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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Kids went to K-8. One stayed through 8 and that convinced us to apply the next out early because we realized they needed more differentiation than was possible at the K-8.

What we learned from applying out at 8 was better perspective about the college process. We already learned that much of admissions is out of your hands. We have already seen other kids with lower scores, grades, etc. get into schools over kids who have stronger records.  [b]Kids talk to each other so they know who scored what on the SSAT, who has high grades, who has run into disciplinary issues, who tried to pull strings, etc. [/b] These schools are small and you learn a lot about kids when you are in the same small classes for 9 years.  Having now gone through the college process, we realized that the 8th grade admissions experience was a preview of the college admissions process.

When you apply out at 8, you see kids get in with connected, nationally famous or DC famous parents.  Kids who aren’t great students but come from wealthy families (trust funds, families with foundations, etc.).  You see kids who bring the athlete hook that the private schools are looking to help these kids get into well known highly competitive colleges—most college athletes are white kids from affluent backgrounds (e.g., LAX, soccer, baseball, etc.).  Private high schools also look for the college legacy hook—this is one of the reasons why they want to know where the parents went to college, grad school, law school or business school.  Go look up and see how many legacies Harvard admits into its freshman class—one year it was 34 percent.  You think that Sidwell, GDS, Maret, the Cathedral Schools, Prep, Potomac, etc. don’t know that?  They know it and are counting on those hooks to help their graduates get into the colleges that make their exmissions look great.   They just don’t mention which kids in their exmissions list for college were legacies, athletes, or the children of famous people.  How many were full pay, etc.   I am so glad we learned this at 8th grade because it is like what goes on in college admissions at the top 20-40 schools.  It is why you scratch your head at your neighbors amazing NMSF, stem kid, who won a national robotics championship, has a super high gpa, great extracurriculars, recommendations, etc. when they are rejected HPYS, etc. and your other neighbors’ kid whose qualifications are nowhere near as impressive but both parents went to Harvard got in to Harvard.   There are a lot of factors that go into getting into college and a lot of factors that go into getting into private school and many of them are beyond your child’s control.  The sooner your child and you realize that the better for them and for you.  It frees you to focus on what is most important—your child developing the skills to succeed in college and life no matter where they go.

Focus on the education your child will get.  We did that and have no regrets.  My kid developed the skills needed to succeed in college and in life.  The second is in the process of doing that.  That is in your control.  Focus on that and you’ll be good.  I will also say that I am grateful that both of my kids are not lifers at their respective schools.  I think it was good for them to have spent time at a K-8 even though one applied out early. Both of them have friends from their earlier years but they don’t have the school fatigue that some of their classmates who are lifers have.  [/quote]

Yea -- real healthy.[/quote]

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