of our large public--and there are a lot--I think my (high stats, NMSF) DC really benefits from being at a public school because they see other high stats students who can't apply ED because they need merit money or because  public universities are the only viable option.  This REALLY helps contextualize the whole process and give the much-needed perspective that there are outstanding students so many colleges, not just the "top 50"[/b].[/quote]

Sidwell senior parent here, and I can so appreciate this. Some of the conversation that DC and DC's friends have on this topic is nothing short of ridiculous. They spin themselves into this web about T-10 or T-20 or T-whatever schools. The appeal of a school like Sidwell or any Big 3 is supposed to be that you are surrounded by an ambitious peer group. But when that peer group becomes an echo chamber for wrong and misleading information, and there is no reality to counter-balance it, that becomes a problem.[/quote]

Another Sidwell parent here - I don't disagree with the sentiment put forward and how it applies to large portions of the kids at Sidwell and likely the predominant chatter.  However, there ARE indeed families at Sidwell where merit aid is very important and precludes the ability to apply ED. My kid knows this and always has.  They consider themselves lucky to have options, but also has no interest in many schools others are seeking because they are turned off by the prestige perceptions and pompousness of classmates that are applying to those schools  [/quote]

This. Parent of a Sidwell alum who, despite having a very good chance of acceptance...and despite our pleas, flat out refused to apply to any Ivies. The thought of spending 4 more years with arrogant, entitled and self-absorbed classmates (or the like), was too much to digest. That being said...multiple acceptances from very good schools were received. DC chose a school in New England and is happy and thriving.[/quote]

But how would your DC know that the Ivies are full of arrogant, entitled, and self-absorbed classmates.  That may have been the case in the past, but I don't think so anymore.  There are more humble kids there now.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics