Reply to When parents are only applying to Maret, GDS and Sidwell...

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The list in the title was exactly our list for a while.  We were not interested in STA/Cathedral or other religious schools, and SFS did not seem religious in the same way.  Silent meeting is not the same as a chapel service. Well, no one in our family enjoyed Sidwell and we eventually left.  Now I'd recommend a longer list that includes friendlier schools.  They tend not to be as selective but they're often better in other ways.

I wouldn't say we were social climbers.  When we made our original list, we thought we were identifying the three schools that fit the best.  We were wrong.[/quote]

Curious to hear more, if you’re willing to say more. Was the religiousness at all a factor? Maybe we’re outliers, but we found SFS far more religious than we were expecting. And even when it wasn’t religious, we felt like “quaker values” got pulled out anytime anyone disagreed with someone or disliked someone—not dissimilar to “regular” religion  :lol: Relatedly, our oldest kid hasn’t really enjoyed themselves, but we’re giving it a bit longer. We though some of this came from the quakerism, which kind of put a somberness on everything.

Anyway, we would love to hear more, as we’re struggling with the long-term decision here. [/quote]

I'm not Quaker but have experience with both Sidwell Friends and Sandy Spring Friends.  Quaker values are a far more significant part of student life at Sandy Spring, but I wasn't annoyed by it at all.  It seemed very genuine.  At Sidwell it didn't always seem sincere because of the social and academic competition that affects so many things there.

On the other hand, there's no denying that Sidwell students get a great college preparatory education surrounded by many bright students.  There are some excellent students at Sandy Spring, but I'd estimate that a quarter to a third of Sandy Spring students couldn't handle the intense Sidwell workload.  There are a lot of very smart kids at Sidwell and very few weak students there.[/quote]

If they are all so smart and well prepared - why do so many Sidwell kids end up at mediocre colleges?   Yes, understand Harvard isn't going to take all of them but there are a lot each year going to schools ranked outside top 100 or top 200.  Don't tell me it's "fit"[/quote]

There’s only so many slots at elite colleges.  Sidwell, particularly at the younger years is more about parental connections and wealth than aptitude.  How are you going to accurately judge the aptitude of a kid  who enters at age 4? If your child is mediocre going into Sidwell, they may get a very good education but even that isn’t going to change the fundamental mediocre characteristics of the kid.[/quote]

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