Reply to Fall 2013 DC Private School National Merit Semifinalists (Class of 2014)

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm actually shocked that the numbers are so low  (or as expensive as these schools are and how "elite" their students are supposed to be).

I'm not surprised.  When you really look at the numbers and think about it, one  of the reasons the numbers in DC privates is relatively high -- not low -- is that the public schools historically were not viewed as good alternatives for strong students.  The Montgomery County NMSF numbers in privates tends to be lower than DC privates because of the availability of both magnets and publics that are perceived as strong options.  I suspect that Charles E. Smith tends to be the highest in MoCo because more families that elect that school are doing so because they want the Judaic curriculum that is not available in public school, but if you look at other privates the numbers are lower.

The other reason the privates numbers are not higher is because the numbers validate that most DC-area privates do not pretend to really be exclusively about the best and brightest as defined by test scores (even if parents want to think otherwise).   Magnet programs generally accept students based almost entirely upon test scores and/or previous grades.  In MoCo, for example, I believe they are permitted to consider gender but not any other type of diversity -- at least that was the rule for the middle school magnets when I attended open houses.  Moreover, I don't believe anyone has an edge at the magnets based on his/her ability to play a sport, sing opera, act, or play an instrument, or based on legacy status, high profile parents, ability to make substantial contributions to the school, etc.   I am not suggesting these are necessarily bad things -- private schools can't function without revenues and you can't have a sports team or a band without a certain number of students willing and able to play -- but the magnet school and private school experiences are just very different in ways outside of the purely academic realm.

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This is the type of reasonable and nuanced analysis that just gets overlooked on DCUM.   [/quote]

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